Convoy Math: Saving Lives

There are numerous benefits associated with convoys. A big one was the slim possibility of rescue. In February 1943, the Battle of the Atlantic was fiercely contested. The North Atlantic Convoys sailed north to skirt Labrador, Greenland and Iceland because the air patrols provided a measure of protection. In February these waters are near freezing. If the survivors of a torpedoed ship were not picked up quickly they died. Consider the contrast between two ships sunk a few weeks apart.





On February 3, a troop ship (SS Dorchester) carrying 904 men was torpedoed within 100 miles of Greenland. On board the Dorchester were four chaplains, who gave their lives so others had a fighting chance against the cold. While six hundred and seventy five persons were lost, thanks to efforts of sailors on the convoy escorts (i.e. Charles W. David, Jr.) there were 229 survivors. One of the Four Chaplains was Rev. Clark V. Poling. Before the war he was the minister of the 1st Reform Church of Schenectady (about 15 miles from the USS Slater, Albany NY). An audio rendition of the story is available from The American Storyteller! The official report on the Dorchester sinking is also posted on the web.

A few weeks later (2/15/1943) the tanker SS Atlantic Sun was having engine trouble and straggled from convoy ON-165. It was sunk by by U-607. Without the benefit of convoy protection it appeared that the ship was loss with all hands. Two years later, near the war end, a sole survivor (William Golobich) was found as a German POW. He related a remarkable story in this newspaper account.