Posted by Allan Wilford Howerton on May 26, 2008, 3:46 pm, in reply to "Re: Captain William P. Thompson, 335th E Co. "
172.135.153.72
The HMS Stirling Castle, carrying the 335th Infantry, sailed from Pier 58 in New York harbor during the night of September 19/20, 1944. At 1348 hours, September 20, while the convoy was being assembled just outside New York harbor, the Stirling Castle collided with the tanker, Brookfield. Both ships were damaged and returned to port. The 335th Infantry returned to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. Damage to the Stirling Castle was mainly above water in the bow of the ship but the fresh water supply was destroyed. Repairs took only a few days and the Stirling Castle, again carrying the 335th Infantry, sailed September 29 with another convoy, arriving at the port of Liverpool, England on October 10, 1944.
I am not aware of the Edmund B. Alexander (the former passenger liner America) having been involved in a collision at sea at this time. Please post any information you have about such an accident. Other elements of the 84th proceeded in the first convoy but were diverted from Cherbourg, France to Southhampton, England and Glasgow, Scotland, respectively, to await the arrival of the 335th Infantry. This incident delayed the 84th Division's entry into combat for approximately six weeks.
The collision and subsequent events are detailed in my memoir, "Dear Captain, et al.: the Agonies and the Ecstasies of War and Memory."
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