This is an article that is in two parts....more or less due to its length. I've wanted to do this article for a good long time...but pretty much hedged on it due to time that I've devoted to it...just in getting it down on a white sheet of paper.
This is an all true story...there is no goodie things in here just to make it sound good...what you read is all true blue....some of it will make you cringe if you put yourself in the place of the seamen in these situations.
This article is chuck full of Liberty ship events....sinking's...damage...encounters with U-boats that if you really put yourself in these guys shoes it will just scare the living hell out of you. There are stories where the crew didn't wait for the order from the captain to abandon ship...they just went ....on their own doing...sometimes it was ok...but most it was not...so read the event and asked yourself..."what would I have done"
Then another thing that may bowl you over and that is the "rule of the sea"....and most generally that is to always help a ship or seamen in distress. Well this more or less still holds true in war ....the U-boat would torpedo the Liberty ship...the ship would sink...the U-boat on most occasions would surface and offer food, medical supplies to the survivors....and pretty much point them toward the nearest land mass.
Then there are some overly sad events when a torpedo strikes as Liberty that is carrying 4,000 tons of explosives....and the explosion is view from 40 miles away....there is no piece of that ship bigger that your fist....of which rains down on the entire convoy.....and you know what the out come of that can be.
So...if you care to give this one a tumble....I think it'll be one of those that you pretty much don't wish to give up until you read it all.....
At the end of Part I....you can click to get to the "Conclusion" or Part II.
If you wish to give this one a read...just click: HERE
Hope you enjoy
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