Lady Madeleine To The Rescue; Gawd Forsakes Chaplains

WED 3 FEB 1943
Mediterranean
Command designated U.S. Naval Forces Northwest African Waters is established with headquarters at Algiers.

Caribbean
Open lighters YC-886 and YC-887 founder and sink in heavy weather, Guantanamo, Cuba.

Pacific
Submarine Tunny (SS-282) damages Japanese army transport No.1 Shinto Maru in the South China Sea, 22°03'N, 114°23'E.

Atlantic
German submarine U-223 attacks Greenland-bound supply convoy SG 19 which is escorted by Coast Guard cutters Tampa (WPG-48), Escanaba (WPG-77), and Comanche (WPG-76), and sinks War Department-chartered transport Dorchester about 150 miles west of Cape Farewell, Greenland, 59°22'N, 48°42'W, and damages Norwegian freighter Biscaya. Casualties on board Dorchester are heavy, 675 men (including 15 of 24 Armed Guard sailors) being lost. Four Army chaplains, representing four different faiths, bravely give up their lifebelts to soldiers who have none; all four perish with the ship.

German submarine U-255 attacks convoy RA 52 600 miles northeast of Iceland, torpedoing U.S. freighter Greylock, 70°50'N, 00°48'W; there are no casualties, British escort trawler HMS Lady Madeleine rescues all hands.