(Thanks to Patricia O'Neal for providing this history of the sinking of the SS Esso Williamsburg)
Service No. 3934925
Award: Purple Heart
Entered the service from Washington
USNR
Seaman 1st Class GLENN HAROLD BAKER was a US Navy Armed Guard assigned to the American tanker Esso Williamsburg. On 22 Sept 1942 the unescorted ship was enroute to Reykjavik with a cargo of fuel oil. About 500 miles south of Greenland, German submarine U-211 spotted her and fired two torpedoes; both missed. Contact was lost until early next day. A torpedo was then fired which hit amidships, causing an explosion and setting the ship afire. Another torpedo was fired, hitting amidships on the starboard side. The tanker broke in two and U-211 left. On 3 Oct another submarine, U-254, came across the drifting shell of the tanker, fired two torpedoes and sunk her. According to U-254 all but one life boat had been launched. A weak distress signal was received from one of the lifeboats but an extensive search failed to find any of the men or lifeboats.
There were 42 Merchant Mariners and 18 US Naval Armed Guards on board; none survived.
Glenn Baker's name is included in the Tablets of the Missing on the Memorial Wall, Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, Cambridgeshire, England.
NOTE: This Memorial lists Sept. 23, 1944 as the date of Seaman Baker's death; it is, instead, his official death date.
There was another memorial erected at Colfax Cemetery, Colfax, Washington USA, to honor him among others who served the nation. You may see the memorial page for this cenotaph here.
Service No. 3934925
Award: Purple Heart
Entered the service from Washington
USNR
Seaman 1st Class GLENN HAROLD BAKER was a US Navy Armed Guard assigned to the American tanker Esso Williamsburg. On 22 Sept 1942 the unescorted ship was enroute to Reykjavik with a cargo of fuel oil. About 500 miles south of Greenland, German submarine U-211 spotted her and fired two torpedoes; both missed. Contact was lost until early next day. A torpedo was then fired which hit amidships, causing an explosion and setting the ship afire. Another torpedo was fired, hitting amidships on the starboard side. The tanker broke in two and U-211 left. On 3 Oct another submarine, U-254, came across the drifting shell of the tanker, fired two torpedoes and sunk her. According to U-254 all but one life boat had been launched. A weak distress signal was received from one of the lifeboats but an extensive search failed to find any of the men or lifeboats.
There were 42 Merchant Mariners and 18 US Naval Armed Guards on board; none survived.
Glenn Baker's name is included in the Tablets of the Missing on the Memorial Wall, Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, Cambridgeshire, England.
NOTE: This Memorial lists Sept. 23, 1944 as the date of Seaman Baker's death; it is, instead, his official death date.
There was another memorial erected at Colfax Cemetery, Colfax, Washington USA, to honor him among others who served the nation. You may see the memorial page for this cenotaph here.
(Thanks to Patricia O'Neal for providing this history of the sinking of the SS Esso Williamsburg)
Service No. 3934925
Award: Purple Heart
Entered the service from Washington
USNR
Seaman 1st Class GLENN HAROLD BAKER was a US Navy Armed Guard assigned to the American tanker Esso Williamsburg. On 22 Sept 1942 the unescorted ship was enroute to Reykjavik with a cargo of fuel oil. About 500 miles south of Greenland, German submarine U-211 spotted her and fired two torpedoes; both missed. Contact was lost until early next day. A torpedo was then fired which hit amidships, causing an explosion and setting the ship afire. Another torpedo was fired, hitting amidships on the starboard side. The tanker broke in two and U-211 left. On 3 Oct another submarine, U-254, came across the drifting shell of the tanker, fired two torpedoes and sunk her. According to U-254 all but one life boat had been launched. A weak distress signal was received from one of the lifeboats but an extensive search failed to find any of the men or lifeboats.
There were 42 Merchant Mariners and 18 US Naval Armed Guards on board; none survived.
Glenn Baker's name is included in the Tablets of the Missing on the Memorial Wall, Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, Cambridgeshire, England.
NOTE: This Memorial lists Sept. 23, 1944 as the date of Seaman Baker's death; it is, instead, his official death date.
There was another memorial erected at Colfax Cemetery, Colfax, Washington USA, to honor him among others who served the nation. You may see the memorial page for this cenotaph here.
Service No. 3934925
Award: Purple Heart
Entered the service from Washington
USNR
Seaman 1st Class GLENN HAROLD BAKER was a US Navy Armed Guard assigned to the American tanker Esso Williamsburg. On 22 Sept 1942 the unescorted ship was enroute to Reykjavik with a cargo of fuel oil. About 500 miles south of Greenland, German submarine U-211 spotted her and fired two torpedoes; both missed. Contact was lost until early next day. A torpedo was then fired which hit amidships, causing an explosion and setting the ship afire. Another torpedo was fired, hitting amidships on the starboard side. The tanker broke in two and U-211 left. On 3 Oct another submarine, U-254, came across the drifting shell of the tanker, fired two torpedoes and sunk her. According to U-254 all but one life boat had been launched. A weak distress signal was received from one of the lifeboats but an extensive search failed to find any of the men or lifeboats.
There were 42 Merchant Mariners and 18 US Naval Armed Guards on board; none survived.
Glenn Baker's name is included in the Tablets of the Missing on the Memorial Wall, Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, Cambridgeshire, England.
NOTE: This Memorial lists Sept. 23, 1944 as the date of Seaman Baker's death; it is, instead, his official death date.
There was another memorial erected at Colfax Cemetery, Colfax, Washington USA, to honor him among others who served the nation. You may see the memorial page for this cenotaph here.
Inscription
S1C, US NAVY
Gravesite Details
This is a cenotaph memorial only.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
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