WALTER RATHSACK
Walter's body was never recovered and
the only memorials to him are the small cenotaph on his parents'
tombstone and an even smaller one on the Tablets of the Missing at the
East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, New York City. His parents tried
for years to learn the circumstances of his death but, so far as I
know, went to their graves knowing no more than I did.
We have learned that Walter C. Rathsack and his shipmates died as the
result of an unsuccessful experiment in anti-submarine warfare
promoted by President Roosevelt: the deployment of Q-Ships in the
Atlantic. The story is told -- and Walter C. Rathsack named -- in
Kenneth M. Beyer's book _Q-Ships Versus U-Boats: America's Secret
Project_, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1999.
Q-Ships were converted merchant ships, heavily armed but disguised to
appear harmless. Their mission was to entice German U-boats into
attacking them on the surface (thus conserving their torpedoes for
bigger prey), then destroy them with depth charges and gunfire. The
experiment was born in desperation, undertaken in haste and soon
abandoned. Only three or four Q-Ships were commissioned by the U.S.
Navy. The first were the USS Asterion (ex-SS Evelyn) and the USS Atik
(ex-SS Carolyn), former bulk sugar carriers of about 3200 tons
displacement. They were converted to Q-Ships in Portsmouth, Maine, and
commissioned on 5 March 1942. All officers and crew were volunteers.
Chief Radioman Walter C. Rathsack was assigned to USS Atik.
After a short period of training (only 36 hours according to author
Beyer!), Atik and Asterion put to sea on their maiden voyages. On 26
March 1942 Atik was torpedoed by U-123 about 300 miles off the coast
of Virginia. The ship sent two distress signals, reporting itself on
fire though not seriously, and fired on the submarine, inflicting some
damage and one casualty. U-123 then submerged and waited until
nightfall to administer the coup de grace with another torpedo. Atik
disappeared without a trace, leaving no survivors among its crew of
139 officers and men. The whole affair was shrouded in secrecy until
May 1944 when the Navy announced only the presumption of death of the
Atik's crew. The identity and actions of U-123 were not revealed until
postwar examination of German records.
So there at last is a date of death for Walter C. Rathsack: 26 March
1942. I find it a cruel irony that Walter's father was a foreman at
the Manitowoc shipyard that built submarines for the U.S. Navy.
(information from researcher/see contributors page)
Walter's body was never recovered and
the only memorials to him are the small cenotaph on his parents'
tombstone and an even smaller one on the Tablets of the Missing at the
East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, New York City. His parents tried
for years to learn the circumstances of his death but, so far as I
know, went to their graves knowing no more than I did.
We have learned that Walter C. Rathsack and his shipmates died as the
result of an unsuccessful experiment in anti-submarine warfare
promoted by President Roosevelt: the deployment of Q-Ships in the
Atlantic. The story is told -- and Walter C. Rathsack named -- in
Kenneth M. Beyer's book _Q-Ships Versus U-Boats: America's Secret
Project_, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1999.
Q-Ships were converted merchant ships, heavily armed but disguised to
appear harmless. Their mission was to entice German U-boats into
attacking them on the surface (thus conserving their torpedoes for
bigger prey), then destroy them with depth charges and gunfire. The
experiment was born in desperation, undertaken in haste and soon
abandoned. Only three or four Q-Ships were commissioned by the U.S.
Navy. The first were the USS Asterion (ex-SS Evelyn) and the USS Atik
(ex-SS Carolyn), former bulk sugar carriers of about 3200 tons
displacement. They were converted to Q-Ships in Portsmouth, Maine, and
commissioned on 5 March 1942. All officers and crew were volunteers.
Chief Radioman Walter C. Rathsack was assigned to USS Atik.
After a short period of training (only 36 hours according to author
Beyer!), Atik and Asterion put to sea on their maiden voyages. On 26
March 1942 Atik was torpedoed by U-123 about 300 miles off the coast
of Virginia. The ship sent two distress signals, reporting itself on
fire though not seriously, and fired on the submarine, inflicting some
damage and one casualty. U-123 then submerged and waited until
nightfall to administer the coup de grace with another torpedo. Atik
disappeared without a trace, leaving no survivors among its crew of
139 officers and men. The whole affair was shrouded in secrecy until
May 1944 when the Navy announced only the presumption of death of the
Atik's crew. The identity and actions of U-123 were not revealed until
postwar examination of German records.
So there at last is a date of death for Walter C. Rathsack: 26 March
1942. I find it a cruel irony that Walter's father was a foreman at
the Manitowoc shipyard that built submarines for the U.S. Navy.
(information from researcher/see contributors page)
WALTER RATHSACK
Walter's body was never recovered and
the only memorials to him are the small cenotaph on his parents'
tombstone and an even smaller one on the Tablets of the Missing at the
East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, New York City. His parents tried
for years to learn the circumstances of his death but, so far as I
know, went to their graves knowing no more than I did.
We have learned that Walter C. Rathsack and his shipmates died as the
result of an unsuccessful experiment in anti-submarine warfare
promoted by President Roosevelt: the deployment of Q-Ships in the
Atlantic. The story is told -- and Walter C. Rathsack named -- in
Kenneth M. Beyer's book _Q-Ships Versus U-Boats: America's Secret
Project_, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1999.
Q-Ships were converted merchant ships, heavily armed but disguised to
appear harmless. Their mission was to entice German U-boats into
attacking them on the surface (thus conserving their torpedoes for
bigger prey), then destroy them with depth charges and gunfire. The
experiment was born in desperation, undertaken in haste and soon
abandoned. Only three or four Q-Ships were commissioned by the U.S.
Navy. The first were the USS Asterion (ex-SS Evelyn) and the USS Atik
(ex-SS Carolyn), former bulk sugar carriers of about 3200 tons
displacement. They were converted to Q-Ships in Portsmouth, Maine, and
commissioned on 5 March 1942. All officers and crew were volunteers.
Chief Radioman Walter C. Rathsack was assigned to USS Atik.
After a short period of training (only 36 hours according to author
Beyer!), Atik and Asterion put to sea on their maiden voyages. On 26
March 1942 Atik was torpedoed by U-123 about 300 miles off the coast
of Virginia. The ship sent two distress signals, reporting itself on
fire though not seriously, and fired on the submarine, inflicting some
damage and one casualty. U-123 then submerged and waited until
nightfall to administer the coup de grace with another torpedo. Atik
disappeared without a trace, leaving no survivors among its crew of
139 officers and men. The whole affair was shrouded in secrecy until
May 1944 when the Navy announced only the presumption of death of the
Atik's crew. The identity and actions of U-123 were not revealed until
postwar examination of German records.
So there at last is a date of death for Walter C. Rathsack: 26 March
1942. I find it a cruel irony that Walter's father was a foreman at
the Manitowoc shipyard that built submarines for the U.S. Navy.
(information from researcher/see contributors page)
Walter's body was never recovered and
the only memorials to him are the small cenotaph on his parents'
tombstone and an even smaller one on the Tablets of the Missing at the
East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, New York City. His parents tried
for years to learn the circumstances of his death but, so far as I
know, went to their graves knowing no more than I did.
We have learned that Walter C. Rathsack and his shipmates died as the
result of an unsuccessful experiment in anti-submarine warfare
promoted by President Roosevelt: the deployment of Q-Ships in the
Atlantic. The story is told -- and Walter C. Rathsack named -- in
Kenneth M. Beyer's book _Q-Ships Versus U-Boats: America's Secret
Project_, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1999.
Q-Ships were converted merchant ships, heavily armed but disguised to
appear harmless. Their mission was to entice German U-boats into
attacking them on the surface (thus conserving their torpedoes for
bigger prey), then destroy them with depth charges and gunfire. The
experiment was born in desperation, undertaken in haste and soon
abandoned. Only three or four Q-Ships were commissioned by the U.S.
Navy. The first were the USS Asterion (ex-SS Evelyn) and the USS Atik
(ex-SS Carolyn), former bulk sugar carriers of about 3200 tons
displacement. They were converted to Q-Ships in Portsmouth, Maine, and
commissioned on 5 March 1942. All officers and crew were volunteers.
Chief Radioman Walter C. Rathsack was assigned to USS Atik.
After a short period of training (only 36 hours according to author
Beyer!), Atik and Asterion put to sea on their maiden voyages. On 26
March 1942 Atik was torpedoed by U-123 about 300 miles off the coast
of Virginia. The ship sent two distress signals, reporting itself on
fire though not seriously, and fired on the submarine, inflicting some
damage and one casualty. U-123 then submerged and waited until
nightfall to administer the coup de grace with another torpedo. Atik
disappeared without a trace, leaving no survivors among its crew of
139 officers and men. The whole affair was shrouded in secrecy until
May 1944 when the Navy announced only the presumption of death of the
Atik's crew. The identity and actions of U-123 were not revealed until
postwar examination of German records.
So there at last is a date of death for Walter C. Rathsack: 26 March
1942. I find it a cruel irony that Walter's father was a foreman at
the Manitowoc shipyard that built submarines for the U.S. Navy.
(information from researcher/see contributors page)
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