USAT Dorchester USAT " Dorchester " was a United States Army Transport ship that was sunk by a torpedo from a German U - boat on February 3 , 1943 , during World War II . It was sailing to Greenland as part of a naval convoy . The loss of the ship became especially famous because of the story of the death of four Army chaplains , known as the " Four Chaplains " or the " Immortal Chaplains , " who all gave away their life jackets to save others before they died . Service history . The ship was built as the SS " Dorchester " , one of three identical ships built for the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company . Launched on March 20 , 1926 , she carried up to 314 passengers and a crew of 90 along the East coast between Miami and Boston . Requisitioned by the Army , she was converted to a troopship by the Atlantic , Gulf and West Indies Steamship Company in New York , and fitted with additional lifeboats and life rafts , as well as four 20 mm guns , a 3 " / 50 caliber gun fore , and a 4 " / 50 caliber gun aft . The USAT " Dorchester " entered Army service in February 1942 , crewed by many of her former officers , including her master initially , and a contingent of Navy Armed Guards to man the guns and to handle communications . Loss . On January 23 , 1943 , " Dorchester " left New York harbor . In February 1943 , Convoy SG - 19 left St . John ' s , Newfoundland , bound for the Army Command Base at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland . SG - 19 consisted of six ships : " Dorchester " , two merchant ships ( SS " Lutz " and SS " Biscaya " ) that were leased by the United States from the Norwegian government - in - exile , and their escorts , the small United States Coast Guard cutters , ( both 165 feet ) , and ( 240 feet ) . During the early morning hours of February 3 , 1943 , at 12 : 55 a . m . , " Dorchester " was torpedo ed by German U - boat . The damage was severe , boiler power was lost , and there was inadequate steam to sound the full 6 - whistle signal to abandon ship , and " Dorchester " sank by the bow in about 20 minutes . Loss of power prevented the crew from sending a radio distress signal , and no rockets or flares were launched to alert the escorts . A severe list prevented launch of some port side lifeboats , and some lifeboats capsized through overcrowding . Survivors in the water were so stiff from cold they could not even grasp the cargo nets on rescue vessels . The crew of the " Escanaba " employed a new " retriever " rescue technique whereby swimmers clad in wet suits swam to victims in the water and secured a line to them so they could be hauled onto the ship . By this method , " Escanaba " saved 133 men ( one died later ) and " Comanche " saved 97 men of the 904 aboard " Dorchester " . Life jackets offered little protection from hypothermia , which killed most men in the water . Water temperature was and air temperature was . When additional rescue ships arrived on February 4 " hundreds of dead bodies were seen floating on the water , kept up by their life jackets . " Notable passengers and crew . The American writer Jack Kerouac served on the " Dorchester " , where he befriended an African - American cook named " Old Glory , " who died when the ship sank after the torpedo attack . Kerouac would have also been on the ship during the attack , but for a telegram he received from coach Lou Little , asking him to return to Columbia University to play football . The Four Chaplains . " Dorchester " is best remembered today for four of the Army officers among the military personnel being transported overseas for duty : the Four Chaplains who died because they gave up their life jackets to save others . These chaplains included Methodist minister George L . Fox , Reformed Church in America minister Clark V . Poling , Roman Catholic priest John P . Washington and Rabbi Alexander B . Goode . Congress established February 3 as " Four Chaplains Day " to commemorate this act of heroism , and on July 14 , 1960 , created the Chaplain ' s Medal for Heroism , presented posthumously to the next of kin of each of the chaplains by Secretary of the Army Wilber M . Brucker at Fort Myer , Virginia on January 18 , 1961 . Commemoration on US postage . In 1948 the U . S . Post Office issued a commemorative stamp in honor of the heroism and sacrifice of the chaplains . It was designed by Louis Schwimmer , the head of the Art Department of the New York branch of the Post Office . This stamp was highly unusual , because until 2011 , U . S . stamps were not normally issued in honor of someone other than a President of the United States until at least ten years after his or her death . The stamp went through three revisions before the final design was chosen . None of the names of the chaplains were included on the stamp , nor were their faiths ( although the faiths had been listed on one of the earlier designs ) : instead , the words on the stamp were " These Immortal Chaplains . . . Interfaith in Action . " Another phrase included in an earlier design that was not part of the final stamp was " died to save men of all faiths . " By the omission of their names , the stamp commemorated the event , rather than the individuals " per se " , thus obfuscating the ten - year rule in the same way as later did stamps honoring Neil Armstrong in 1969 and Buzz Aldrin in 1994 , both of whom were still alive .