Ships
- USS Trenton (CL-11) Captain from 20 August 1945 · Relieved on 20 December 1945
Joseph Truitt Talbert had the light cruiser Trenton (CL-11) from 20 August 1945 until she was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 20 December 1945. He took her at the end of the war, while she was at Mare Island waiting for an inactivation overhaul, and he took her through the canal in November and up to Philadelphia. NavSource prints his given name as Joesph. He died in Coronado in 1969, a retired captain.
He was born on 31 July 1897. A family account prepared for Coronado's Avenue of Heroes says he was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and grew up in Winona, where his father was supervisor of agents for the Illinois Central Railroad. The Winona Times death notice says he was raised in Winona and was the son of Mr. and Mrs. B. A. Talbert. The same family account says an uncle, for whom he was named, sent him to the Lawrenceville School to prepare for the Naval Academy.
The Avenue of Heroes account says he was a member of the Naval Academy class of 1920 and was called to duty in 1919. It says he served in three battleships and six destroyers, and that he commanded two Eagle-class patrol boats, Eagle No. 34 and Eagle No. 11, the destroyer Manley, which that account numbers DD 34, and later the transport Hermitage (AP-54). It also lists duty as aide and flag lieutenant to the commandant of the Fifteenth Naval District in the Canal Zone, as enlisted personnel officer in the Bureau of Naval Personnel, at the Naval Academy, and in the Eleventh Naval District at San Diego. He married Anne Rominger in 1925. Uboat.net lists him as a lieutenant commander from 30 June 1935 and a commander from 1 April 1941, and does not give the earlier ships.
Uboat.net dates a temporary captain's rank to 20 June 1942. The family account says he commanded Hermitage in 1944 and 1945. That ship was the seized Italian liner Conte Biancamano. The account says he carried men for the Normandy invasion and then made ten voyages taking troops to Europe and bringing back wounded, prisoners, and refugees. DANFS, NavSource, and uboat.net all date his command of Trenton from 20 August 1945. NavSource and uboat.net end it on 20 December 1945, the day DANFS decommissions the ship at Philadelphia. DANFS has her reach San Francisco on 1 August, sit out the surrender at Mare Island, transit the canal on 18 November, and arrive at Philadelphia a week later. He did not have her for any of the Kuril bombardments.
The Winona Times of 20 March 1969 reported that Captain Joseph T. Talbert, U.S. Navy, retired, died on 14 March at Coronado, California. A memorial service was held at the Episcopal church there. He was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, section Q. The notice names his wife, Mrs. Anne R. Talbert, a son, Joseph T. Talbert Jr., a daughter, Mrs. Jo Anne Bulmer, four grandchildren, and a brother, Clifford B. Talbert of Jackson. The grave inscription includes the Navy Commendation Medal. The family account says both children were graduated from Coronado High School.