was the silhouette of a large troop ship. This was the USAT Dorchester, which was in a convoy with five other ships. Three Coast Guard Cutters, Tampa, Comanche, and Escanaba with two other freighters, Lutz and Biscaya. This was Convoy SG19 with the Tampa as lead ship and

Captain Joseph Greenspun as commander. He would issue all orders pertaining to speed, course and formation.
The USAT (United States Army Transport) Dorchester was the biggest ship in the convoy, being 367 ft long. It was built in 1926 as a luxury passenger ship, accommodating 314 people. It was the pride and joy of the Merchant and Miners Transportation Company of Baltimore, Maryland. However, in March 1942 the US Army transformed the Dorchester into an Army Troop Ship. It was now sailing the ice-packed North Atlantic Ocean with a total of 900 persons onboard. (597 servicemen, 171 civilians and 132 crewmen.) It also carried 1000 tons of food,

engineering equipment and misc. cargo. The skipper was Hans Danielsen of the Merchant Marines, sailing under Army orders. The convoy had been sailing along at around 12 knots (nautical miles 13.8 MPH) but it had now slowed down to approximately 6 knots because the ice and snow was coating the ships very heavily. And the gale-force winds were tossing the ships around like little toys.
On the CG Cutters the depth charges were frozen to the racks and the gun breeches were frozen shut. Live steam hoses had to be used to thaw everything out as the convoy was defenseless. And to make things worse, almost two thirds of all onboard lay sprawled across their bunks. They were all helpless because they were seasick. Four men walked up and down the Dorchester comforting and counseling the men. If you were a serviceman or civilian, Jewish, Catholic or Protestant, it made no difference to these four army chaplains. The senior chaplain was Lt. Rev. George Lansing Fox who was 41 years old. George was a badly wounded, highly decorated Marine Veteran of World War One. He had a wife and two children. He was also Pastor of the Gilman Methodist Church in Gilman, Vermont. The second chaplain was Lt. Rev Clark Poling, who was 32 years old. He was seventh in an unbroken line of Ministers. He was Pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Schenectady, New York. He had a wife and young child and an unborn baby that he would never see. The third chaplain was Lt. Rabbi Alexander Goode (Goodkowitz)

who was 32 years old. He was Pastor of Temple Beth Israel In York, Pennsylvania. He also had a wife and baby. The last chaplain was Lt. "Father" Johnny Washington, a priest who was Associate Pastor of St. Stevens Catholic Church in Kearny, New Jersey. He was 35 years old and had one bad eye. He covered it up twice and read the eye chart twice with his good eye. That was fudging he said, but the only way to get into the army.
Finally, the worst ice storm in over 30 years began to abate. Everyone gave a big sigh of relief, hoping things would return to normal. But it was not to be ... for this announcement came blaring over the loudspeaker; "Now hear this. This convoy is being shadowed by an enemy submarine. Please sleep in all your gear. This includes your shoes and life jacket. Then if the Dorchester is torpedoed, you will have a much better chance of survival if fully clothed." Unfortunately, some of the men did not heed this warning and stripped down to their "skivvies" (undershirts and under-shorts). They believed the very foggy and dark night would prevent a torpedo attack, and all of the convoy ships were zig-zagging also, to confuse any submarines lurking nearby.
The skipper of U-223 Lt. Commander Wachter, ordered Sergeant Kurt Roser in the control room to fire a spread of three torpedoes. He passed the word on down to Erich Passler, the torpedoman, fire when the ship is 1000 yards away. At 12:55 am, one lone torpedo struck the Dorchester on the starboard (right) side near the engine room. The other two missed the troop ship completely, but one was enough... as it blew a large hole from below the water line up to the main deck. The explosion was muffled because the torpedo struck under water but it instantly flooded the engine room, drowning everyone stationed there. At the same time the sea water flooded the lower compartments drowning almost 300 men.
Within a minute the Dorchester was dead in the water and had listed (tilted) almost thirty degrees to starboard. Meanwhile, the four chaplains, Rev Fox, Rev Poling, Rabbi Goode, Father Washington, all leaped from their bunks. They were determined to help save as many men as possible for they immediately realized that their ship was sinking rapidly. By now the Dorchester had listed forty five degrees to starboard causing panic among the men.
The four chaplains hurried from their stateroom to hand out life jackets to men who had left theirs behind. They began to calm those on deck and urge them to climb aboard a lifeboat. The ship had 13 life boats, one motorboat, 45 rubber doughnut rafts and 2 square wooden rafts. These boats and rafts could hold 1,286 persons, more than enough to save all 900 people onboard but terror,

temperature and inadequate training spelled disaster. Many of the men just jumped off the side of the ship into thirty four degree water.
Soon all of the spare life jackets were gone and several soldiers had none. So one by one the four chaplains took off their own life jackets and handed them to four soldiers. The four chaplains, one priest, one rabbi and two ministers linked hands together. As the Dorchester plunged under the waves they were seen praying together.
The Chief of Army Chaplains, Brig, Gen. William R. Arnold said, "the extraordinary heroism and devotion of these men of God has been an unwavering beacon for the thousands of chaplains of our armed forces. Their example has inspired and strengthened people everywhere. The manner of their dying was one of the most noble deeds of World War Two. "
184 other chaplains were also killed in World War Two.
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