Just before WWII broke out, three US Navy ships, zig-zagging to avoid German submarines, collided with the Labrador coastline. Hundreds of US sailors drowned or died of hypothermia. The very-rural Canadians saved as many as they could. A book was written about the pre-war tragedy, but not by an American: it was written by a Canadian, apparently to spare their American ally the grief in recalling it to mind. Not surprisingly, Google doesn't have a reference to this little-known disaster.
This might be what you are referring to,
February 18 1942,
On February 15, 1942, the Pollux departed Maine for Argentia, Newfoundland, where a large US air-naval base existed. It was carrying a cargo of bombs, radio equipment, aircraft engines, and other supplies, and was under the escort of the destroyers USS Truxtun and USS Wilkes. Onboard the Pollux was its usual complement of 143 enlisted men, 16 officers, and the single alley cat that served as mascot.......
They owe their lives in large part to eight men from the nearby community of Lawn, as well as to the townsfolk of St. Lawrence, who travelled to the wreck site through a winter storm and spent hours pulling sailors over the cliff and then transporting them to safety. The disaster remains one of the worst in US naval history.
https://www.mun.ca/mha/polluxtruxtun/pollux/
http://www.nww2m.com/2012/02/uss-pollux-truxton-incident/