During World War II, the USS Liscome Bay, CVE-56, was built in Vancouver, Washington by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company. She was a Casablanca-class aircraft escort carrier and was completed on Dec. 9, 1942 and launched on April 19, 1943. On June 28, 1943 she was named the USS Liscome Bay. She was commissioned on Aug. 7, 1943 with the U.S. Navy and sailed to San Francisco and then San Diego, California.

On Oct. 21, 1943 the aircraft carrier USS Liscome Bay sailed for Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. She departed Nov. 10, 1943 for the Gilbert Islands campaign in the south Pacific Ocean. The air crew flew 2,278 sorties in support of the Gilbert Island campaign.

On Nov. 24, 1943, Japanese Submarine I-175 fired a torpedo at the USS Liscome Bay at 5:10 a.m. The engine exploded and the ship was engulfed in flames. At 5:33 a.m. the USS Liscome Bay began to sink. A total of 272 crew members were rescued and 702 officers and crew members perished in the disaster, which is the largest loss of lives from sinking on any U.S. Naval carrier in history.

Petty Officer Owen C. Roberts served on the U.S. Navy’s carrier escort, USS Liscome Bay.

Owen Charles Roberts was born on Aug. 28, 1921 in Belmont, Lafayette County, Wisconsin to William and Mabel (Davis) Roberts. 

From the 1930 U.S. Census, the Roberts family lived in Belmont Township in Lafayette County. The household included father Will, mother Mable, and children Gwetholyn, Owen, Blodwin, June and Will D. Jr. Father Will was a farmer on his own account.

On the 1940 U.S. Census, the family was in the same home as in 1935. Father William D. was farming, and Owen was doing farm labor.

On February 14, 1942, Owen Charles Roberts registered for the WWII Draft. He lived in Belmont. His next of kin was his father, and he didn’t list an occupation.

From the Nov. 11, 1942 Wisconsin State Journal came the news that “Owen Roberts, son of Mr. and Mrs. Will Roberts, Belmont, has enlisted in the navy and is stationed at Des Moines, Ia.”

From the Nov. 17, 1942 Wisconsin State Journal, the news from Great Lakes, Ill., was that Owen C. Roberts “now a member of America’s fighting sea forces” had “reported to the U.S. Naval Training station here last week for a period of recruit training.”

The local news from the Dec. 17, 1942 The Platteville Journal and Grant County News was that “Owen Roberts who enlisted in the Navy recently and is stationed at Great Lakes is on furlough this week.”

The July 29, 1943 The Platteville Journal and Grant County News had an update that Roberts “now holds a petty officer’s rating as aviation machinists (sic) mate, third class. He recently graduated from the naval air technical training center located at Navy Pier, Chicago, and is awaiting his assignment.”

Sometime in the late summer or early fall of 1943, Petty Officer Roberts was assigned to the U.S. Navy’s carrier escort, USS Liscome Bay.

From the Dec. 22, 1943 The Capital Times notice, “Roberts, of Leslie, Missing in Action,” the news from Platteville was “Owen Roberts, navy bomber crew man, son of Mr. and Mrs. Will Roberts, of Leslie, is missing in action in the South Pacific, according to word received by his parents. Roberts was employed on the Milton Dolphin farm near Platteville before entering the service.”

The notice in the Dec. 23, 1943 The Platteville Journal and Grant County News had further information that he had been a “gunner on a plane in the South Pacific.”

An Aug. 3, 1948 Wisconsin State Journal article “War Memorial Is Dedicated: Shaft in Remembrance of 40 Area Veterans,” tells of the engraved markers on a large stone that was put in place in the downtown city park by the Gold Star Mothers from Platteville. The memorial recognized 10 heroes from WWI and 30 from WWII. Owen C. Roberts is honored on this memorial.

The U.S. Navy Casualties Book, Owen Charles Roberts had that his parents lived in Rewey, Wisconsin. Roberts is listed on the National WWII Memorial Registry as being from Rewey.

*Note: Rewey is in Iowa County, Wisconsin. On the 1950 census, the family was in Leslie (Belmont Township) in Lafayette County. Platteville is in Grant County, which was where Roberts was working when he enlisted. It seems that all three counties can count him as one of their own. 

**Note: Robert’s sister June Roberts was briefly married for less than a month to Norman L. Moody of Belmont who died July 13, 1945 in the Gulf of Mexico in a paratroop training accident.

Petty Officer Roberts is honored at the Courts of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu. A cenotaph memorial stone is located in the Peniel Cemetery in Mifflin, Iowa County, Wisconsin. Roberts’s remains were never recovered. He was missing in action as of Nov. 24, 1943 and later declared killed in action on Nov. 25, 1944. He received the Purple Heart, awarded posthumously.

Thank you, Aviation Mechanic’s Mate Owen Charles Roberts, for your service to and sacrifice for this country. We honor you and remember you.