Fred Kelsey Kazetsky
Fred Kazetsky was a member of the original crew of the USS West Virginia in 1923.
| Born: | October 29, 1899 |
| 1917 | Machinist School – Ford Motorcar Co., Detroit, Michigan |
| 1919 |
Employed Packard Motor Company as a machinist |
| 4-26-21 | Enlisted into the Navy as Machinist Mate Second Class at the Houston Naval Recruiting Station |
| 5-6-21 | Arrived Naval Training Station Hampton Roads, VA and received Ship AK-1, USS HOUSTON. HOUSTON was assigned Trans-Pacific duty. Sailed from Philadelphia and Norfolk, thru Panama Canal, to San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, Guam arriving Manila 22 Oct 1921. Arrived San Francisco 11 Jan 1922. (AK-1 decommissioned 23 Mar 1922) |
| 5-23-22 |
Received Ship BB-38 USS PENNSYLVANIA at Mare Island, CA |
| 9-5-22 | Arrived Naval Training Station, Hampton Roads, VA |
| 11-23-23 |
Graduated from United States Navy Machinist Mate School, Naval Training Station, Hampton Roads, Virginia as Machinist Mate 1st Class |
| 11-30-23 | Received Ship BB-48 USS WEST VIRGINIA. WEST VIRGINIA was completed 12-1-23. Fred was MM1st Class of her first crew, a PLANK OWNER, and served on the WEST VIRGINIA until his Honorable Discharge from the Navy. |
| 4-25-25 | Received Honorable Discharge from the Navy |
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The above information about Fred’s Naval Record was taken from the backside of his Discharge Certificate. By the way, AK-1 was the first USS HOUSTON, most folks have never heard about. She was a German freighter that was trapped in Charleston Harbor at the outbreak of WWI. She stayed there, anchored with her crew for about a year when the crew finally ran out of stores, scuttled the ship, and left. The next day the US Navy raised her, refitted her, and she became a shuttle ship between the two oceans via the Panama Canal with her last cruise in the Pacific. From Don Minzenmayer, son-in-law |
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