USAT Dorchester
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USAT Dorchester was a United States Army Transport, sunk when it was part of a naval convoy during World War II. In February 1943, Convoy SG-19 left St. John's, Newfoundland, bound for the Army Command Base at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland. SG-19 consisted of six ships: Dorchester, two merchant ships leased by the United States from the Norwegian government-in-exile, SS Lutz, and SS Biscaya. They were escorted by three small United States Coast Guard cutters: Comanche (WPG-76), Escanaba (WPG-77) (both 165 feet), and Tampa (WPG-48) (240 feet). On the night of 3 February 1943, the ship was torpedoed by U-223. The damage was severe, and Dorchester sank in about 20 minutes, taking 675 men with her out of an onboard total of 904.
Dorchester is best remembered today for the story of the Four Chaplains who went down with her.
See USS Dorchester for commissioned United States Navy warships of this name.
George L. Fox • Alexander D. Goode • Clark V. Poling • John P. Washington
Chaplain's Medal for Heroism • USAT Dorchester
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