Title
Weir, Richard (Dick)
Type (Physical characteristics and technical requirements)
.wav
Description (Scope and Content)
00:00 Introduction, forms
06:18 Enters Merchant Marine in March 1943
06:36 Training at Sheepshead Bay
07:20 Childhood and youth
07:50 Berkshire carrying coal coastwise
12:18 Sinking of the Lemuel Burrows in New York Harbor
13:23 Nashaba carrying locomotives in England
17:17 At “coffin corner” in convoy from England, passes torpedoed crew from ship ahead of them in line
20:08 M. and J. Tracy in October 1943, coastwise laker carrying coal
25:10 Alfred Moore in January 1944, liberty ship to North Africa carrying cargo, sails as Boatswain
26:25 Storm at Naples
28:05 At Italian port loading ships with troops for the front lines
30:55 Interaction with Navy gun crews
33:15 Exchester in June 1944, Hog Islander to Cuba for sugar; problems with lice
39:25 Takes job on the Achilles, coastwise coal ship, misses D-Day
42:20 Winfred L. Smith in September of 1944, decision to stay on for the Murmansk run
44:47 Assembling the convoy in Scotland, leaves from Iceland with well equipped escort
47:55 Turns 21 onboard ship in Russia, captive stevedores load and unload ship, interaction with the Russians
49:14 Unloading narrow-gauge locomotives with supplies to Leningrad
50:45 Journey back, attacked by planes; gets off ship in Portland, Me.
53:03 Gets a job on Robert L. Vann, a liberty ship, with friend at the union hall in New York
55:11 Sent through the Channel to Antwerp on the Scheldt River, hits a mine on the way back
57:32 Moments on the ship before the mine hit, moment when the mine hit
59:45 Getting on and releasing the lifeboat
1:02:11 On the lifeboats on the North Sea
1:03:30 Picked up by Canadian PT Patrol Boat
1:05:20 Brought to shore at Ostend, Belgium, brought to British Army Depot
1:08:54 Brought the England on ferry boat, meets up with Captain at hotel, no men were lost
1:11:10 Brought back to U.S. onboard the Manhattan along with six other torpedoed crews
1:14:40 Transported form Norfolk, Va. to New York locked in railroad cars
1:16:14 Paid off in lower Manhattan, given discharge papers
1:18:50 Time in New York, training at cram school on Whitehall Street
1:20:15 Meets his future wife in Bronxville
1:23:17 Passes 3rd Mate’s exam in Providence, R.I.
1:26:08 Cacique in May 1945, freighter to South America as Jr. 3rd Mate
1:29:15 Hears about the War ending at sea, turns on deck lights
END 1:29:56
Rights (Terms governing use)
Seamen’s Church Institute provides digital access to materials from its Archives for educational and research purposes. Responsibility for determining copyright status of and securing permission to use an item rests with the person desiring to use the material.
Date
2012 January 30
Item Relations
Citation
“Weir, Richard (Dick),” SCI Digital Archives, accessed May 4, 2024, http://seamenschurch-archives.org/sci/items/show/156.
