Dorchester left New York on January 23, 1943, en route to
Greenland, carrying the four chaplains and approximately 900 others, as
part of a convoy of three ships (SG-19 convoy). Most of the military
personnel were not told the ship's ultimate destination. The convoy was
escorted by Coast
The ship's captain, Hans J. Danielsen, had been alerted that Coast
Guard sonar had detected a submarine. Because German U-boats were
monitoring sea lanes and had attacked and sunk ships earlier during the
war, Captain Danielsen had the ship's crew on a state of high alert even
before he received that information, ordering the men to sleep in their
clothing and keep their life jackets on. "Many soldiers sleeping deep
in the ship's hold disregarded the order because of the engine's heat.
Others ignored it because the life jackets were uncomfortable."
During the early morning hours of February 3, 1943, at 12:55 a.m., the vessel was torpedoed by the
German submarine U-223 off
Newfoundland in the North Atlantic.
The torpedo knocked out the
Dorchester 's electrical system,
leaving the ship dark. Panic set in among the men on board, many of
them trapped below decks. The chaplains sought to calm the men and
organize an orderly evacuation of the ship, and helped guide wounded men
to safety. As life jackets were passed out to the men, the supply ran
out before each man had one. The chaplains removed their own life
jackets and gave them to others. They helped as many men as they could
into lifeboats, and then linked arms and, saying prayers and singing
hymns, went down with the ship.
Thanks Sheldon.
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