Walter Ashe Collection
[The USS Asheville]
M99.2.1

During elementary school Ashe attended various schools in the Long Beach area, including Long Beach Military and St. Vincent Catholic School.  In 1930, his mother, Jenny, died after a prolonged illness and Walter went to live with the Taylors who were looking for a boy to adopt.  The Taylors lived in the nearby town of  Monterey Park.  Ashe and his sister, Virginia, kept in contact and he briefly went back to live with her. Both children saw their father occasionally but the family was fragmented and Walter went to live with a series of relatives. The first was an aunt Dell in Honeoye, New York, where he lived for a year.  He then moved to Rochester with his Aunts Mary and Nellie and while there he was introduced to his paternal grandparents, who sent him to a high school in Toronto, Canada.  After one year in Canada, Ashe wrote to the Taylors asking to be taken back, and they gave it a trial run.  After moving back to California Ashe joined the CCC and worked in Havilah Camp, on Kern’s Mt. near Bakersfield.  There he earned $30 a week, sending $25 back home to the Taylors.  He eventually left the CCC to join the navy, but was turned down due to the large amount of applicants during the Depression.  His sister Virginia, always his ally, arranged through her connections to send him to Otis Art School, and following his graduation to again use her influence to get him a job at Disney.  The Disney position was not a satisfactory placement and soon he left the job and  was accepted by the U.S. Navy.

On April 18, 1935, he reported to boot camp.  After his training he was assigned to the U.S.S. Pennsylvania where he received electrical training, and was eventually sent to China.  He was transferred to the U.S.S. Henderson  and when the Henderson reached Hong Kong Ashe was reassigned to the U.S.S. Asheville (PG-21).  The Asheville was a gunboat that served in the Caribbean and off the coast of China.  After working in various assignments, Ashe was placed in the storeroom, where he stayed.

Ashe stayed in the navy for two and a half years, and in 1939 was honorably discharged.  He moved back in with the Taylors and got a job at the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank.  Ashe also married Marian Woods at this time, but divorced six months later.  At the start of World War II Ashe was offered a chance to return to the Navy at the same rating he had on discharge and he took it.  He was assigned to the U.S.S. Mississippi and in three months transferred to a brand new battleship, the U.S.S. North Carolina (BB-55).

 The North Carolina was launched mid-June 1940 and sent to the Pacific, completing a shakedown tour of the Caribbean before Pearl Harbor.  In 1942 Ashe was transferred to the U.S.S. Cabot CVL28, at Philadelphia Navy Yard.  While off duty in Philadelphia Ashe met his future wife, Adelaide and married her on September 28, 1943.  Earlier in September Ashe had made Chief Store Keeper and was transferred to the U.S.S. Wasp (CV18) in Boston, Massachusetts.  Throughout their 57 years together the couple lived in many places.  They had two children, Walter and Marilyn,

 Ashe was promoted to Warrant Pay Clerk and spent the remainder of his career in this position in the Navy.  Upon retiring , he was very active in promoting the history of the Asiatic fleet and organizing reunions of shipmates.

 At the outbreak of World War II the Asheville was part of the Asiatic Fleet.  On December 8, 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Asheville was on Patrol in the Philippines.  She was immediately ordered south by CINCAF and made a twelve day, 2,000 mile journey to the coast of Java.  After the Battle of the Java Sea the Asiatic Fleet was severely challenged, and all ships were ordered to retreat to Australia or Ceylon.  The U.S.S. Asheville was delayed by engine troubles and the delay made the ship a ready target for the Japanese. It was torpedoed and sank on March 3, 1942.  Only one survivor is known from the ship. He was picked up by a Japanese destroyer and later died in a P.O.W. camp.

*Biography excerpted from and oral history taken in 2001 for D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections.

In 2008 the City of Asheville dedicated and renamed the City Hall exhibit of the four ships that bore the name USS Asheville in honor of Ashe. [Asheville Citizen-Times, February 6, 2008]