Born: January 2, 1915 Merchant Seaman, U.S. Merchant Marine (FIREMAN WATERTENDER) Service# 7763
MERCHANT SHIP – SS PATRICK J HURLEY (STEAM TANKER)
Home or Place of Enlistment: Boise, Idaho Lost at Sea: September 13, 1942
At 01.35 hours on 13 Sep 1942 the unescorted Patrick J. Hurley (Master Carl Stromgren) was attacked with all guns by U-512 about 950 miles northeast of Barbados just when a lookout spotted the U-boat about 150 yards off the starboard bow, running parallel to the ship. The U-boat had missed the tanker with a torpedo during daylight the day before and apparently had a long time to catch the tanker, which was running at 15 knots. The gunfire hit the midships cabins, destroyed the radio antenna, wrecked the lifeboats, destroyed the forward 3in gun (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in, two 50mm and two 20mm guns), damaged the engine room and holed the tanker at the waterline, starting a fire in the cargo. The tanker increased speed to about 17 knots and tried to escape by evasive maneuvers, while the armed guards fired six rounds from the stern gun and the 20mm guns, but to no avail. The U-boat fired about 30 shells, which turned the ship into a flaming inferno within ten minutes and caused her to sink shortly after dawn. The most of the ten officers, 34 crewmen and 18 armed guards on board abandoned ship in two lifeboats and two rafts when she was still under way and later redistributed into the two boats. The master, three officers, nine crewmen and four armed guards were lost.
Because the Merchant Marine was not considered a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, the Purple Heart was not available to Merchant Mariners; as such, the Merchant Marine Mariner's Medal was established by an Act of Congress on 10 May 1943.
Awarded only to members of the United States Merchant Marine, the Mariner’s Medal recognizes seamen who were killed or wounded as a direct result of conflict against an opposing armed force; in specific, it was awarded to any seaman who while serving in a ship during a war period is wounded, suffers physical injury, or suffers through dangerous exposure as a result of an act of enemy of the United States. In the event any such seaman dies from the wounds or injuries before the award can be made to him, the medal may be presented to the person named in the War Risk Policy as his beneficiary. 6,635 Mariner's Medals were awarded for service in the Second World War; all further awards of the Mariner's Medal were suspended on 30 June 1956 and has not been awarded in subsequent U.S. theaters of conflict.
The merchant marine is collectively those non-naval ships that carry cargo or passengers or provide maritime services, and the civilian crewmen and officers who sail those ships. During World War II the ships and men of the United States merchant marine transported across the oceans of the world the vast quantities of war materiel, supplies, equipment, and troops needed to fight and win that war. The men of the U.S. merchant marine were civilian volunteers who nonetheless died proportionally in numbers that rivaled or exceeded any branch of the uniformed military.
On March 13, 2020, the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded collectively to the United States Merchant Mariners of World War II, in recognition of their dedicated and vital service during the war.