Posted by Nara -dad James Sullivan on August 25, 2019, 1:47 pm
My father passed recently, found a hidden treasure trove of his history in Armed Guard. He had related being part of a large diversionary convoy during D-Day- either SS Michigan or SS John Davey. Is there anywhere I can find some more history on the ships. I have all his records & dates of his time in the Armed Guard. He had joined the Veterans of Armed Guard but he talked very little about it.
My dad was on these ships during WWII. HIS records indicate he was on the MICHIGAN during DDay. The MICHIGAN was sunk a year earlier. He told me he was on a decoy convoy into the Mediterranean when DDAY was about to occur. Does anyone have any info? His name was James Sullivan.
I just noticed your message dated January 2, 2021, which I had not read earlier. My apologies for this late answer.
As it happened there were two ships named MICHIGAN during World War II, one under the U.S. flag, the second under the flag of Panama.
You are correct that one of the two ships, the U.S.-flagged MICHIGAN, was sunk in 1943, well before D-Day. She was sunk while in convoy UGS-7, which departed Hampton Roads (i.e., Norfolk area), Virginia, on April 1, 1943, with a destination of Bône, Algeria. She was torpedoed and sunk by U-565, with no casualties, west of Oran, Algeria, on April 20, 1943. A summary of the attack is found at www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2875.html
The Panamanian-flagged MICHIGAN was constructed in 1920 in the English city of Sunderland, by the shipbuilding firm J.L. Thompson & Sons, for French owners. While still French-flagged, MICHIGAN took refuge in New Orleans in January 1940 after the German occupation of France. In 1942 the U.S. government seized the vessel for wartime use and registered her under the Panamanian flag. In July 1945 the vessel was returned to its French owners. She was sold and renamed several times before being scrapped in 1962. See http://www.searlecanada.org/sunderland/sunderland087.html, hull #87. Also see http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/french.shtml.
I can find several references to an Armed Guard sailor named James Joseph Sullivan serving aboard (Panamanian-flagged) MICHIGAN in 1944. His military identification number was 707-83-67, and he was a seaman first class; he likely served as a gunner.
As to the whereabouts of MICHIGAN, and your father, before, during and after D-Day, I have found the following. On D-Day itself, MICHIGAN was far from the invasion site in France, and indeed far from the Mediterranean. She departed New York on June 5, 1944 (the day before D-Day) and arrived at Guantanamo, Cuba, on June 11. She returned to New York on June 27, 1944.
In July 1944, MICHIGAN sailed from New York in convoy HX-301, destination Liverpool. In August, September and October 1944, MICHIGAN hop-skipped-and-jumped in various short-range convoys around the coast of England and Scotland. In September and October, she made several short runs from the English coast to the Normandy invasion site and return, although by then several months after D-Day proper. MICHIGAN departed Liverpool in convoy ONS-34 on October 14, 1944 and reached Boston on November 1, 1944.
As to being in a decoy convoy before D-Day, MICHIGAN was in the Mediterranean for only a short period in late 1942-early 1943. She departed Hampton Roads on December 12, 1942 in convoy UGS-3, arriving in Oran, Algeria, on an unspecified date. She departed Oran on January 18. 1943 in convoy GUS-3, returning to Hampton Roads on February 7, 1943. There were at least 46 convoys from Hampton Roads to the Mediterranean after UGS-3 and before D-Day, so convoy UGS-3 could hardly be considered a D-Day decoy convoy.
I hope this information is useful.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com