WTF Wednesday- WWII Merchant Marines

[brickhousewench]

The U-boat war was particularly unforgiving to merchant mariners. The Merchant Marine suffered a higher casualty rate than any branch of the military, losing 9,300 men, with most of the losses occurring in 1942, when most merchant ships sailed U.S. waters with little or no protection from the U.S. Navy. In March 1942 alone, 27 ships from six Allied

Comments

[mre_awiwench]

Love the merchant Mariners. They still work hard and get no respect.

[fbhjr]

My father's cousin joined to avoid being drafted into the army.
Many years later he said he probably should have gone into the army like my father did.

[brickhousewench]

Was he the one who you were writing about who got torpedoed three times?

[fbhjr]

Yep. That's him. My father's cousin Ted.

[guy_todd]

My uncles Bernie and Leo were both Merchant Mariners. Their other brother Clarence (my godfather) worked as a nurse/orderly on the hospital ship Seminole, which cared for many of the wounded from the Italian campaigns. Bernie and his bride-to-be had to postpone their wedding because U-boat activity made it too dangerous to put into port on time!