My uncle served as Naval Armed Guard on the Liberty Ship,
SS William Clark. His ship was sunk in November of '42 in the Greenland sea. He survived, losing a couple of toes to frostbite, plus a life of self mediating against PTSD. But even with that he was better off than those, Navy and civilian crew, who did not survive. Or much of the crew of the U-boat,
U-354 that sank them, which was itself sunk later in the war, under a different captain. The Clarke was the only merchant vessel U-354 sank.
Thanks for sharing that story.
The first time, many years ago, that I toured the USS Bowfin, at the submarine memorial at Pearl Harbor, I finally grasped..albeit to some small extent, what life was like for submariners. What was most amazing for me was the galley..that 2-3 cooks could produce meals 24/7 for a crew of 70-80 for 8 weeks ( duration of the average war patrol) in a space that about the size of my closet. I'm a foodie, love to cook, and told my then-wife that never again would I complain about a lack of counter space in our kitchen.