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Sinking of the Tuscania
German submarines were a constant threat to the troop carriers that shuttled the two million U.S. military personnel to Europe during the war. However, with the vigilant escort of the Allied navies, few troop ships were ever seriously endangered by submarines. Chief electrician Harold L. Dunne describes a very rare event, the torpedoing and sinking on February 5, 1918, of a troopship, HMT Tuscania, then packed with American troops, its passengers swimming for lifeboats, and the Kanawaha's hunt for the attacking submarine. Dunne also notes that his fellow soldiers were belting out the words from a popular tune: "Oh joy, Oh boy, where do we go from here?" Some 200 American soldiers who had been aboard Tuscania lost their lives. |