MV San Demetrio

                                              5 NOVEMBER 1940                                               MV SAN DEMETRIO The Eagle Oil and Shipping Company operated in England from 1912-59 moving petroleum products between Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom.  Each of their tankers was given the Spanish name of a Christian saint.  Read More

BUCKLEY vs. U-66 (cont.)

                                                    6 MAY 1944                                           BUCKLEY vs. U-66 (cont.) Every available sailor manned BUCKLEY’s (DE-51) rail with a tommy gun, rifle, or any manner of weapon the arms lockers could yield.  Depth charges, set to explode at the surface, arched from the destroyer Read More

BUCKLEY vs. U-66

                                                    6 MAY 1944                                                BUCKLEY vs. U-66 Oberleütnant zur See Gerhard Seehausen was in desperate need of re-supply.  Operating in the mid-Atlantic west of the Cape Verde Islands, his cruise so far had been constantly dogged by US aircraft from a nearby Read More

Stafford vs. Manchen

                                                29-30 APRIL 1945                                         STAFFORD vs. MANCHEN Convoy KN-382 coursed its way slowly north from Key West to New York, this night reaching a position 98 miles east of Cape Henry.  The long war looked to be winding down, at least in Read More

HMS DEVONSHIRE vs. ATLANTIS

                                             22 NOVEMBER 1941                                    HMS DEVONSHIRE vs. ATLANTIS One of the Royal Navy’s early successes in WWII was the effort against German surface raiders.  Indeed, KMS ATLANTIS had accumulated some impressive statistics by November 1941.  Converted from the former freighter SS Goldenfels, Read More

The French Problem and Operation “Torch” (cont.)

                                            8-16 NOVEMBER 1942             THE FRENCH PROBLEM AND OPERATION “TORCH” (cont.) The landing of 84,000 American troops in French North Africa brought the full rage of Vichy President Marshal Philippe Pétain against President Franklin Roosevelt.  “It is with stupor and sadness that Read More

The French Problem and Operation “Torch”

                                              8 NOVEMBER 1942                   THE FRENCH PROBLEM AND OPERATION “TORCH” After the fall of France to the wehrmacht in June of 1940, der Fuhrer was content to allow France to be divided.  A German puppet government centered in the city of Vichy Read More

Convoy RB-1

                                          21-30 SEPTEMBER 1942                                                   CONVOY RB-1 In the decades before practical automobile transportation, Americans traveling between cities of the eastern United States often did so by way of intercoastal steamer.  Numerous private steamship companies offered passenger service on 200-400-foot, shallow draft screw Read More

The Fight to Save GLENNON

                                                                           8-10 JUNE 1944                                    THE FIGHT TO SAVE GLENNON USS GLENNON (DD-620), JEFFERS (DD-621), and BUTLER (DD-636) spent June 7th close inshore against “Utah” beach, the former expending 430 five-inch rounds against enemy pillboxes and machine gun nests from which American Read More

CORRY Controversy

                                                    6 JUNE 1944                                           CORRY CONTROVERSY The morning of 18 December 1941 dawned at the Charleston Navy Yard with palpable anticipation.  Our citizenry was united against the Pearl Harbor attack only 11 days earlier, and this morning our Navy was set to Read More