Countdown to Kickoff

[kingofnerf]

The football program cover for the 1960 Wake Forest game that was played on 11-26-1960.

 

[kingofnerf]

The football program cover for the 1959 Furman game that was played on 9-26-1959.

 

[kingofnerf]

The football program cover for the 1938 game against the Catholic University Cardinals, played on 11-26-1938.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

26th Division - made up of NG soldiers from Massachusetts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)

 

[kingofnerf]

Melton Field was dedicated on October 2nd, 1926.

Prior to the construction in 1934 of what is now Williams-Brice Stadium, University football games were played on Melton Field, now the location of the Russell House.  After the Civil War, the field was used by Federal troops as drill and parade grounds.

When the University was briefly reorganized as the South Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanics from 1880 to 1882, the field was part of the school’s 20-acre farm.  When intercollegiate sports were approved by the University in the 1890s, the area was converted into a baseball field named for professor R. Means Davis, and a football field named for William Davis Melton who served as President of the institution from 1922 until his death in 1926.

--The South Caroliniana Library

We broke the new field in by beating Maryland that day.

I believe this is Preston in the background of the picture below.

Imagine walking across the street after a tough week of classes on The Horseshoe to go to a game or watch it from your dorm room.  Then it was off to Five Points for your favorite meal and beverage.

Not a bad deal.

 

[kingofnerf]

Our head football coach for the 1926 season was Branch Bocock, who was hired in December of 1925.

Bocock's title was our first Head Coach of Varsity Athletics.  Today he would be known as the Athletic Director.  So Bocock was the University's first AD.  He was also head coach of our 3 major athletic teams.  Melton Field opened in 1926 and the then-new Carolina Field House would open in 1927.  I tend to believe we hired a strong AD to ensure success in the new football and basketball facilities.

He was (7-3/2-2) in the SoCon in 1925 and in the 1926 season we went (6-4/4-2) in 1926 to tie for 4th in the conference.

We broke in the new football field right by beating Clemson soundly 24-0 at the new digs.

In baseball, Bocock was a mediocre 17/21 from 1925-27.

 

[kingofnerf]

Bocock, however, did pretty good in basketball.  We went 14-4 in the 1926-27 season and were the regular season conference champs.





Season


Team


Overall


Conference


Standing




1924–25


South Carolina


10–7


4–2


 




1925–26


South Carolina


9–5


4–2


 




1926–27


South Carolina


14–4


9–1


1st





Most would say Bocock broke in the new Field House pretty good. LOL

Unfortunately, the team would fall to eventual tournament champion, Vandy, in the conference tournament in Atlanta.

Bocock left after the 1927 baseball season to coach football at the College of William & Mary.





Season


Team


Overall


Conference


Standing


Postseason




1928


William & Mary


6–3–2


5–1


2nd


 




1929


William & Mary


8–2


5–0


1st


 




1930


William & Mary


7–2–1


5–0


1st


 




1936


William & Mary


1–8


0–5


16th


 




1937


William & Mary


4–5


1–3


T–13th


 




1938


William & Mary


3–7


0–4


15th


 




William & Mary:


 


29–27–3


16–13


 


 





He didn't coach there from 1931-35. I can't find anything about it, but I wonder if William & Mary suspended their football program during the Great Depression?

Bocock died at Blackstone, VA, in 1946 at the age of 62.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_Bocock

 

[kingofnerf]

Here's a few interesting tidbits about the old Field House.  It sat where the Coker Life Sciences Building is now from 1927 until it burned down in 1968.

Humble Beginnings

Around 1901 the first basketball teams in Columbia were organized by the Y.M.C.A.  Soon after the South Carolina College (now USC) formed teams for both men and women. Those early basketball games were played in the Gymnasium, which is now Longstreet Theatre. Fans sat in wooden rows of bleachers and probably had to dodge loose balls since they were only a few feet away from the action.

Below a game is played at the old College Hall gym in 1942.  An indoor swimming pool was also built in the basement in 1939 with WPA funding.  The building was originally named College Hall when it was constructed in 1855 and renamed Science Hall in 1888.  It reverted back to the original College Hall name after the WPA modifications in 1939.

Here's what looks like a post card from back in the day. (below)

In 1927 the Carolina Field House was built and hosted Gamecock and regional championship basketball games. The Field House could hold thousands of fans at once and served to increase exposure to the game of basketball. As basketball grew in popularity new venues popped up around town at local schools, colleges and churches. But for large-scale basketball games, something big was needed in town. The Field House burned down in 1968, but luckily a new facility was already on its way.

https://www.richlandlibrary.com/blog/2019-01-22/columbias-basketball-history

Here's a picture of the old Field House in 1964 looking toward Greene St. from Sumter.

The building used as a basketball gym that would be named Longstreet Theater in 1968 is just off camera to the left and the Towers/Honeycombs with their distinctive concrete block facades are behind the Field House.

Here is a photo from 1957 at the other end of the building where the entrances were:

Construction did not begin on the Towers complex until 1958, so the street is much wider in the 1957 picture than in later years.

Too bad Frank McGuire burned the Field House down in 1968.  LOL

 

[kingofnerf]

USS Salt Lake City, CA-25.

USS Salt Lake City (CL/CA-25) of the United States Navy was a Pensacola-class cruiser, later reclassified as a heavy cruiser, sometimes known as "Swayback Maru" or "Old Swayback". She had the (unofficial) distinction of having taken part in more combat engagements than any other ship in the World War II Pacific Fleet. She was also the first ship to be named after Salt Lake City, Utah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Salt_Lake_City_(CA-25)

 

[kingofnerf]

USS Cowpens, CVL-25.

USS Cowpens (CV-25/CVL-25/AVT-1), nicknamed "The Mighty Moo", was an 11,000-ton Independence class light aircraft carrier that served the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947.

World War II

Continuing her support of the Philippines advance, Cowpens' planes struck Luzon repeatedly during December. During the disastrous Typhoon Cobra on 18 December, Cowpens lost a man: ship's air officer Lieutenant Commander Robert Price, several planes, and some equipment, but skillful work by her crew prevented major damage, and she reached Ulithi safely on 21 December to repair her storm damage.

Cowpens was the first American carrier to enter Tokyo Harbor. Remaining off Tokyo Bay until the occupation landings began on 30 August, Cowpens launched photographic reconnaissance missions to patrol airfields and shipping movements, and to locate and supply prisoner-of-war camps. Men from Cowpens were the first Americans to set foot on the Japanese mainland, and were largely responsible for the emergency activation of Yokosuka airfield for Allied use and the liberation of a POW camp near Niigata. From 8 November 1945 to 28 January 1946 Cowpens made two voyages to Pearl Harbor, Guam, and Okinawa to return veterans on "Magic Carpet" runs.

Commemoration

Each year, the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, holds a 4-day festival honoring veterans of Cowpens. "The Mighty Moo Festival" was first held in 1977, with one crewmember of CVL-25 attending. Since then, as many as 115 CVL-25 veterans have attended the festival at once.

Also, since the launch and commissioning of the USS Cowpens (CG-63) in 1991, the festival has included actively serving crewmen or women of CG-63 sent by the ship's commanding officer, as well as previously serving veterans of CG 63. The festival is held from Wednesday through Saturday preceding Father's Day each June. During the 1980s, the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, actively petitioned Congress to name another ship Cowpens, which may have played a direct role in choosing this name for CG-63.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cowpens_(CVL-25)

 

[Homebrewcock]

 

[Homebrewcock]

 

[Homebrewcock]

Our First Mike Davis (also pictured above in the black uni)

 

[kingofnerf]

Tim Richmond.

 

[kingofnerf]

Ken Schrader.

 

[Homebrewcock]

 

[kingofnerf]

USS Rathburne, APD-25.  Formerly DD-113.

USS Rathburne (DD–113) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during both World Wars. She was the first ship named for John Peck Rathbun.

World War II

On 18 October, the APD entered Leyte Gulf. The next day, UDT 10 went ashore on Red Beach in the northern assault area between Palo and San Ricardo. Through the morning, Rathburne provided covering fire and shortly after noon pulled the team off the beach. On 20 October, she covered the landings, and then shifted to fire support off the Dulag beaches. Detached, soon after her arrival, she began messenger and passenger runs between the northern and southern transport areas.

On the evening of 27 April, she was on patrol off Hagushi. Air alerts had been called throughout the day. At about 2200, her radar picked up an enemy plane on the port quarter, 3,700 yards (3,383 m) out but closing fast.

Increasing speed, changing course, and antiaircraft fire did not deter the kamikaze. He crashed the port bow on the waterline. Three compartments were flooded. Sound gear was put out of commission. Fires broke out on the forecastle. But there were no casualties. Damage control parties soon extinguished the fires and contained the flooding. Rathburne, slowed to 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph), made for Kerama Retto.

By mid-May, temporary repairs had been completed and she was underway for San Diego. Arriving on 18 June, she was reconverted to a destroyer and reclassified DD-113 on 20 July.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Rathburne_(DD-113)

John Peck Rathbun (1746–1782) was an officer in the Continental Navy and in the United States Navy. Rathbun was from Rhode Island with family in Boston. Rathbun served in the Continental Navy from its late 1775 beginning as John Paul Jones' First Lieutenant.

Action At Sea

In 1779, he assumed command of the frigate Queen of France and in July cruised off Newfoundland with Providence and Ranger. On the 16th, the ships sighted a convoy bound for Britain. Fog closed in, but when it lifted, Queen of France was next to a merchantman whose crew mistook the American for a British escort vessel. Rathbun took advantage of the situation, exploited the mistake in identity, and captured the ship. Ranger and Providence followed suit. Ten more ships were cut out of the convoy, their total value approaching $1 million.

Defense of Charleston

In 1780, Rathbun took Queen of France south in Commodore Abraham Whipple's force to bolster the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina. There, with smaller ships, she was stationed in the Ashley River to prevent British forces under Cornwallis from crossing and attacking the city. As the American position weakened, Queen of France's guns were removed and she was sunk as a block ship. Her crew then went ashore and Rathbun served as an artilleryman until the city fell in May 1781.

Privateer

Taken prisoner at the fall of Charleston, Rathbun and the other American captains were paroled and allowed to return to New England. There, he found that the Continental Navy had dwindled and no commands were available. Thereupon, Rathbun, a true patriot, secured a commission from Congress on 4 August to command the Massachusetts privateer brig Wexford. About two weeks later, he set sail from Boston bound for St. George's Channel near Britain and, within another six weeks reached the coast of Ireland. There, less than 100 miles from Cape Clear, he ran afoul of the 32-gun frigate HMS Recovery. Following a 24-hour chase during which HMS Recovery fired at least one broadside, Rathbun and his ship were captured by the British warship.

Incarcerated first at Kinsale Prison near Cork, Ireland, Rathbun was later transferred to Mill Prison or Old Mill Prison in Plymouth, England, where he died on 20 June 1782.

Namesakes

Two ships, USS Rathburne, were named for him. Although his name was spelled Rathburne or Rathbourne in official records, including the two warships named after him, this was an error. His name was Rathbun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rathbun

 

[Blitzkrieg]

25th Division

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)

 

[kingofnerf]

Late entry for #26.

 

[Swayin]

The B-25 Mitchell, the most-produced allied medium bomber of the war; Mitchell’s undertook the legendary Doolittle raid on Tokyo early in the war and over 10,000 were built.