August 21, 2002

Just another War Story?

While exploring Newfoundland, we sometimes found it

difficult to decide which roads to take and which to pass. In
the two months we had planned for our explorations, it
would be impossible to travel every road and see every little
community. So with only a few weeks remaining and
having traveled the roads over about 80% of the province,
we faced the decision concerning the boot-shaped Burin
Peninsula in southeastern Newfoundland. Reading through
the travel guides, we could not find any compelling reasons
to drive the approximately 300 miles necessary to see that
part of Newfoundland. But then, remembering that we had
never regretted decisions to visit any of the other parts of
Newfoundland, we decided in favor of this trip – mainly
because it was there.

The Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) that connects the major

towns across Newfoundland is a modern and generally excellent highway. But many of the
highways that lead to towns off the TCH are often poorly maintained, very rough and ill-suited
for travel with a large motorhome. Consequently, we chose to leave the motorhome at an RV
park near the TCH and drive the Burin Peninsula in the Honda CRV. We planned to stay away
for a couple of days and overnight in a motel or B&B. To minimize regimenting schedules and
not knowing where we would end up each evening, we chose not to make reservations. But as
you might guess, when we asked for a room in the Marystown Hotel, we were informed that
every room in town was booked. We quickly put our cell phone to work and found a room at a
motel about 30 miles south of Marystown at the town of St. Lawrence. A disco in the small
motel kept waking us till the dance ended about 3:30 AM. We rose in the morning somewhat
groggy, but ready for another day of adventure. St. Lawrence’s claim to fame was that it was the
site of a ship wreck. Upon the encouragement of several local folks, we decided to make a quick
trip to the wreck site. “So what is new,” I thought. The history of this part of the world is filled
with stories of ship wrecks – why would this one be of particular interest? Following the
direction of the motel clerk, we turned south from downtown and entered a narrow, gravel road
that led across the barrens, bogs and rocky coastline. At the end of the road, detailed information
signs told by words and pictures the incredible story. The story unfolded as we hiked the 2-
kilometer trail, reading additional parts of the story along the way. It was a story about which we
knew nothing. But a story of considerable importance to Americans, because the wreck of three
US warships (USS Wilkes, USS Truxtun & USS Pollux) that had crashed into these remote
coastal cliffs during WW II. Although the Wilkes was able to back off the rocks at high tide, it
was still one of the greatest naval disasters in US history.
If this was just a story about 203 sailors dying in a ship wreck during WW II, this story would
have been of no more interest to us that the stories of some 3323 other ships and U-boats lost at
sea during the war -- tragic but unexceptional. But, as the story was revealed in detail to our
groggy brains, we were amazed to find that we were actually walking in or near the footsteps of
survivors who had braved the icy waters, climbed an icy cliff while wet and covered with fuel oil
and slogged through deep snow to find help as they were freezing. Near the end of the trail, we
climbed up a steep slope and viewed down about 300 feet through the fog into the turbulent
waters of Chambers Cove where one of the ships had crashed. Only now was the full impact of
the story becoming evident. We could visualize sailors jumping off the ships as they broke up in
the pounding surf. The storm that drove the ships off course and blinded their primitive and
defective radar continued to pound the sailors against the rocky cliff. The water was so cold that
if the sailors could not pull themselves out onto a small beach or icy rock, the usually died in
about five minutes. Those who did not die from the cold were bashed to death upon the sharp
rocks. In spite of these terrible conditions, 185 sailors survived due primarily to the assistance
given by folks from St. Lawrence who helped them out of the water, pulled them up the cliff on
ropes and helped them make the journey to St. Lawrence. There the women of the town took
over and scrubbed the oil from the men, thawed them, nursed them, fed them and housed them.
One woman scrubbed and scrubbed on one poor fellow, but could not remove the stain. Finally,
he explained that his skin was actually black and that it was clean enough. The woman had
never seen a black man before.
 Chamber Cove and Fog

When we returned to town, we visited the local mining museum which also had a section about
the wreck. They also sold a book titled: “Standing into Danger” written by Cassie Brown – a
Newfoundland native. I bought the book and began reading the details of the story. It was so
fascinating that I could not put the book down at bedtime. When fatigue finally forced me to
stop reading, I was unable to sleep – my mind was too full of sailors drowning in icy/oily water.
But, the story was not just about tragedy; it is also about the indomitable human spirit, the
incredible will to survive, the fallibility of humans especially under stressful conditions and
Navy administrators keen to shift blame and scapegoat a few innocents. It is a story of miners
and fishermen who dropped whatever they were doing to go out into a blinding, winter storm to
save their fellow humans under the most trying of conditions. This town of St. Lawrence,
Newfoundland pulled out all stops to rescue and save the sailors. As a way of showing
appreciation, the US Government ponied up $400,000 in 1954 to build the town a new hospital.
This old hospital has recently been torn down and a shiny new replacement hospital is still
named the United States Memorial Hospital.

As we are not dedicated students of American wars, it may be understandable that we would not
know of this wartime story. The story is likely buried in some history book we were forced to
read against our will many years ago in school. But, maybe if the citizens of Newfoundland had
voted to become citizens of the USA instead of Canada (the vote was 49% to 51%) the story
might be better known to American students. Who knows!

In her book, Ms. Brown details the causes of the disaster. The hurricane-strength storm, the
changeable currents, lack of visibility, poor
communication between ships, zigzagging to avoid
German U-boats, faulty equipment, failure of
communication and advice ignored, all contributed. She
interviewed surviving sailors and residents of St. Lawrence and told their harrowing stories in
some detail. She also found that in the subsequent and hasty court-martials of Captains and a
navigator, some important information was overlooked which may have exonerated the
navigator.

During wartime, a story like this might make the news headlines for a few days until the next
ship was sunk or battle won. But maybe this story should be remembered because it is not just a
tragic story of American history, it is also a testament to the fact that our Canadian and
Newfoundland friends are truly good neighbors.

Winfield