52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 11 - Lucky

Bernard Neal Chapman, my Dad's first cousin, survived the torpedoing of his ship, the USS Benjamin Harrison, by U-boats during WW II.

Bernard was born 1921 in Brockport, New York, the oldest child of Neal Bernard and Lillian Benson Chapman.

World War 2 started in September1939. The US, while officially neutral, provided significant military supplies and other aid starting in September 1940, through the Lend-Lease program, to Great Britain and other allies fighting the Nazis. America geared up it's production of war materials starting in 1940. Included in this buildup were a class of cargo ships called Liberty Ships. These ships were based on a British design that was simple and low-cost to produce. Amazingly, 18 US shipyards built 2,710 Liberty Ships between 1941 and 1945, an average of three ships every two days.

The United States officially entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.

Bernard Chapman WW 2 Draft Card

Bernard registered for the draft in February 1942, a few days after his 21st birthday, and enlisted in the US Navy in October 1942.

The USS Benjamin Harrison was a Liberty Ship built in the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland, and was launched in January 1942. It was a merchant ship run by a private company, with the US Navy supplying Navy guards to operate the deck guns and radios. Merchant ships traveled in convoys across the ocean, escorted by either British or US Navy warships. The ship was a survivor of the famous convoy PQ17 which lost 24 of 35 merchant ships to German attacks in July 1942.

Bernard did his basic training at Sampson, New York, then completed additional training at Norfolk, Virginia. He was then assigned to the Benjamin Harrison in either January or February 1943, as part of the armed guard.

On March 12, 1943, convoy UGS6, with the Benjamin Harrison, along with 44 other merchant ships and an escort of 6 destroyers, was attacked by 3 German Wolfpacks, consisting of 17 submarines, over the course of 7 days. On the 16th of March, the Benjamin Harrison was hit by two torpedoes fired by U-boat U-172. The ship began to list but appeared to be in little danger of sinking quickly. As the crew prepared to abandon ship, confusion caused a couple of the lifeboats to be launched incorrectly, causing the occupants of one lifeboat to be dropped into the sea.

These 15 men had to swim with their life preservers until they were picked up by a motor merchant ship. Three other survivors were picked up by the destroyer USS Rowan, which scuttled the Benjamin Harrison with gunfire. Sadly, two officers and one armed guard were lost.

I don't know if Bernard was one of the crew members on the life boat or that had to swim in the ocean. He finished his service at a couple of Naval Facilities on Long Island, NY, and was honorably discharged on November 17, 1945.

Bernard and Veronica (Vera) Jankosky married on April 13, 1944. Vera was from Hewlett, Long Island, which is near the Naval base, so it's likely that's how they met. They settled in Rochester, New York. Bernard passed away in 1978 and Vera in 2011.