Francis served as a Utility Man, S.S. James Sprunt, Merchant Marines during World War II.
He resided in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine prior to the war.
The duties of the Utility Man, which is the bottom of the group on deck, were to be available to be called upon to do any one of many tasks. Such as scale and chip paint, to paint, handle lines in the mooring of the ship, to assist in the actual tying up and letting go of the vessel, and to aid the carpenter in repair work.
The S.S. James Sprunt was a steam merchant ship enroute from Charleston, South Carolina with a final destination of Karachi, India as part of convey "KG-123".
On March 10, 1943 convey "KG-123" was attacked twice by German Submarine U-185.
The first attack occurred at 05:57 off Cape Maysi, Cuba and during that attack they sunk the S.S. Virginia Sinclair with a loss of 7 of their crew.
At 09:09 hours U-185 attacked the convoy a second time southeast of Guantanamo Bay and this time the target was the "S.S. James Sprunt".
The "Sprunt", which was on it's maiden voyage, was hit by one torpedo that caused her cargo to explode and the ship to completely disappeared in 30 seconds. The entire crew of "69" perished in this attack.
Francis was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Mariner's Medal & Combat Bar with a Combat Star.
His remains were not recovered.
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
He resided in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine prior to the war.
The duties of the Utility Man, which is the bottom of the group on deck, were to be available to be called upon to do any one of many tasks. Such as scale and chip paint, to paint, handle lines in the mooring of the ship, to assist in the actual tying up and letting go of the vessel, and to aid the carpenter in repair work.
The S.S. James Sprunt was a steam merchant ship enroute from Charleston, South Carolina with a final destination of Karachi, India as part of convey "KG-123".
On March 10, 1943 convey "KG-123" was attacked twice by German Submarine U-185.
The first attack occurred at 05:57 off Cape Maysi, Cuba and during that attack they sunk the S.S. Virginia Sinclair with a loss of 7 of their crew.
At 09:09 hours U-185 attacked the convoy a second time southeast of Guantanamo Bay and this time the target was the "S.S. James Sprunt".
The "Sprunt", which was on it's maiden voyage, was hit by one torpedo that caused her cargo to explode and the ship to completely disappeared in 30 seconds. The entire crew of "69" perished in this attack.
Francis was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Mariner's Medal & Combat Bar with a Combat Star.
His remains were not recovered.
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
Francis served as a Utility Man, S.S. James Sprunt, Merchant Marines during World War II.
He resided in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine prior to the war.
The duties of the Utility Man, which is the bottom of the group on deck, were to be available to be called upon to do any one of many tasks. Such as scale and chip paint, to paint, handle lines in the mooring of the ship, to assist in the actual tying up and letting go of the vessel, and to aid the carpenter in repair work.
The S.S. James Sprunt was a steam merchant ship enroute from Charleston, South Carolina with a final destination of Karachi, India as part of convey "KG-123".
On March 10, 1943 convey "KG-123" was attacked twice by German Submarine U-185.
The first attack occurred at 05:57 off Cape Maysi, Cuba and during that attack they sunk the S.S. Virginia Sinclair with a loss of 7 of their crew.
At 09:09 hours U-185 attacked the convoy a second time southeast of Guantanamo Bay and this time the target was the "S.S. James Sprunt".
The "Sprunt", which was on it's maiden voyage, was hit by one torpedo that caused her cargo to explode and the ship to completely disappeared in 30 seconds. The entire crew of "69" perished in this attack.
Francis was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Mariner's Medal & Combat Bar with a Combat Star.
His remains were not recovered.
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
He resided in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine prior to the war.
The duties of the Utility Man, which is the bottom of the group on deck, were to be available to be called upon to do any one of many tasks. Such as scale and chip paint, to paint, handle lines in the mooring of the ship, to assist in the actual tying up and letting go of the vessel, and to aid the carpenter in repair work.
The S.S. James Sprunt was a steam merchant ship enroute from Charleston, South Carolina with a final destination of Karachi, India as part of convey "KG-123".
On March 10, 1943 convey "KG-123" was attacked twice by German Submarine U-185.
The first attack occurred at 05:57 off Cape Maysi, Cuba and during that attack they sunk the S.S. Virginia Sinclair with a loss of 7 of their crew.
At 09:09 hours U-185 attacked the convoy a second time southeast of Guantanamo Bay and this time the target was the "S.S. James Sprunt".
The "Sprunt", which was on it's maiden voyage, was hit by one torpedo that caused her cargo to explode and the ship to completely disappeared in 30 seconds. The entire crew of "69" perished in this attack.
Francis was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Mariner's Medal & Combat Bar with a Combat Star.
His remains were not recovered.
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
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