Steven T. Collis - The Immortals: The World War II Story of Five Fearless Heroes, the Sinking of the Dorchester, and an Awe-Inspiring Rescue

Photos and image credits. Pages 15, 23, 76, and 83, public domain. Pages 47, 50, and 144, images recreated by Deseret Book. Pages 53 and 252, photos courtesy of Sharon David. Page 107, Government of the Republic of Poland, Ministry of Foreign Affairs MSZ. Public domain. Page 137, Iconographic Archive/Alamy Stock Photos. Page 151, photo courtesy of Adam Artigliere. Used by permission.

2021 Steven T. Collis

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Collis, Steven T., 1978 author.

Title: The immortals : the World War II story of five fearless heroes, the sinking of the Dorchester, and an awe-inspiring rescue / Steven T. Collis.

Description: [Salt Lake City] : Shadow Mountain, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: The story of the heroic actions of chaplains George Fox, Alexander Goode, John Washington, and Clark Poling of the Dorchester and stewards mate Charles W. David Jr. of the Comanche in the aftermath of a German submarine attack during World War II.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021000428 | ISBN 9781629728483 (hardback) | eISBN 978-1-62973-996-0 (eBook)

Subjects: LCSH: David, Charles W., Jr. (Charles Walter), 19171943. | Fox, George Lansing, 19001943. | Goode, Alexander D. (Alexander David), 19111943. | Washington, John P. (John Patrick), 19081943. | Poling, Clark Vandersall, 19101943. | Dorchester (Ship) | Military chaplainsUnited StatesBiography. | World War, 19391945ChaplainsUnited StatesBiography.

Classification: LCC D774.D56 C65 2021 | DDC 940.54/78092273dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000428

Printed in the United States of America

Publishers Printing, Salt Lake City, UT

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Book design Shadow Mountain

Cover image: PaulFleet/iStockPhoto.com

Art direction: Richard Erickson

Design: Barry Hansen

Author photo: courtesy of the author

Contents

Prologue

A ll around them, in every direction, was dark, frosty water; it was carpeted with constellations of red lights attached to the life jackets of men bobbing in the waves.

It was February 3, 1943, in the middle of the night, in the Atlantic Ocean south of Greenland. Ice coated everything. The wind sliced. Army Chaplains George Fox, Alexander Goode, John Washington, and Clark Poling struggled to stand. They balanced on the jutting stern of the SS Dorchester, their massive cruise-ship-turned-troop-transport that had been struck by a Nazi torpedo just a short time before. It had listed first, then begun a nosedive, its propellers rising into the air. Beneath and all around the chaplains, the ocean gurgled and boiled, gobbling up all the decks of the enormous ship foot by foot. In a matter of minutes, the massive maw would swallow them as well.

They had done all they could within the physical constraints of the human bodywith their limbs, sinews, muscles, bones, even their vocal cords, they had saved scores of men. They were of different religions, faiths that had clashedand still warredwith each other over the centuries. But those were other peoples battles; they meant nothing in the moment. Each was devoted, to both God and to his fellow human beings. Now, each in his own way, they prayed for help. They needed the interference of the divine for a task that was now beyond their power.

On a nearby ship, a United States Coast Guard cutter called the Comanche, Stewards Mate Charles W. David Jr. prepared for whatever order came his way. His primary duties were beneath his abilities, not for any valid reason but due to the color of his skin. He had been a strong swimmer since his youth, a natural leader, a man of both charisma and keen judgment, selfless and dutiful, strong and caring. But because his skin was brownhis family hailed from the Caribbeanhe was relegated to the work of a cook and not allowed to advance much in rank. If his ship received orders to go and save the men from the torpedoed Dorchester, he would have no obligation to help.

At that precise moment, the men on Charless ship were scanning the choppy waters, searching desperately for the U-boat that had fired the torpedo at the Dorchester. It was still out there, lurking in the depths, like a wolf with blood from a kill on its lips, still hungry for more. If it was like most U-boats, it was not alone, for the Nazis stalked the seas in packs. At the sonar, Charless friend listened for any sign of the enemy. On deck, other members of the crew searched for the froth and foam of submarines rising from the waves.

What they didnt know: the U-boat had already plunged to the safety of the depths. There it waited in the silent darkness, hidden, but ready to pounce.

The order came to the Comanche: it was to rush to the site of the sinking Dorchester and search for and attack enemy submarines while other ships looked for survivors. The cutter charged on its course. The ocean heaved and thrashed. The tiny coast guard ship careened into troughs and bounded over waves the size of hills. Charles and the rest of the crew clung to whatever grip they could find.

The chaplains did not know Charles, nor he them. But they had issued a prayer into the frigid skies above the Arctic, and, unbeknownst to either them or Charles, he was coming as part of the answer.

Far below, surrounded by darkness and pressure, Oberleutnant Karl-Jurg Wchter, the commander of U-boat 223, was done waiting. He ordered his men to surface.

Chapter 1

A Divided Country

O n December 11, 1941, four days after Japans attack on Pearl Harbor, Adolf Hitler rose to the podium in the Reichstag. Two lengthy microphones and two shorter ones jutted toward his face. Behind him, a massive imperial eagle clutched the now-infamous Nazi swastika in its talons. In chairs both surrounding and in front of Hitler, members of the Reichstag and the Nazi party looked on in anticipation.

Deputies, men of the German Reichstag! Hitler said. Light gleamed off the hair greased tightly against his scalp. His double-breasted, military-style suit reflected the crispness of his words. A year of events of historical significance is drawing to an end. A year of the greatest decisions lies ahead. In these serious times, I speak to you, Deputies of the German Reichstag, as to the representatives of the German nation. Beyond and above that, the whole German people should take note of this glance into the past, as well as of the coming decisions the present and future impose upon us.

With that, the Nazi leader launched into his justifications for declaring war against the United States. It was a lengthy speech, filled with falsehoods and Hitlers perspective of the political rumblings across the world. Amidst all of it, one theme repeated itself: Hitlers belief that a unified, homogeneous Germany would never face defeat.

In the whole history of the German nation, he roared, of nearly 2,000 years, it never has been so united as today and, thanks to National Socialism, it will remain united in the future. Probably it has never seen so clearly, and rarely been so conscious of its honor.