An Episode of the Sea, 1942-45, Gaywood Steadham
From MemoryArchive
Who: Gaywood Steadham What: Memories of a Merchant Marine, WWII When: 1942-45 Where: Worldwide
For twelve years, I was an officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine and I sailed on Waterman ships out of the Port of Mobile, Alabama. WWII bought a tragic end to the carefree days of sailing on the deep blue seas. We could no long "ride" the currents of the Gulf Stream across the North Atlantic since we sailed alone and unarmed long before the U.S. was able to escort our ships in a convoy. We had to take a longer, rough water route and sail even further north on a zigzag course trying to elude devastating attacks by stalking German submarines.
The following sea story is my tribute to the men and women who made so many sacrifices during WWII. Regardless of what you may think is wrong with our country today, we are still the greatest nation on earth and worth fighting for.
There are many dramatic but often tragic sea stories about the vast Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Some are shrouded in mystery, lost to the fathoms of the oceans expanse. I never dreamed,Iwould have a part in unraveling one of those mysteries until I met Paul Burch, a retired real estate broker, on a bus tour to Toronto, Canada. Paul was an officer in the U.S. Army who had a rough time in the South Pacific during WWII. When I told him I was an officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine during WWII and that I lost my two brothers, one at sea in the North Atlantic and one in Okinawa, he told me he lost a brother in the Merchant Marine and never knew what happened to him for over forty-seven years. I told Paul to write down the name of the ship his brother was on and to give it to me. When I got home I looked up the name of the ship. Paul's brother was in a book entitled, "Careless Word, A Needless Sinking," written by Captain Arthur R. Moore. Captain Moore describes the episode when Paul's brother was lost at sea. His ship, the MS LOUISANA was enroute to Rio de Janeiro with a cargo of gasoline when it was torpedoed by a German submarine, the U-108 on August 17, 1942. The force of the expolsion blew the ship to smithereens. There were no survivors. Neither the ship nor any of its crew were ever heard of or seen again. The blast was so horrendous the Captain of the S.S. TERCERO reported he could only see a huge pillar of flame and smoke over the horizon.
My brother, George Linsay Steadham, was lost in the North Atlantic enroute to Liverpool England, March 10, 1943. He was a Chief Engineer on a Liberty Ship, the SS WILLIAM GORGAS. They were in a convoy when they were attacked by a "Wolf Pack" of German submarines. The ship took a torpedo in the engine room on the starboard side, killing the fireman, water tender and the oiler. Even though the sea was very rough, fifty-one men managed to abandon the ship. These men were rescued from the cold, rough North Atlantic by one of British Royal Navy destroyers escorting the convoy, the HMS HARVESTER. After making this gallant rescue, the HARVESTER rammed and sank the submarine that sank the WILLIAM GORGAS. The force of the crash broke one of the propeller shafts on the HARVESTER, but she continued to search for suvivors at a reduced speed. The rough sea and strain on the remaining propeller shaft proved to be too much and it also broke, leaving the destroyer helpless. While lying dead in the water, she took a torpedo on her port side and began to sink. My brother made it to the stern and his first assistant engineer clung to the handrails just forward of the stern on the starborad side. By this time the ship was sinking rapidly and the commander officer standing on the bridge shouted in this bull horn, "You Yanks don't wait too long to jump." They wished each other good luck and stepped off into the sea, and almost simultaneously another torpedo hit the HARVESTER with such force she broke into. The aft section of the ship stood up vertically and sank, taking my brother down with it. The first assistant engineer was blown clear and he was miraculously saved by a French Corvette, the ACONIT. He was the last person to see my brother alive and after the war when we were both retired from the sea, he came to see me and told me the above story.
My younger brother, Royce Worth Steadham, served in the U.S. Navy on the U.S.S. ZANIAH. He was lost at sea in the Pacific June 5, 1945. His outstanding service to his country merited a citation President Truman sent to my mother, which reads:
In grateful memory of Royce Worth Steadham who died in the service of his country at sea, Pacific Area, attached USS ZANIAH June 5, 1945. He stands in the Unbroken Line of Patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live and grow and increase its blessings. Freedom lives and through it, He lives in a Way That Humbles the Undertaking of most men.
Harry Truman President of the United States of America
A few years after the war, I received a letter from the Veterans Administration informing me that a Memorial Marker for my brother, George Lindsay Steadham, had been installed at the National Cemetery in Mobile. A huge American flag flies over row after row of marble markers. The marker next to my brother's is inscribed, Charles Hendrix Burch, Jr., the brother of Paul Burch, the man whom I met on the bus.
The Merchant Marine paid a very dear price to keep the Stars and Stripes of Freedom flying over America. We lost 1,500 ships and over 9,000 men. I cannot describe the hardships or the desperate struggle these gallant men endured to man their ship, until their Master gave the ultimate and final command, "Finish With Engines."
