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Walter Volney White Veteran

Birth
Greenville, Montcalm County, Michigan, USA
Death
4 Feb 1942 (aged 49)
At Sea
Burial
Buried or Lost at Sea. Specifically: 20 miles southeast of Cape May, New Jersey !
Memorial ID
View Source
Walter served as a Second Engineer, S.S. India Arrow, U.S. Merchant Marines during World war II.

He resided in Tottenville, New York prior to the war.

The unescorted & unarmed " S.S. India Arrow " , while enroute from Corpus Christi, Texas to Carteret, New Jersey with a cargo of 88.369 barrels of diesel fuel, was hit by a torpedo fired by German Submarine U-103 approximatley 20 miles southeast of Cape May, New Jersey.

The torpedo struck on the starboard quarter at about the #10 bunker. The ship caught fire and began to sink rapidly by the stern. The nine officers and 29 crewmen immediately began to abandon ship. Two lifeboats were destroyed by the explosion and a third was pulled beneath the water by the sinking tanker, drowning 18 of the 20 occupants in it.

U-103 then surfaced and fired seven shells from her deck gun at two minutes intervals from a distance of 250 yards into the bow section which remained above water as the stern was sinking. Two men died as a result of the shelling. The " S.S. India Arrow " lost " 8 " officers and " 18 " of her crew. Only " 1 " officer and " 11 " crewmen survived.

Walter was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.

He was awarded the Merchant Mariner's Medal and the Combat Bar with a Star!

( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
Walter served as a Second Engineer, S.S. India Arrow, U.S. Merchant Marines during World war II.

He resided in Tottenville, New York prior to the war.

The unescorted & unarmed " S.S. India Arrow " , while enroute from Corpus Christi, Texas to Carteret, New Jersey with a cargo of 88.369 barrels of diesel fuel, was hit by a torpedo fired by German Submarine U-103 approximatley 20 miles southeast of Cape May, New Jersey.

The torpedo struck on the starboard quarter at about the #10 bunker. The ship caught fire and began to sink rapidly by the stern. The nine officers and 29 crewmen immediately began to abandon ship. Two lifeboats were destroyed by the explosion and a third was pulled beneath the water by the sinking tanker, drowning 18 of the 20 occupants in it.

U-103 then surfaced and fired seven shells from her deck gun at two minutes intervals from a distance of 250 yards into the bow section which remained above water as the stern was sinking. Two men died as a result of the shelling. The " S.S. India Arrow " lost " 8 " officers and " 18 " of her crew. Only " 1 " officer and " 11 " crewmen survived.

Walter was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.

He was awarded the Merchant Mariner's Medal and the Combat Bar with a Star!

( Bio by: Russ Pickett )


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