THE

Preface

This is not so much meant to be a history of the USS Thomas Stone as it is a way of conveying an episode in the story of one man aboard the Thomas Stone on November 7, 1942, George Christian of the 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Division. George's story is every man's story aboard the USS Thomas Stone or the other ships in the convoy.

The Second World War has been over for more than fifty years. The men and women who lived through it are passing. Soon, their first hand knowledge will be gone. There is no greater disservice to these men and women than to allow the memory of the parts they played in this great event to slip into oblivion.

It is, therefore, for us, the generations that follow, a responsibility and an honor, to learn and teach of the "greatness thrust upon 'em". This, then, is my way of honoring and passing on that "greatness."

Less than a year after Pearl Harbor, on November 7, 1942, a young private named George Christian was thrust into the war as the United States became a part of the Allied Forces. Private Christian, inducted into the army on June 23, 1941, at the age of twenty-three found himself aboard the USS Thomas Stone.

The Uss Thomas Stone had been a passenger liner owned by the American President Lines and commissioned as the President Van Buren August 12, 1941. The U.S. Navy acquired the ship on January 14, 1942 and converted it into a troop transport. It was commissioned on May 18, 1942. Captain O. R. Bennehoff was placed in command.*

Private Christian and the rest of the men of the 2nd battalion had made their way up from Fort Bragg, NC to Fort Dix, NJ and, finally, to Staten Island, on September 24, 1942. The USS Thomas Stone had boarded troops at Norfolk, VA before docking at New York harbor to board the rest of the 39th Infantry (now called a Combat Team). On September 26th the Stone was one of five troop transport ships that set sail from New York Harbor carrying the 39th Combat Team overseas. Along with the Thomas Stone were the USS Leedstown, the USS Chase, the USS Almaack and the USS Exceller, a commercial steamer drafted for the journey by the Navy. The USS Arkansas guided the five ships into Halifax, Nova Scotia during the afternoon of September 28th. It was unknown to the troops just where they were headed after leaving Halifax.

The convoy arrived at Belfast, Ireland on October 6 and disembarked her troops on the 7th. The entire combat team was assembled at Inverary, Scotland on October 17th. After participating in amphibious exercises off the coast of Scotland, the Stone got underway for the Clyde River on October 26th and onto the Atlantic Ocean to participate in "Operation Torch," the Allied invasion of North Africa.

The following are excerpts from Eight Stars To Victory.**

The war would fast be brought home to the men of the 2nd Battalion of the 39th Infantry, 9th Division. It was during General Quarters on the morning of Nov. 7, 1942 that near tragedy struck at the 2nd Battalion. Men of the convoy column stared aghast at their first sight of the war while explosions blazed forth from under the stern of the USS Thomas Stone. Water funneled into the air and the calm, blue Mediterranean reverberated to the shouts of, 'We've been hit!… it's a torpedo… we've been hit!'

George Christian: "We left the British Isles on Oct. 26, 1942 in a convoy, not knowing where we were headed. We were told, while at sea, that our landing was to be Algiers on November 8. We passed the Fortress Gate at the Straits Of Gibraltar. Then, on the morning of Nov. 7, 1942 it happened. I had just finished guard duty and was getting ready to climb up into my bunk. It felt like the whole ship was picked up and dropped back down into the water. The few lights we had went out and left us in total darkness. Everyone was screaming in panic. We checked to see if we were taking on water. Thank God we were still dry. But the latches were locked and we couldn't get up to the deck. After a while, we calmed down. By that time, we were allowed to make our way up to the deck which felt good."

After the terror and immediate fear were assuaged, George and the rest of the men were still in a state of confusion. For, it wasn't until they had reached the deck that they learned they had been hit by a torpedo and it was still not clear to them if they would remain afloat. The torpedo had hit at 5:35 in the morning. By the time they made it to the deck it was daylight and an inspection of the damage was underway. When completed, it showed that the ship would not sink but would not move under its own power, either.

Eight Stars To Victory: Indeed the Stone was hit, and badly. She was struck under the fantail in the after part of the hull. Her master cut the limping vessel out of the column with smoke pouring forth from the torpedo wound.

George Christian: "Our ship was, more or less, in the center of the column and we couldn't tell if we were the ship the torpedo was intended for. We were loaded with ammunition and had we been hit in the middle the whole ship would probably have been blown out of the water. We were lucky the torpedo hit the rear end of the ship but the propeller had been knocked out and we had lost the rudder and could not move on our own. Torches had to be used to free the men trapped by the explosion. Their bodies were buried at sea. I remember standing nearby as one body was slid off the side of the ship. This was my first exposure to death due to the war."

Although the attack on the convoy had stopped, the Stone was, by no means, out of danger. The quiet could soon be replaced by machine gun strafe from enemy plane or explosions caused by more torpedo strikes. Terror had been replaced by a sense of uneasiness. Private Christian knew that the convoy would not stay with the Stone. Its mission was the Allied invasion of North Africa. The sacrifice had to be made, and it was. The USS Thomas Stone was left in its present position guarded by a British corvette, the Spey

Eight Stars To Victory: The entire 2nd battalion was aboard the Stone and it was to have assaulted in the landing operation. Quick action was necessary. The Stone could not carry on without the aid of a tow, she was crippled. The convoy sailed on. That left the Stone sitting in the dangerous Mediterranean, disabled and an easy mark for German or Italian patrol planes and submarines.

George Christian: "The convoy kept going. We were left on our own with a British Corvette to help us. Colonel Oakes took over. Canvass sheets were made into sails, but it did not help, we were dead in the water. All machine guns and other weapons were put on deck. We expected to be visited by the German planes to finish the job."

Eight Stars To Victory: The Stone was 160 miles to the objective. The enemy now knew, definitely, of the convoy's presence, and the situation became more tense. With one full day of sailing left in these waters, the remainder of the skippers were on the alert.

When the remainder of the convoy had steamed past, Colonel Oakes decided that he would try to join the fight. He loaded 700 men and provisions aboard the landing craft which were being carried by the USS Thomas Stone for the invasion. Led by a British Corvette the Colonel planned to sail these tiny LCVP's the remaining 160 miles to Ain-Taya through enemy infested waters and into battle.

George Christian: "Colonel Oakes loaded 700 men and supplies aboard the landing crafts which were to be used in the assault on Algiers. The landing beach was 160 miles away. The rest of the men, myself included, remained aboard the Stone. At the time, I didn't know which was the worst fate. We were trained to supply ammunition and supplies to the front line troops. This meant we had to go back down below deck to bring up the ammunition to where it was needed. If we were hit with a torpedo again we would have all been blown to bits. This was scary, having all that ammunition around us. We were glad to be able to stay up on the deck where we spent most of our time."

Now, even the Spey had left the Thomas Stone to guard the 700 men aboard the LCVP's. The men that remained on the Stone had no protection until the night of November 7th. Two destroyers, the HMS Wishart and the HMS Velex arrived to attempt a tow but the bent rudder made it all but impossible to control the ship. It wasn't until the next morning that the HMS St. Dag, a tug, arrived and was able to tow the Stone.

George Christian: "It was days later, while being towed, we started seeing empty landing boats floating by. We wondered what happened to the men. It turned out that it was impossible for the landing craft to make it to the beaches of Algiers. The men were picked up and the boats were set adrift."

Eight Stars To Victory: The "match wood" fleet set sail as darkness began to cover the Mediterranean. But these were flimsy craft, not fitted to long range sailing. They became unseaworthy during the course of the evening and proceeded to break apart. As a landing craft became unfit for travel, its men and equipment were hoisted aboard the Corvette. So badly did these craft leak, however, it was decided finally to reload the entire Battalion upon the diminutive Corvette. The Corvette was drawing a great deal of water when she docked on the morning of Nov. 9. A few days later the wounded Stone was towed into port in one piece and remained the whole war in dock at Algiers.

On November 11th the Stone finally reached Algiers and was moored to the Quai de Falaise where she discharged the remaining troops and equipment. On the 19th, the USS Thomas Stone was moved to the outer harbor to make room for two large convoys. An air raid on the night of the 24th and 25th caused additional damage to the ship when a bomb pierced two decks, the hull, and exploded beneath her. On the 26th, a high wind and heavy swells caused the ship to drag both anchors and drove her hard aground, further damaging her hull. While still aground, the transport was reclassified APA-29 on February 1, 1943. Salvage operations continued for over a year, and all equipment and stores were removed. Efforts to refloat the ship continued until the spring of 1944, but the ship was finally placed out of commission on April 1, 1944, and her name was struck from the Navy list on April 8, 1944. Her hulk was sold to Le Materiel Economique, Algiers, for scrap.

The greatest weapon that each man had aboard the USS Thomas Stone was luck; it was also each man's worst enemy. Fate had placed these men in an era in which great forces controlled their lives. Where they would be at any given moment was not up to the individual. Their daily routine was regimented to the minute. It was this regimented routine that moved Private Christian from guard duty to his bunk just at the moment the torpedo hit the stern of the Thomas Stone.

"Where are we going next?" No one in the 2nd Battalion knew where the next order would take them. The only thing they could be sure of was that they would be placed in harm's way once again. It seems incredible that this brush with death aboard the Thomas Stone was just the beginning for these men. Fate would not allow some to return home; others would return home and they would bring with them the memories that they find hard to put into words. It is difficult to explain to a grandchild that mere seconds meant the difference between life and death, and that his very existence was determined by a few steps made by his grandfather in any direction that fate directed.

At the time of this writing, almost fifty-six years have gone by since the USS Thomas Stone was struck. History has recorded the event. It is written down on paper for those interested. When compared to other events of World War II, it may seem insignificant, until you look into the eyes of someone who was there. Then, it is no longer just history; it is real.

Fate decreed that George Christian survive the torpedo strike and whatever else he faced during the rest of the war. It is our great fortune that we are around to hear the memories.

George Christian lives in Huntingdon Valley, PA; his wife of 57 years, Helen, passed away on Sep. 2, 1998.

"Every person that served in the Army,

or any other branch of the armed forces has his own story…"

George Christian

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