1942 — Mar 7, merchant marine Independence Hall, hits reef off Sable Isl., Nova Scotia, sinks–10

–10 AAMW. US Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S….World War II…. 2010.
–10 Pocock, Michael. “Daily Event for March 7, 2010.” Maritime Quest. Accessed 4-15-2021.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“03/07/42 Independence Hall Hog Islander Split Sunk Eastcoast Crew 10”

Pocock/Maritime Quest: “One of the ugly ducklings built at Hog Island [Philadelphia] the Independence Hall was built too late for the Great War, but 22 years after she was launched she was still in service and now she was in the Second World War. Early in the war, before the U.S.A. was involved the Independence Hall became a rescue ship when she picked up the crews of two ships lost to U-boats. On Oct. 17, 1939 SS Yorkshire and SS City of Mandalay were sailing in convoy HG-3 when they were sunk by U-37 and U-46 respectively. Almost 300 souls were taken aboard the Independence Hall and later landed at Bordeaux, France.

“On March 7, 1942 while outbound in convoy SC-73 the Independence Hall encountered some kind of trouble and became a straggler, off Sable Island she hit a reef and broke in two and sank taking ten of her forty-seven man crew with her.”

Pocock, at MaritimeQuest.com, shows names of seven of the ten fatalities:

Curott, Eugene A. Master
Edwards, Frederick L. Chief Mate
Ginivan, Edward Oiler
Jones, Oliver M. 2nd Mate
McCray, Paul Able Seaman
Nathan, Richard Wiper
Sarabia, Vibencio Chief Cook

V & W Destroyer Association: “One of the most dramatic and vivid events described by Cecil Holmes [HMS Witch] in A Sailor Remember is the rescue of survivors from the American steamship SS Independence Hall which broke its back and ran aground on Sable Island off the Canadian coast. His description is combined below with the memory of an 18 year old apprentice on the wrecked ship and a letter of commendation praising the rescue written by the only surviving deck officer.

Rescue of Seamen from the American Steamship
Independence Hall
7 March 1942

“The Independence Hall was one of 122 ‘Hog Islanders’ built at a new shipyard on Hog Island south West of Philadelphia on the Delaware River towards the end of World War 1. They had a reputation for being ugly but well-built and at the time Hog Island was the largest shipyard in the world with 50 slipways. She was completed in 1920 and named after Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Rights and the American Constitution were debated and signed in 1776 so had a special significance to all Americans.

“On 7 March 1942 the Independence Hall became separated from Convoy SC.73 from Halifax to Liverpool and ran aground on Sable Island. The survivors were desperately in need of assistance and HMS Witch was there to help. Lt Cdr Cecil Holmes vividly described the rescue in Chapter Eight of his memoir, ‘A Sailor Remembers’, based on ‘a radio broadcast I was asked to make some year or so later when the events were still fresh in my memory’.

“Sable Island is a long low sand pit lying some 200 miles off the coast of Canada on the Newfoundland Grand Banks, commonly called amongst sailors ‘the graveyard of the Atlantic’. Cecil Holmes begins his description of the rescue in the first person but when he describes his own part in risking the ship and his men he changes to the third person, referring to himself as ‘the captain’ as if to put a distance between himself and the dramatic events he describes.

Another account: “….An American ship, the USS Independence Hall, had foundered on a reef in gale force winds and had broken in half. Many men were lost but 37 survivors remained on the forward section of the ship. HMS Witch responded and positioned herself downwind of the Independence Hall and as close as she dared. Terry and another Sub Lt by the name of Fothergill each skippered a whaler and attempted to pull across to the stricken ship. The seas were mountainous and the whalers were frequently stood on their ends by the huge waves. Together with another rescue boat from a Canadian ship, and after several extremely dangerous approaches, they managed to rescue all 37 survivors but in doing so Terry’s whaler was capsized. All the crew were thrown into the sea. One crew member, Petty Officer Trick rapidly drifted away from the overturned hull of the whaler and Terry desperately swam after him. He was unable to save him and PO Trick was the only casualty of the rescue.”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S. and Gulf of Mexico During World War II. Eastcoast of U.S. (175 ships). 12-22-2010. Webpage accessed 4-14-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Pocock, Michael W. “Daily Event for March 7, 2010.” Maritime Quest. Accessed 4-15-2021 at: https://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2010/03_mar/07_independence_hall.htm

V & W Destroyer Association. “Rescue of Seamen from the American Steamship Independence Hall 7 March 1942.” HMS Witch webpage accessed 4-15-2021 at: http://vandwdestroyerassociation.org.uk/HMS_Witch/SS_Independence_Hall.html