Mario J Borgatti entered active service in the United States Navy on October 31, 1942. Upon completion of basic training he was assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Degaussing Project. Degaussing is a process in which a system of electrical cables are installed around the circumference of ship's hull, running from bow to stern on both sides. A measured electrical current is passed through these cables to cancel out the ship's magnetic field. The highly fictional film “The Philadelphia Experiment,” also referred to as “Project Rainbow,” was loosely based on the U.S. Navy’s Degaussing Project.
Seaman 1st Class Mario J. Borgatti’s next assignment was at the U.S. Navy’s Brooklyn Navy Yard Annex, Bayonne, NJ. This is where they carried out what had been learned in the degaussing project was implemented. Although too expensive and not as efficient as an an alternative development called wiping, further refinements led to the development of the highly successful “HTS Degaussing” system tested and deployed by the US Navy in 2009. One famous ship that used the degaussing technique successfully was the RMS Queen Mary.
BM 2nd Class Mario J. Borgatti was assigned to the USS Prentiss in early 1945. After a shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay area, Prentiss sailed from Norfolk for Pearl Harbor, arriving on 13 April. She departed Hawaii on 6 May with ammunition and general cargo for Okinawa. Within hours of her arrival on 21 June, she underwent one of that area's frequent attacks. During the action her gunners shot down a kamikaze. Following this spirited reception, unloading of her volatile cargo was speedy; she departed the area on 27 June. Returning to San Francisco on 28 July, she remained on the west coast until after the end of hostilities.
Our Dad passed away on October 8, 2014
S. DENNIS, MA
