A US naval ship torpedoed by the Germans in 1942 has been found afloat in Russia.

The warship 'Daniel Morgan' which was torpedoed by the Germans on 7th May 1942 has been discovered off the beaten track in a former Soviet naval yard.

No sign of the crew.......
:rolleyes:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/in_pictures_motherland/html/3.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/in_pictures_motherland/html/3.stm

Where is/was the crew? Liquidated by the SMERSH or Cheka?

Not that the US gov't would care.

Where is/was the crew? Liquidated by the SMERSH or Cheka?
Not that the US gov't would care.

I have heard tales over the years of such things happening to US air crews in WW2 and Korea.
With this in mind I did a quick search for this ship on some WW2 related sites and came up with this:
http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/sc84.html
http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/russian/index.html
It would seem from this that the ship was a merchant vessel not a warship.

http://www.naval-history.net/Cr03-53-00PQ17.htm
Given the location of the sinking and lack of visible damage in the photo,
it looks to me like someone went through a lot of trouble to raise and repair her.
Maybe it is another ship with the same name. Also the map of the sinking implies that 3 life boats worth of crewmen got away.

Interesting details Chass.

But if the daniel Morgan joined the ilf fated Convoy PQ 17 and was sunk - did the Soviets refloat her? . The US 'Liberty Ships' (for example) were mass produced in the expectation of a short life cycle. Would it have made sense to refloat a sunken ship;and in wartime (or in early post war years) was there much technical capability in eastern europe to do so?

Or had she limped into the nearest port in 1942 to be impounded by the Soviets and falsely reported as having sunk?, the crew disappearing into the Gulag network.

How did the Daniel Morgan end up in a soviet shipyard, to be 'rediscovered' by a passing Brit photographer in 2006. A mystery?.
:confused:

BTW Was the Daniel Morgan a mass produced 'Liberty Ship' ? - a museum exhibit potentially if the vessel can be 'repatriated' 65 years after her disappearance

The Daniel Morgan is listed as a Liberty ship (# 0149) by the US Merchant Marine.
http://www.usmm.org/europe.html#anchor489447
Reported as sunk with 4 deaths among crew.
I have not been able to find anything else that seems relevant to this case.

The Daniel Morgan is listed as a Liberty ship (# 0149) by the US Merchant Marine.
http://www.usmm.org/europe.html#anchor489447
Reported as sunk with 4 deaths among crew.
I have not been able to find anything else that seems relevant to this case.


If the crew had not been taken off, the cumulative effect of exposure to Liberty Ships high asbestos levels may well have finished them off.

If the crew had not been taken off, the cumulative effect of exposure to Liberty Ships high asbestos levels may well have finished them off.



Speaking of ships...welcome aboard. ;)


-Jim

Speaking of ships...welcome aboard. ;)


-Jim
It may interfere with my PhD studies to be on board the ship, but I sure am appreciative of your welcome Yankee Jim.

;)

It may interfere with my PhD studies to be on board the ship, but I sure am appreciative of your welcome Yankee Jim.

;)

Hang on, don't I know you from somewhere? :D

Hang on, don't I know you from somewhere? :D
No.. you don't, Sid. As that isn't our friend Victates. Considering I have him on Yahoo right now and he's asking about a "Victates" over here, and letting me know it isn't him.