The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-01
Arctic Zone
Savage Fight

An Eastern Canadian Port, Oct. 1
-s(UP)-A savage, running battle
fought in heavy seas on the outer
rim Of the Arctic circle, In which
several Allied merchant vessels
were torpedoed and the Canadian
destroyer, st. Croix, formerly the U.
s. s. McCook, was sent to the bot
tom, was described today by surviv-
ing seamen.
The battle was the one mentioned
by Prime Minister Winston Church.
i'll in the British house of commons
on Sept. 81 as going on at that
time.
The st. Croix, one Of the destroy
ers exchanged by the United States
for air and naval base sites on Brit
ish territory, was sunk by a torpedo
with the loss Of all but one Of her
complement Of lat. Among the
missing was Surgeon-Lieut. William
Lyon Mackenzie King, of Bedford
N. s., nephew of Prime Minister w.
L. Mackenzie King
At least one attacking submarine
was destroyed, the SURVIVORS said,
when 1t was caught in the beam of
a searchlight and blasted out OF the
water by gunflre from an escorting
warShlp.
Survivors of two American and
one Norwegian cargo ships told OF
the battle, one Of the flercest Of the
war. They told Of ships breaking
in half as torpedoes ripped into
their hulis, of injured and dying
men struggling for hours in icy, OIL
covered water. Of exploding depth
charges, and o. once-sleek de-
stroyer foundering in death throeS.
William v. Duffy, Of Chicago, one
Of four saved from an engine room
crew Of IA aboard a United States
ship, said his vessel broke in two
within minute Of being struck
amidships by a torpedo.
IT was awakened by the sounding
Of o general alarm" Duffy said,
land was just reaching for my
clothes when the explosion threw
me on the deck and sent hunks and
gear flying In all directions"
Duffy said he grabbed a life belt,
ran aft, threw RATS overheard and
jumped after them.
Part Of Ship Gone
when I came to the surface
again." Duffy continued, "the after
part Of the ship was gone. It has
broken off from the forward end
and had sunk almost Immediately"
Duffy spent three hours in the
freezing water before being picked
up by British rescue ship. He
helped q shipmate get out OF the
water, but the latter died later.
died later.
II think 1t was shock and exhaus-
tion," Duffy said, HE appeared all
right when we got him on board
but suddenly he just died"
Jack Kirshbaum, A. B., an Amer
lean with southern accent, was
at the wheel when the torpedo
struck. The explosion, he said,
threw him against the roof Of the
wheelhouse. When he jumped over
board he was washed against the
forward part Of the ship, which re-
NAMED afloat for hours, but he
managed to swim away from 1t and
was picked up.
The crew came from all over the
United States. Some spoke In
Brooklyn accents, others with
southern drawls. The youngest was
Paul Steffen, of Kentucky, 17-year-
old messboy.
The crew of another American
cargo ship consisted largely of Negro
seamen, including the captain,
strapping six-footer. Because their
ship sank slowly and they were re-
moved directly from 1t, they suf-
fered less severely than many of
the other survivors.
Included among the American
survivors on various ships were Dan
Greg. Meriden. Conn, and Laurent
Picard, Acushnet, Mass.