Battle of the Atlantic/Merchant Marine

[TomS]

Interesting thread. Thanks...

 

[Story]

When Ordinary Seaman Edward King found himself all alone on a floating crate in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, he had no way of knowing he was approximately 350 miles from the west coast of Ireland. The only survivor from a crew of 39, he later told a board of inquiry that he was very cold, wet, and dressed only in his work clothes and a tattered life-jacket.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/Opini...hree-other-torpedo-survivors-who-later-died/1

 

[Story]

Pembroke Dock plaque marks WWII Battle of the Atlantic

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-22500671

 

[Story]

A pollution legacy of World War II – thousands of gallons of oil in ships sunk just off the U.S. coast during the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942 – has been inventoried and prioritized to determine which of the wrecks present the greatest risks to marine life, coastal habitats and the people who swim, fish and dive in the ocean.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Resource Protection, armed with $1 million from Congress, set out in 2010 to inventory the thousands of wreck sites in coastal waters.

The largest impact, it turns out, dates to the German Navy’s stealth attack on the Atlantic Coast. Hundreds of ships were torpedoed and sunk by German U-boats from January through August 1942. An estimated 3,002 ships, 452 of them oil tankers, were sunk in the North Atlantic during World War II.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130522/NEWS08/305220031/Oil-lurks-in-WWII-ocean-shipwrecks

 

[Story]

Divers believe they have located WWII submarine 100 kilometres from ocean

An important piece of history from the Second World War may be sitting in a river in Labrador. Searchers believe they've found a German U-boat buried in the sand on the bottom of the Churchill River. The discovery has yet to be authenticated.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...2/07/25/nl-u-boat-labrador-discovery-725.html

When he first told people about Nazis spying on him from a U-boat stationed in Labrador during the Second World War, Glenn Martin’s story was called a tall tale.


http://www.paherald.sk.ca/News/Local/2013-10-28/article-3450673/Amazing-war-story-validated/1

 

[Story]

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — There's a German U-boat about 7 miles off Rhode Island's Block Island, in about 130 feet of water. Bill Palmer, chomping on an unlit cigar, will tell you it's a time machine.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765641068/U-Boat-wreck-off-RI-coast-a-dark-reminder-of-WWII.html

 

[Story]

What lies beneath…
http://www.breakingnews.ie/discover/what-lies-beneath-612913.html

 

[Story]

When World War II came to North Carolina’s Outer Banks
http://www.dailyadvance.com/feature...-came-north-carolina8217s-outer-banks-2300043

 

[Guttersnipe]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but if you're in San Francisco, you can visit the museum ship S.S. Jeremiah O'Brian. She's docked at Pier 45, which is right off the Embarcadero near Fisherman's Wharf. Pier 45 is also the berth of the U.S.S. Pampanito, a Gato-class fleet submarine that completed three war patrols in the Pacific during 1944 and '45.

I did some volunteer work on the O'Brian as a kid (sanding and painting) and had the opportunity to meet many MM veterans who sailed on her, or other liberty and/or victory ships. The commitment of those guys is amazing. In spite of official propaganda at the time, they new the dangers of sailing tramp steamers into a war zone and did it anyway. A number of them were so-called "premature antifascists" (Government code at the time for lefties/Sailor's Union of the Pacific activists/Communists/Spanish Civil War veterans/etc.) who were considered security risks and thus bared from regular military service. They were allowed to volunteer for the MM, and even though they could have used their "non-desirable" status to dodge the draft and sit out the war, they volunteered anyways!

 

[Two Types]

I once did an interview with a British Merchant Seaman who travelled to San Francisco during WW2 to crew a newly built Liberty Ship. First he and the rest of the crew sailed to New York. Then they spent a month or so living and working in New York. He worked in an ice cream factory by day and by night he went out listening to bands (he saw all the biggest names of the day). After that they travelled to San Francisco. One day they would work in the railway station sorting mail sacks, the next day they'd spend their money in bars. He said he had a fantastic time, especially since he was only 17 years old.
I included his story in my book Blitz Kids. (sorry for the shameless plug!)

 

[Story]

The first Sunday in February has been designated Four Chaplains Sunday. American Legion posts nationwide are marking the day with memorial services. This year is the 71st anniversary of the loss of USAT Dorchester, sank by a German U-Boat in the North Atlantic on February 3, 1943 in the North Atlantic. Among those who perished were four chaplains: Lt. George L. Fox (Methodist) Lewiston PA, Lt. Alexander D. Goode (Jewish) Washington DC, Lt. Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed) Columbus OH and Lt. John P. Washington (Roman Catholic) Newark NJ.

http://www.penfieldpost.com/article/20140123/NEWS/140129855/1994/NEWS

 

[Guttersnipe]

I once did an interview with a British Merchant Seaman who travelled to San Francisco during WW2 to crew a newly built Liberty Ship. First he and the rest of the crew sailed to New York. Then they spent a month or so living and working in New York. He worked in an ice cream factory by day and by night he went out listening to bands (he saw all the biggest names of the day). After that they travelled to San Francisco. One day they would work in the railway station sorting mail sacks, the next day they'd spend their money in bars. He said he had a fantastic time, especially since he was only 17 years old.
I included his story in my book Blitz Kids. (sorry for the shameless plug!)

Yeah, The City (San Francisco to the uninitiated) was a a swigin' town during The Big War. Fun fact: until about 2010, the population peak for the city and county of San Francisco was 1945!