Thomas Patterson dies - saved Jeremiah O'Brien
Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Retired Rear Adm. Thomas J. Patterson, who had a major role in saving the World War II Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien as a living memorial to the U.S. merchant marine, died in New York City Wednesday at the age of 84.

He had been suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurological disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He died at the home of New York fire Capt. Richard Patterson, one of his two sons.
Adm. Patterson had a long career as a seagoing officer, a senior official of the U.S. Maritime Administration and deputy superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

But the real love of his life was an old gray cargo ship, one of more than 2,700 identical vessels produced in World War II. The ship was the Jeremiah O'Brien, launched in 1943 and a veteran of the 1944 D-Day invasion.

When he first saw the ship, it was languishing in the reserve fleet in Suisun Bay and was about to be scrapped. He talked the government into giving the ship to a nonprofit corporation he founded, then recruited a volunteer crew and sailed it to a San Francisco shipyard for an overhaul. The ship was declared a national historic landmark and was put on display on the San Francisco waterfront in 1980.

Fourteen years later, in 1994, Adm. Patterson and his associates sailed the old vessel from San Francisco to France and back, a voyage of more than 18,000 miles that took five months and attracted international attention.

President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary Rodham Clinton came aboard while the ship was in Britain. The O'Brien sailed to Normandy the next day to celebrate the golden anniversary of D-Day. Adm. Patterson called the occasion "the greatest day of my life."

The Jeremiah O'Brien returned to a tumultuous welcome at its home port in San Francisco in September and has cruised on San Francisco Bay and made occasional Pacific Coast voyages ever since.

The French government presented Adm. Patterson with the Legion of Honor in 2004 for his role in restoring the ship and for bringing it to France.

"If it hadn't been for Tom Patterson, the Jeremiah O'Brien wouldn't be what it is today," said Capt. Walter Jaffee, who wrote two books about the O'Brien. "If it weren't for him, it would never have returned to Normandy."

"He was a wonderful shipmate," said retired Navy Capt. Mark Shafer, one of Adm. Patterson's oldest friends. "This is the best thing you can say about any sailor."

Thomas Patterson Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1924. He was always drawn to the sea and attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, graduating in 1944. He held a commission both as a naval officer and as a merchant marine officer, and he sailed as a mate on tankers and then as a Navy officer aboard the Guardian, a World War II Liberty ship that had been converted to a radar picket ship in the Atlantic.

He was first the ship's executive officer and then commanding officer.

After Navy service, he worked for the Maritime Administration, rising to be the Western regional administrator based in San Francisco.

One of his assignments was to select Liberty ships for scrapping. It was then that he encountered the Jeremiah O'Brien, fell in love with the ship and determined to save it as a memorial.

He was also selected to be deputy superintendent of the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., his alma mater. The appointment carries with it the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Maritime Service.

After he retired to his home in San Rafael, he devoted all of his energies to the Jeremiah O'Brien and served as chairman of the National Liberty Ship Memorial, the corporation he founded to operate the ship.

He was married in 1947 to Ann Cornell, who predeceased him. In 2007, he married Dorothy Blackburn of Myrtle Beach, S.C., who survives him.

Other survivors include a brother, Donald Patterson of New Hope, Pa.; sons Thomas Patterson III of Pebble Beach and Richard Patterson of New York City; daughters Barbara Deane of Pacific Grove and Carolina Finn of Seattle; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held today at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y. Adm. Patterson's ashes will be scattered from the O'Brien at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to the National Liberty Ship Memorial, Pier 23, San Francisco, CA 94111.


E-mail Carl Nolte at cnolte@sfchronicle.com.