Escape from Archangel: An American Merchant Seaman at War

Preface

Preface The following story is true. It was told to the author by O. M. (Jac) Smith,Jr., retired merchant seaman, (Merchant Marine Combat Bar,Atlantic War Zone Bar,Pacific War Zone Bar, Korean Service Bar, Vietnam Service Bar), during interviews conducted from August 1988 through August 1989 at his home in Biloxi, Mississippi. A man of quiet dignity, he had— out of modesty, out of painful memories—put awayfor more than forty years the remarkable story you are about to read. The events taken from Mr. Smith's own carefully chosen words and the facts presented from months of research will transport you through WorldWarII convoy duty in the North Atlantic on the infamous MurmanskRun to an impossible escape to freedom from a frozen hell where no American had gone before. The author worked in association with shippers, carriers, and ports for more than seven years, and was a member of the National Maritime Council prior to its sad demise. It is —vii— his hope that this true story will help to renew an appreciation of the American merchant seaman of World WarII. No author's finished work stands as his alone. The idea, the concept, the written words, the style are, more or less, his. But the finished book—tidy, free of awkward structure, grammatical errors, lapses in syntax, all the things that make a book easier for the reader—are primarily brought about by the unsung editors; I hereby sing the praises of two such heros. My deepest thanks to senior editor, JoAnne Prichard, University Press of Mississippi, and to copy editor, AnnFinlayson , veteran of New York's publishing world. I owe a debt of thanks to US Navy Rear Admiral Kemp Tolley (Ret.), naval historian, whose knowledge and dedication to accurate detail, proved invaluable. Many thanks to the research personnel of the libraries of Mississippi's universities and colleges, and those of Harrison County's library system. Credit is given elsewhere for those organizations, individuals , and institutions who provided the photographs used in this book. I thank them. I especially thank Frank O. Braynard, Curator, American Merchant Marine Museum Foundation, Kings Point, New York, for his enthusiasm, encouragement, and aid. To Larry Molony, gentleman, friend, bandy-legged captain of the LastResort, (aboard which we have shared more than a few adventures), I give appreciation for his time spent reading the manuscript and providing valued suggestions. Last, I thank O.M.(Jac) Smith for the courage and pain it took to unlock the closet in his mind where he had put away his remarkable story for more than forty-five years. -viii- To the men who served and were quietly forgotten. They were professional seamen in the American Merchant Marine. The public sometimes confused them with the Navy, sometimes with the Marines. Others called them feather merchants or draft dodgers. After the war the government refused to grant them veterans ' benefits. Yet the American Merchant Marine suffered catastrophic losses during World War II—proportionally greater losses than those of all American armed forces except (by 0.1 of 1 percent ) the U.S.Marine Corps. The total number of Allied merchant ships sunk between August 1939 and the war's end on August 15, 1945, total in the thousands; 948 of them were American.Thenumber of Allied merchant seamen who gave their lives has been estimated at over 40,000, and 6,000 of those were Americans. Britain lost 32,000, almost one out of every three men who served. This book is dedicated to every one of them, heroes of the sea This page intentionally left blank ...