Title: So close to home
Description: "On May 19, 1942, a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey fifty miles from New Orleans. Captained by twenty nine-year-old Iron Cross and King's Cross recipient Erich Wurdemann, the submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia with sixty-two souls on board. Most aboard were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians, including the Downs family: Ray and Ina, and their two children, eight-year-old Sonny and eleven-year-old Lucille. Fast asleep in their berths, the Downs family had no idea that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, chaos ensued--and each family member had to find their own path to survival." --
Subjects: Submarine, Naval operations, Survival at sea, Shipwreck survival, World War, 1939-1945, World war, 1939-1945, biography, German Naval operations
Places: Gulf of Mexico
People: Downs family