U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Cadet Corps Cadet-Midshipmen Survivors of Vessels Lost through Enemy Action 1942-1945
In September 1943 a curious club whose officers had the titles of “The Warhead” (President). “The Detonator” (Vice-President), “Booster” (Secretary), “Main Charge” (Treasurer), and “Propeller” (Master-at-Arms) appeared at Kings Point. These titles were apropos since the club’s name was the Tin Fishermen Club/Tin Fish Club – tin fish being a euphemism for torpedo, and the titles, parts thereof. The club had an exclusive membership comprising cadets-midshipmen who abandoned their ships at sea due to enemy action – albeit a torpedo, a mine, aerial attack, ramming, or shelling.
Although the Tin Fish Club began in 1943, tin fisherman had their start from the early days of the Second World War. The below list of tin fishermen is a combination of data compiled by Thomas F. McCaffery, in Braving the Wartime Seas: A Tribute to the Cadets and Graduates of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Cadet Corps Who Died During World War II Appendix C which is reproduced on his site U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Kings Pointers in WW II (1943), Enemy Action Reports (1942-1946), activities as noted in Midships, the annual of the Corps of Cadets from 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 & 1951, and the Supervisor’s announcement awarding Cadet Stars from 1942. The Academy was not rigorous in its recordkeeping, thus data from the EAR and official sources are spotty.
The Last Tin Fisherman graduated with the Class of 1951.
Note: Links off of a cadet-midshipman’s bolded name are to their respective Enemy Action Report, should it exist; links within [brackets] are to other resources internal or external to this site. More individual reports are forthcoming; there are some 1,121 pages left to tabulate and process.
The Tin Fishermen
| Cadet-Midshipman | Note |
|---|---|
| Raffaele Alano | |
| William Stanford Allen | |
| Luis G. Alvarez | |
| Boyd Carleton Amsberry | |
| Lester Malcom Andelson | |
| Homer K. Andersen | |
| Martin Gregor Andersen | |
| Carl E. Anderson, Jr. | (2) |
| Eric Wallace Anderson | |
| Leland B. Anderson, Jr. | |
| Charles Hamlin Ansel | |
| Mark Robert Armour | |
| William D. Askew | |
| James A. Atkinson | |
| William Warner Avary | |
| Bruce Meeker Ayers | |
| Milton Thorpe Babcock | |
| Alton M. Barlow | |
| George D. Barlow | |
| Howard J. Barrowclough | |
| Keith Ferdie Barton | |
| Robert Winfield Barton | |
| William Ellsworth Barwick | |
| Warren Harding Bates | |
| Harold J. Beach | |
| Philip Derway Becker | |
| Robert E. Beckman | |
| George Roderic Bell, Jr. | |
| Maurice Bellah | |
| Harold H. Bennett | |
| Robert Elmer Benson | |
| Alfred H. Bergman | |
| Joseph Cave Berriman | |
| Joseph Frank Best, Jr. | |
| Dennis Rozzel Betts | |
| John Thomas Biezup | (L) |
| Ralph William Bird | * (2) |
| Thurman H. Blacka | |
| George T. Blair | |
| Will Virgil Blanton | |
| Irving Meyer Blum | |
| Robert Rudolph Boerner | |
| Francis Joseph Boland | |
| Joseph Wilson Booth | |
| Vincent Borrelli | |
| Clyde Sanford Bouton, Jr. | |
| Jean Boutyette | |
| Francis C. Bradford | |
| Thomas Patrick Brady | |
| Christopher James Brennan | |
| John Paulson Brewster | |
| Jerome Brodsky | |
| Jacob Brooks, Jr. | |
| James Charles Broughton | |
| Arthur Z. Brown | |
| Hoyt William Brown, Jr. | |
| Jack Gordon Burres | |
| Leopold Charles Buxbaum | |
| Edward Patrick Cahill | |
| Frank Haywood Cain | |
| William Pitts Caldwell | |
| John William Callahan, Jr. | |
| James Campbell | |
| Patrick Francis Canavan | |
| James Charles Caras | |
| Michael James Carbotti | |
| Anthony J. Cardinale | |
| Charles Dixon Carmines | |
| Edward Joseph Carney | * |
| Vincent J. Celeste | |
| James Thomas Chaffin | |
| William King Chapman | |
| Marshall Jay Charlton | |
| Harry Edmund Christensen | |
| Joseph Francis V. Christopher | |
| Leslie Churchman | |
| Robert Claprodt | |
| Myles B. Clark | |
| Robert G. Clark | |
| William Mathew Coffey | |
| Bartholomew James Comstock | |
| Robert Hildreth Connell, Jr. | |
| Isom W. Conner | |
| Patrick James Connolly | |
| Dale Owen Cook | |
| James Willard Coonen | |
| Herbert Bertram Cooper | |
| Eldon Alexander Corl | |
| Robert Milton Corliss | * (2) |
| John Corrigan | |
| Christopher W. Cotter | |
| James Melvin Crane | |
| William Reid Cross II | |
| Leo J. Crotty | |
| Edward A. Cudahy III | |
| John Barrett Cummings | |
| Calvin Charles Curtis | |
| Enrico Cutrona | |
| Francis Alonzo Dales | ** [mmdsm citation page 1 & citation page 2] [mmdsm ceremony photo 1 , photo 2 & photo 3] |
| Robert Earl Damon | |
| Giovanni D’Auria | |
| John Danner, Jr. | |
| Robert F. Davey | |
| James Clarence Davies | |
| James G. Davies | (?) |
| William Goldie Davies, Jr. | |
| Edward S. Davis, Jr. | (2) NAVY |
| Wesley Fletcher Day | |
| Robert Fallon DeBaun | |
| Kenneth DeGhetto | |
| Joseph Francis Degnen | |
| Morton Deitz | * |
| Devo DeMarches | * |
| Clarence Bert Dengler, Jr. | |
| William James Dennison, Jr. | |
| William J. DeRemer | |
| John Joseph Desposito | |
| Frederick Dicosimo | |
| William F. H. Dore | |
| James Dowling | |
| Robert McElroy Doyle | |
| John Samuel Draper | |
| Burton Charles Drew | |
| George Henry Drinkwater | |
| Maurice A. Drumheller | |
| Robert H. Dudley | (2) NAVY |
| Paul F. Duffy | |
| Fred Duhrels | |
| Ulric Dahlgren Duncan | |
| Byron Dunham | |
| John Gordon Dunn | |
| Francis Dunne | |
| William S. Durr, Jr. | |
| Robert R. Early | |
| Arthur E. Erb | |
| Harold Adam Eckmann | |
| Eugenia Edera | |
| Lauren Freemont Edgar | |
| Leonard L. Ehrlich | |
| Trant Horace Ellard | |
| James Martindale Elliott | |
| William James Elliott | |
| Arthur Eugene Erb | |
| Frank J. Espey | |
| comma IVan Eterovich | |
| Paul Crangle Ewing | |
| Willard Floyd Fahrner | |
| Wayne Douglas Fajans | |
| Pasquale Carlo Fallone | |
| Neil George Farley | |
| Rex Jay Farley | |
| George Farrell, Jr. | (2) |
| Joseph Patrick Farrell, Jr. | |
| Richard Edward Fawcett | |
| Louis Paul Fedor | |
| Ira Dee Felder | |
| Donald F. Fennessey | |
| Edward M. Fitzgerald | |
| James John Fitzpatrick | |
| William A. Fleischer | |
| William Hoyt Ford | |
| Philip Albright Franklin III | |
| William Joseph Franks | |
| Warren Curtis Freihofer | |
| Joseph W. Friedemann | |
| James Gill Fuqua | |
| Joseph Anthony Gagliano | |
| John Thomas Gallagher | |
| George Dominic Garibaldi | |
| Patrick Francis Getchell | |
| Walter F. Gibson | |
| Mitchell L. Gilbert | |
| Robert Evan Goyne | |
| John Grant | |
| Walter A. Gray, Jr. | |
| George Green | |
| Carl Clarence Gross | |
| Bernard Vincent Grush | |
| Franklin C. Gurley, Jr. | |
| Raymond Stewart Guy | |
| Louis Cornelius Hager | |
| Edmund C. Haley II | |
| John Evan Halvorson | |
| Thomas Anthony Hammill | |
| Howard A. Hanson | |
| Orrin Howard Harder | |
| Peter John Spencer Hardy | |
| John Auguton Harley | |
| Clinton H. Harriman, Jr. | |
| Donald Ralph Harter | |
| Orville Paul Hatcher | |
| John Ross Hawken | |
| William J. Healey, Jr. | |
| Edward Healy | |
| Robert James Hedenberg | |
| Robert Ellsworth Helling | |
| George Richard Hemsley | |
| Albert E. Henderson, Jr. | |
| Richard Rice Henyan | |
| John Tyson Herbert | |
| James Joseph Hewitt | |
| Thomas M. Hewitt | |
| William Robert Hoff | |
| James Hoffman | |
| Raymond Hogan | |
| Dayrel Gibson Hoke | |
| William Graham Holby | |
| Kenneth Grant Holcomb | |
| Gordon Holmes | |
| Romauld Paul Holubowicz | (3) |
| Marion F. Horn | |
| Charles Taggart Howland | |
| Leonard Andrew Hudak | |
| Joseph Howard Hutchison | |
| Eric Eugene Jakobson | |
| Herman Louis Jayson | |
| William Leroy Jeffrey | |
| Joseph Hyman Jennis | (2) |
| Robert Louis Johnson | |
| Warren R. Johnson | |
| Wilbur Johnson | |
| Bertrand Francis Johnston | |
| Glenn Daniel Jones | |
| Francis Thomas Joos | |
| Albert Thomas Joyce | |
| Nathan Julius Kaplan | |
| John William Karsten | |
| William George Kautz | |
| Edward Kavanagh | |
| Charles Burril Kaylor | |
| Leo Chester Keating, Jr. | |
| Carlton V. Keller | |
| Charles F. Kelly | * |
| Patrick Raleigh Kelly | |
| James Joseph Kennedy, Jr. | |
| James Miller Kessock | |
| Arthur Ketcham, Jr. | |
| John Jay Kilbride, Jr. | |
| Frederick Dennis Kilmer | |
| Jacob Harvey Kisling | |
| Carlton David Klein | |
| David Francis Klein | |
| Robert Kniep | |
| Cletus Edward Kramer | |
| Alfred H. Krieger | |
| John Clement Krogmann | (2) |
| Reid Gottlieb Kuder | |
| Joseph Richard Lawrence, Jr. | |
| Joseph Richard Lenk | |
| Thomas Patrick Leonard | (2) |
| William John Leonard | |
| Frederick James Lessing | |
| Bernard J. Linden | |
| Ernest R. Lindroth | |
| James Lissner, Jr. | |
| Paul Samuel Livelli | |
| Patrick Howard Livingston | |
| Aloysius N. Loeser | |
| Warren Joseph Lopez | |
| Ansel Hardy Lowe | * |
| John Henry Lueddecke | |
| Robert John Luzinski | |
| Stephen C. Lysk | |
| Edward Joseph McCabe | |
| James Joseph McCarron | |
| Gerald Thomas McCarthy | |
| John Lincoln McClure | |
| Nicholas McCormick | |
| Charles Grover McGuigan | |
| John J. McKelvey | |
| Benjamin Patton McManus | |
| Bruce A. MacDougall | |
| William Murray MacKenzie | |
| Donald MacLean | |
| William Ross Mace, Jr. | |
| John Entwistle Macy | |
| John Merton Magee | |
| Milton George Manegold | |
| William Marks | |
| William Francis Martin | |
| Benedict Martinez | |
| Carl Edwin Martz | |
| Harold August Masset | |
| Vincent J. Meisner | |
| James M. Merrill | |
| Vincent J. Miesner | |
| Paul L. Milligan, Jr. | |
| James Franklin Mills | |
| John Joseph Milos | |
| Vincent Mitchell | |
| William Thomas Mitchell | (S) |
| Ralph Lester Mock | |
| Albert Reed Moore, Jr. | |
| Kahart Kenny Mopper | |
| John Stephen Morgan | |
| Gilbert W. Morris, Jr. | |
| Anthony James Moyes | |
| Thomas Bryant Muenzen | |
| Howard Dick Muhlenbruck | |
| Henry T. Mukhalian | |
| Paul Francis Murphy | |
| Frank P. Nasczniec | |
| Charles Adrian Nelson | |
| Ralph Henry Nemitz | |
| Leonard Newman | |
| Frank Noel Newsome | * |
| Benjamin Nieves | |
| Thomas Forbes Nixon | |
| Chester Conrad Nolan | |
| Robert Howell Norstrand | |
| Leland Spoon Oberholser | (2) |
| Edward O’Connell | |
| John Francis O’Connell | |
| John H. O’Keefe | |
| William Francis Oliver | |
| Henry Russell Orndorff | |
| Stanley Osborne | |
| Richard George Otto | |
| John Peter Pabarcus, Jr. | |
| Joseph Paganelli | |
| George Edward Pancratz | |
| Hunter Andrew Parker | |
| Laurence Passell | |
| Fredrick William Paterson | |
| John Francis Paul | |
| James Harrison Payne | |
| Paul E. Perkins | (2) |
| Oran Frederick Perks | [tfc card & pin] |
| Gerard Perron | |
| Raymond Norval Person | |
| Chester L. Petersen | |
| Alfred Ray Peterson | |
| Charles J. Peterson | |
| Nicholas R. Pettinato, Jr. | |
| William L. Phillips | |
| Bernard Francis Pierce | |
| Nicholas Polifroni | |
| Frank M. Pratley | |
| Robert Edgar Pray | |
| Maurice Warren Price | |
| Albert Frederick Quern | |
| Eugene Clinton Quidort | |
| James Norval Quin, Jr. | |
| John Joseph Quinn | |
| William John Ramsey | |
| Abraham Rapkin | |
| Joseph Christopher Reed | |
| Donald J. Reese | |
| Robert James Rhein | |
| William L. Rich | |
| Edward S. Rittenhouse | |
| Henry J. Ritter | |
| Frank C. Roberts, Jr. | |
| Richard R. Roche | |
| Melvin Bernard Rogow | |
| Herman Rosen | |
| Homer Stanley Rosenthal | |
| Milton Rosenthaler | |
| Frank Fuller Ross | |
| Austin S. Ryan | [tfc certificate] |
| Eugene S. Ryba | |
| Howard Saffer | |
| James M. Salling | |
| Abraham Santzfy | |
| Charles Adam Sauer | |
| Sherman Goethals Sawyer | |
| Isidore Schaffer | |
| James Britt Schermerhorn | |
| Leon Henry Schneider | * (2) [memoir] |
| Martin Joseph Schnitzler | |
| Benjamin Schofield | |
| Charles Joseph Schuler | |
| Richard Cary Scofield | |
| Stanley F. Scott | |
| John Howard Scruggs *** | |
| Roy Dennis Searcy | |
| Alfred Stefhano Sembrich | |
| Arthur O. Semmler | |
| James Shannon | |
| James Burton Shappee | |
| John Edward Shiffler | |
| Roger Ward Shotwell, Jr. | |
| Sigmund William Shurskis | |
| Walter G. Sittmann | |
| Jack Harold Smaha | |
| George Charles Small | |
| Richard Hugh Smith | |
| Robert Seward Smith | |
| Walter Bryce Smith | |
| Barnett R. Smolen | |
| Paul G. Snider | |
| Allen Sonsky | |
| Robert R. Speckhard | |
| David L. Speigelman | |
| Wilson Stackhouse | |
| John F. Steedley | **** |
| James Peter Steffensen | |
| Arthur Stein | |
| Frederick M. Steingress | |
| Frank Henry Steinman III | |
| John Thomas Steuart | |
| James M. Stewart | |
| Richard M. Stewart | |
| Edward Peter Stilwell | |
| John Gerald Sullivan | |
| Donald Wren Summerhayes | |
| Austin Roger Suneson | |
| Franklin S. Taylor | |
| Oscar Tetzlaff | |
| Samuel B. Thomas, Jr. | |
| William Morris Thomas, Jr. | ** |
| Joseph A. Toscano | |
| James B. Travis | |
| Luther Lee Trower | |
| John C. Tutone * | |
| Victor Eyre Tyson | |
| David Lanning Upham | [uniform & commentary] |
| George Ursin, Jr. | |
| Russell Valentine | |
| Robert Junior Verburg | |
| Jack Vetter | |
| Robert Lane Vetter | |
| Albert Visconti | |
| Warren C. Wagenseil | |
| Jacques Francis Wall | |
| Charles Francis Walsh | |
| Coleman W. Walsh | |
| Knute Warland | |
| John M. Waters | |
| Warren Colwell Watson | (2) |
| Robert Charles Waxman | |
| Allen Gilbert Webb | |
| George Joseph Weidner | |
| Edward Welch | |
| Charles C. Wendt, Jr. | |
| Robert Henry Werthman | (2) |
| Charles B. Williams | |
| Irvin R. Williams | |
| Paul Ray Williams | |
| Winston W. Williamson | |
| John Allen Wilson | |
| Cameron Wilson | |
| William David Witcraft | |
| William H. Woodward, Jr. | |
| David Wortman | |
| Harold H. Yewell | |
| Fulton Edison Yewell, Jr. | |
| Daniel A. York | |
| Elmer Yuska | |
| Elias Zasloff | |
| Onofrio Robert Zeuli | |
| Frank George Zinsler | |
| Frederick Raymond Zito | ** |
| Leonard Zudak |
Key
| * | Wounded in action & Awarded Merchant Marine Mariners Medal |
| ** | Awarded Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal |
| *** | Awarded Purple Heart Medal |
| **** | Awarded Merchant Marine Meritorious Service Medal |
| (2) | Survived two vessels lost due to enemy action |
| (3) | Survived three vessels lost due to enemy action |
| (L) | The Last Tin Fisherman to graduate |
| (S) | POW at Los Banor Camp; returned to King Point as “special” cadet. Graduated after a total of 5 years in the program. |
| NAVY | Served on Active Duty as Midshipman, USNR aboard U.S. Navy ships in combat |
Further Reading & Sources
Thomas F. McCaffery, Braving the Wartime Seas: A Tribute to the Cadets and Graduates of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Cadet Corps Who Died During World War II, Appendix C.
N.B.: Mr. McCaffery’s sources were informed by records at the National Archives and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Kings Pointer, Spring 2015
EAR Extraction Status
Each narrative attached to a cadet-midshipman is an extract from the multi-volume Enemy Action Reports (1942-1946). In total, there are 680 cadet-midshipmen with entries in the EAR, across a variety of record types; the extracts are for those cadet-midshipmen who were forced to abandon ship. Since the process requires page-by-page verification, and each volume comprises on average 170 pages, a volume or two will be released each month from June 2022 through April 2023.
For a complete list of all cadet-midshipmen and record types, please consult this index:
Cadet-Midshipmen Enemy Action Report Index
Do note that not all items of type “A” denote a ship loss, these records comprise enemy actions resulting in damage, no damage, or sinking; and ship losses not due to enemy actions.
| Volume | Status |
|---|---|
| Volume 1 A-B | complete, 6/2022 |
| Volume 2 C-D | in process, 6/2022 |
| Volume 3 E-F-G | “ |
| Volume 4 H-I-J | “ |
| Volume 5 K-L | “ |
| Volume 6 M-N | “ |
| Volume 7 O-P-Q-R | “ |
| Volume 8 S-T | “ |
| Volume 9 U THRU Z | in process, 6/2022 |