The James Sprunt was delivered 13 feb 1943 and torpedoed 6 miles SE of Gitmo, 25 days later, on 10 Mar 1943 by U185 under Captain Maus. It was carrying 4,000 tons of munitions and "went up like a Roman candle" testified a witness. Parts of the ship rained down on convoy KG193. The explosion was seen on a ship 40 miles away. It disappeared in 30 seconds. 8 officers, 26 crewman and 25 armed guard disappeared with their ship. The ships Master Elie Constantine Carr had allowed the ship to shift from convoy position #42to a position between 3rd and 4th columns. This may or may not have contributed to the ship being targeted by Captain Maus.On board were 4 USMMA Cadets; Ens Rowley,Tucek,Buck and McGrath.
Assigning 4 cadets to one ship, especially one loaded with 4,000 tons of munitions, which would guarantee no survivors if hit by a torpedo. 3% of the 142 USMMA cadets lost in WWll were lost in that one day on that one ship, a careless utilization of precious resources. My question is ....was there a procedure regarding the assignment of USMMA cadets in effect? If so what was standard procedure........Thank You.......BobbyMacG