This page is dedicated to the Four Army Chaplains who gave their lives in order to save others and guiding them to safety.

Four Chaplains From Sinking WW II Ship

The Four Chaplains

 

Chaplain George L. Fox was the oldest of the four chaplains aboard the Dorchester. He was called the "Little Ministe," as he only stood about 5 1/2 feet. In 1917, he lied about his age to enlist in the Marines as a medic. At the end of World War I, he returned home and to school to become an accountant. Unfulfilled, he became a Methodist minister. When war broke out again, he told his wife he needed to re-enlist. He knew what the boys were about to face and wanted to be able to help them. He enlisted in World War II on Aug. 8, 1942.

A high school scholar, Chaplain Alexander Goode also medaled in track and swimming. His goal was to follow his father and become a rabbi. Although he was assigned to a synagogue as a rabbi, he wanted to do more. He entered John Hopkins University and received his medical degree. His enlistment date is recorded as Aug. 9, 1942.

Chaplain Johnny Washington, from Newark, N.J., was born into a large Irish family. His love of music allowed him a chair in the church choir. He was a scrappy kid and a member of the South 12th Street Gang when he received the call to the priesthood. He asked to be sent back to his old neighborhood where he understood the kids there. He returned as the parish priest, played ball in the streets with the youngsters, organized youth baseball teams. On May 9, 1942, when some of the boys left to join the Army, Father Johnny enlisted along side them.

The youngest of the four chaplains, Chaplain Clark Poling was the seventh generation in an unbroken line of Dutch reform ministers. His enlistment date is June 10, 1942. Before leaving for Greenland, Clark asked his father, "Dad, don't pray for my safe return, just pray that I shall do my duty and something more, pray that I shall never be a coward. Pray that I shall have the strength, courage, and understanding of men, and especially pray that I shall be patient. Oh, Dad, just pray that I shall be adequate."

The USAT Dorchester

The bell on the USAT Dorchester rang twice at 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1943, never to be heard again. The former luxury coastal steamship turned troopship was torpedoed by an enemy submarine in an area of the Northern Atlantic Sea known as Torpedo Junction, sinking in under 15 minutes. Rescue began over an hour later and lasted more than 12 hours. Statistics show that the frigid waters can take the life of an individual in under 3 minutes.

The ship –– carrying 902 servicemen, merchant seamen, and civilian workers, bound for Greenland –– had been used up and down the U.S. eastern seacoast. It was 368 feet by 52 feet, and only had a 16-foot draft, suitable for the coast, but not designed for deep open waters. She was being used to transport soldiers to Greenland during the height of World War II.

The waters were treacherous not just due to the weather, but the U-boats known for patrolling those waters. Ice began to build on the decks, slowing the old ship to just 10 knots.

The Dorchester was one of three ships in the SG-19 convoy moving across the icy Northern Atlantic waters from Newfoundland toward an American base in Greenland. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters, Tampa, Escanaba and the Comanche escorted the Dorchester and two other ships.

Many of the military personnel and civilians aboard were seasick from the trip. The four-army chaplains among the troops were doing their best to so the ailing soldiers.

With concern of enemy submarines reported, the Dorchester's captain, Hans J. Danielsen, cautiously ordered the men to sleep in their clothing, with lifejackets close at hand as they neared the coast of Greenland. The ship was only 150 miles from its destined port, just after midnight, when a submarine fired a torpedo, striking the starboard side of the Dorchester, exploding in the boiler room, destroying the main electric supply and releasing clouds of suffocating steam and ammonia gas.

Many on board died instantly, while some were trapped below deck. Others, startled, awakened from their bunks, made their way to the decks of the already listing vessel. The ship took on water rapidly through the massive breach. The added weight of ice on the decks hastened the ship's sinking.

The horror of the night continued with overcrowded lifeboats capsized. Life rafts drifted away in the huge waves before anyone could reach them. Frozen in fear, men clung to the side rails, unable to will themselves to let go and plunge into the dark, frigid, churning waters far below.

The USCG Comanche saw the flash of an explosion and left the convoy to return to give aid, rescuing 97 survivors. The USCG Escanaba circled the sinking Dorchester, and rescued an additional 132 survivors. The third U.S. Coast Guard cutter, the Tampa, continued on to Greenland, providing safe passage for the two other vessels.

Survivors gave testimony that the only fragment of hope came from the four-army chaplains who were able to calmly guide men to their lifeboat stations. They opened a storage locker for lifejackets and began to hand them out. One soldier tried to return to his cabin to retrieve is gloves. One of the chaplains stopped him and told the soldier he could have one of his pair of gloves. The soldier, a survivor of the sinking, realized later that the chaplain did not have two pair of gloves.

The chaplains coaxed men to go over the side of the ship to the safety of the lifeboats. When the supply of lifejackets was exhausted, it was reported by some of the survivors that each chaplain removed his own lifejacket and handed it to the next person in line, essentially giving away their only means of saving themselves in order to save others.

An interfaith memorial chapel was dedicated in Feb. 1951 in Philadelphia to the memory of the four chaplains, and hence is called the Chapel of the Four Chaplains. Mounted in the wall is a stained glass depicting the sinking of the Dorchester. The chapel is currently located at the old Philadelphia Navy Yard.

On December 19, 1944, all four chaplains were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross. The Chaplain's Medal for Heroism was authorized in 1961 and posthumously presented by the President of the United States to the families of the chaplains.

The chaplains were also honored with a stamp, issued in 1948 and by an act of Congress designating February 3 as "Four Chaplains Day." Three of the four chaplains were Boy Scouts or Boy Scout leaders.