Lost at sea 1942
Walter Compton Davis
From time to time, over the years, I have wondered what actually happened to Compton Davis, who was my 2nd cousin. I was only seven when he died, and I don’t remember ever having met him. All I was ever told was that he was lost at sea somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, and that his ship had suddenly disappeared, with no radio contact, or record of what took place.
A few years ago I found his name on the Maryland W.W.II Monument outside of Annapolis. Edee Rogers’ Family history only gives - “Walter Compton Davis” - “ B-Apr.14, 1920 ” - “Lost at sea 1942”.
Recently I was thinking that maybe the internet could provide some clues to solve the mystery, So I took “Lost at sea 1942” and started searching. First I tried U.S. Warships sunk in 1942. This turned up several possibilities, but when I narrowed it down to the Atlantic, the possibilities, which included a Destroyer sunk off Cape May, didn’t seem to fit. The locations of all of these warships, and what happened that sink them was known at the time by the Navy. So I kept typing and searching other things, and quite by accident found the answer after almost 70 years, in less than an hour.
Because 22 year old Walter Compton Davis, who died serving his country during war, deserves more than a few words in a family history, I have compiled a partial record from the information I found.
NOTE (*) indicates - internet link for more information and in some cases photos &, or maps.
(+) indicates - more detailed information given below.
Walter Compton Davis was born Wednesday, April 14, 1920, to Alice White (nee Rogers- B- Jan. 17, 1889 - D May 9, 1951) & Walter Moncure Davis (B July 15, 1887 - D July 2,1949). They were married July 14, 1913. He was their only child (A son was born in April, 1919, but died at birth.) Originally Compton’s family lived at 3528 Lynchester Road. When he was eight, they moved to a 2-story brick, dormered, gambrel-roofed house 5719 Kenmore Road, which is between Melrose & Lake Avenues, near Bryn Mawr School. (*1)
Compton’s Mother Alice Davis was the younger sister of Edee’s father, Albert Frederick Rogers, one of my great grandfather, Albert Holland Rogers’ seven children.
His father, Walter Moncure Davis, was in charge of advertising for McCormick Company. He was one of the 12- member Board of Directors in 1933. (*2)
In June of 1939 Compton graduated from Forest Park High school in Baltimore.
Following graduation, Compton worked on the Old Bay Line’s ‘State of Maryland’ a passenger steamboat that operated overnight service between Baltimore and Norfolk.
At some point, probably between Fall of 1939 and June, 1940, he attended Severn Preparatory School.
From September, 1940 until June of 1941 he attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blackburg, VA.
On October 9, 1941, Compton applied for enlistment in the Naval Reserve.
October 10, 1941, Compton took his physical exam, which documented that he was 5’ 5” tall, weighed 176 pounds, had blue green eyes with 20 / 20 vision and normal color perception, brown hair, two fillings, and a 42” chest. His general build and appearance is listed as “Well developed and nourished, stocky.”
On October 14 he was enlisted in the Naval Reserve in Class M-2, as a Seaman 1st Class, for a period of four years. At that time McCormick Company Vice-president, C. Leonard Fardwell, wrote to the 5th Naval District Commandant that he was pleased to endorse Compton’s application as he had “known him since childhood and had seen him develop into a fine young man of excellent character”. “He has always been interested in athletics and his record in school as a football player is outstanding”. “Among his classmates and friends he was regarded as fair and honorable”.
October 15, 1941, Compton receives orders to report to the Medical Officer at the Naval Recruiting Station in Baltimore to begin his active duty processing. He did this on October 21, between 10 AM & 12:15 PM.
From November 23, 1941, until January 22, 1942, Compton was assigned to Inshore Patrol at Norfolk, VA.
Between January 23 and February 3 he was in the Portsmouth, VA Naval Hospital.
On February 3 Compton reported back to Norfolk Inshore Patrol. At that time he was put in charge of Seaman 1 Class, Joseph Tracy Hamilton. He remained at Norfolk until April 15., when he was reassigned to AGC in Little Creek, Va. There he underwent Armed Guard Training School. Upon completion of that training, Compton was transferred to AGC Receiving Station in Brooklyn, NY, and on May 15, 1942, was assigned to Gun Crew 342 E.
On May 22, 1942, Compton received orders to report to the U. S. Armed Merchant Vessel, S. S. Montrose, in New York for temporary duty in command of the Armed Guard unit assigned to that vessel. Under his command were Warren Calvin Wright, James Linwood Carter, Edgar Phillip Lidard, Arthur Lee Logan, William Henry McNew, and Claude Thomas Slater.
The S. S. Montrose had been built in 1939 as a cargo ship and was originally named Herta Maersk, operated by the Maersk Line of Denmark. On June 6, 1941, it was among 84 foreign- registry ships seized under the Ship Requisition Act, for use by the American War Department. The S. S. Montrose experienced several unfortunate accidents during its short military service. On November 11, 1941, it rammed the oiler USS Laramie, during stormy weather. On June 3, 1942, shortly after Compton came on board, it ran aground on Moratties Reef, near Argentia, Newfoundland. It was re-floated and continued its escort duty to Greenland. On June 10 it arrived in Sondre, Stromfjord. On July 7, 1942, the Montrose hit a submerged rock while in poorly charted waters between Ivigtut and Narsarssuaq, southwest of the Skovfjord airbase. Although the stern remained above water, it was considered a total loss. The crew spent four days stranded on an island with only codfish for food. Compton lost all of his uniforms and personal gear in this accident, which were replaced at a cost to the Navy, of $119.76, plus $10.00 to him for replacement of his 8 month-old Toilet Kit. The wreck, later known as “The sunken ship”, became an essential marker used used by planes approaching the airbase. The ship that rescued Compton and his fellow crew members was then hit by a torpedo.
On September 5, 1942, Compton received orders stating“ Detached duty completed as Armed Guard on board the U.S. Armed Merchant Vessel, S. S. Montrose, DUE to sinking by enemy action on 7-7-42”.
On September 16, 1942, Compton was promoted from Seaman 1st Class to Coxswain. His proficiency and his ability as leader of men were both listed as ’35’.
In October Compton was granted a fifteen-day furlough and came home to be with his parents and fiance’. This would be the last time they saw him.
Compton was serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a Coxswain (U.S. Naval Reserve- serial # 4059815. (+1) In December of 1942 he was serving on the American steam passenger ship Coamo, which was built in 1925 for the Porto Rico Steamship Line. (+ 4) (*4) In January of 1942 the Coamo was chartered as a US Army transport ship. Compton was one of thirty-seven U.S. Army Armed Guards (+2) (*3) assigned to protect this ship.
On November 9 Compton wrote a letter to his parents from England. This would be the last message they would receive from their son.
Around November 9, 1942 the Coamo left Liverpool and sailed to the Clyde, where some 1,500 UK military personnel boarded the ship. The vessel then sailed for Algiers where the troops were off-loaded as part of Operation Torch, which was the code name for the invasion of North Africa. The Coamo departed Algiers on November 25, bound for Gibraltar. On November 26, 1942, the Coamo under Master Nels Helgesen, departed Gibraltar in westbound Convoy MFK-3 enroute to Land’s End, England, a convoy transfer point. She had onboard 11 officers, 122 men, the 37 U.S. Navy Armed Guard, as well as 16 Army passengers. The ship was armed with one 4-inch, two 3-inch, and six 20-mm guns, which the Navy Armed Guard manned.
On December 1, 1942, at Land’s End The Coamo got detached from Convoy MFK-3 and was given orders, by the British Admiralty, to divert to New York, traveling alone,via the Bermuda route (which was considered safer for ships traveling independently). This was the last time that the ship, her crew, or any of her passengers were ever seen. (*5)
On November 26 the German U-boat U-604, under the command of Horst Holtring departed the submarine pens at Brest, France, and headed for the North Atlantic west of Ireland to join a group of seven other U-boats called the “Draufganger” (daredevils) that were planning an attack on a convoy to New York. However when they could not locate the convoy, they spread out. On Wednesday December 2 at 20:18 GWT (8:18 PM German War Time ) the U-604 from 9-U Flotilla was NNE (North North East) of the Azores when it spotted the Coamo, which was proceeding at 17.5 knots. Captain Holtring maneuvered his boat into a firing position and at 800 yards fired one torpedo which struck the Coamo ‘dead on’ just below the bridge. This explosion did extensive damage to the ship and It sank rapidly and was gone in five minutes. (+5) (*6)
There was a fairly intense gale in that particular area of the Atlantic on that evening.( winds of 32 to 63 miles per hour ) Some men were seen leaving the ship on rafts. Even if some did get off
the Coamo, that gale blew for three days so if they did get off, they probably died in the storm.
The location where the Coamo sank is 48.45N/23.30W.
The Loss of the Coamo was the greatest single loss of Merchant Mariners (188) on a U. S. flagged merchant vessel of World War II. (*4 & 5)
On December 10, 1942, Walter Compton Davis, Cox, M-2, was officially reported to be missing and was presumed to have died on December 11, 1943, ( for administrative purposes - section 5 of Public Law 490 - date was 1 year after actual death).
As of January 10, 1943 the Coamo , which was overdue, was declared lost by marine cause.
On January 16, 1943, Walter Davis received this telegram from Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs, The Chief of Naval Personnel. “ The Navy Department deeply regrets to inform you that your son Walter Compton Davis Coxswain M-2 United States Naval Reserve is missing following action in the performance of his duty and in the service of his country. The department appreciates your great anxiety but details not now available and delay in receipt thereof must necessarily be expected. to prevent possible aid to our enemies please do not divulge the name of his ship or station”.
Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy, officially found Compton to be dead on 23 December 1943. It was not until December 31, 1943, that the Davis’s received a letter from the Secretary of the Navy informing them that Compton “ had been a member of the armed crew serving on board a transport vessel which failed to arrive at her destination on 10 December 1942, and has been presumed lost in the North Atlantic”. In this letter there was no mention of the name of the ship. An official document in Compton’s file does state that it was the Coamo.
On March 28, 1944, Mr. & Mrs. Walter M. Davis were paid a six-month’s death gratuity of $561.60.
On February 6, 1945, Walter M. Davis was informed by the Navy that Compton had been awarded the Purple Heart and in January of 1947 he was awarded the American Defense Service medal and World War II Victory Medal, posthumously.
None of the information about the U-boat sinking the Coamo was known until after the war ended and the German Navy records were studied, so Compton’s parents never found out exactly what happened to their only child.
Compton was engaged to be married to Eunice Grimes at the time he died. His fiancé waited for his return until the war ended and Aunt Alice told her that she need to give up her vigil and start dating other men. Aunt Alice finally began to clear out Compton’s room and gave some of his things, like baseball cards and toys to Peter and me. A wooden boat model that was Compton’s is now on the mantel at Sharon’s; but as far as I know, there are no photographs or other of his items remaining.
When Aunt Alice died, she left one of her diamond rings to Edee, who really did not care for diamonds and never wore it. A few years later she sold it and used the money to help pay for the new puppet studio that was built onto the Hawthorne Road house, which served as an every day reminder of Aunt Alice.
Larry Paul, June 19, 2012. Revised Sep t9, 2014. Revised January 30, 2019
(+1) - www.ehow.com/about_673814-navy_coxswain_s-job_.html. ; & www.valoratsea.com/rate.htm.Coxswain -In the U. S. Navy is the helmsman (driver) of a small boat, such as the boats used to ferry ship crews around a harbor) The Coxswain right arm rate (patch) is a pair of crossed anchors with encircling rope. During W.W.II their pay ranged from $50 to $66 per month, depending on rank.
(+2) www.usmm.org/armedguard.html. ; Armed Guard - In October 1941 the U. S. Navy organized an Armed Guard to provide gun crews for duty aboard the country’s 1,375 merchant ships, just as it had done during W.W.I. The first Armed Guard were given 3 weeks of training at Little Creek, Virginia, and the first trainees and their officers were ready to sail in November,1941, when Congress repealed the Neutrality Act and placed guns aboard merchant ships. The number of Armed Guards assigned to a ship during 1942 was quite low.
(+4) SS Coamo was a 7057-ton passenger ship that was completed at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. in 1925. She was owned by Agwi Lines Inc., of New York and operated between New York and Porto Rico on the Porto Rico Line. It had one smoke stack. There were about five decks above the waterline, three of which had open deck sections.
(+5) U-boat Captain Horst Holtring, commander of U-604, was born June 30, 1913 in Altona. U-604 was commissioned on January 8, 1942 at Hamburg. It went on 7 patrols, spending 203 days at sea, and sinking 6 ships. On the 7th patrol U-604 was damaged by 2 American aircraft. Horst Holtring along with his entire 45-man crew survived the loss, being rescued by 2 other U-boats. U-185, his rescue boat, was sunk 13 days later. On August 24, 1943 Holtring shot himself to escape the chlorine gas spreading through the boat before it sank.
(*1) - http://media.nara.gov/media/images/27/19/27-1804.gif (Walter Compton Davis rank & address on list of Maryland Dead in W.W.I ).
(*2) - www.mcretirees.org/photos1.html ( Board of Directors 1933 McCormick No. 8 Walter M. Davis).
(*3) www.usmm.org/ag/d.html Armed Guard Wounded (list) - Davis, Walter C. Coamo (USAT) 12/09/42 Cox (rank) MD (Home).
www.uboat.net/allies/marchants/crews/person/21013.html (Walter C. Davis - roster information & notes on loss of Coamo)
(*4) http://home-comcast.net/ cshortridge/merships/amerships/ss.coamo.pdf. (Photos, maps & Info by Bud Shortridge about the ship & sinking)
www.flickriver.com/photos/fredanrebecca/tags/steamship (good quality photo of Coamo).
www.uboat.net/allies/merchant/ships/2486.html (postcard view & info on Coamo).
http;//gardelhermoso.blogspot.com/2011/07/ss-coamo-1925-1942.html ( photos of Coamo, U-604 with captain & map -in Spanish)
(*5) http;//www.pondhall.org.uk/lawrancegeorgebilling.html (details of Coamo service & sinking -which I combined with details from Bud Shortridge, listed above).
(*6) www.ubaot.net/men/commanders/498/html. ;
S. S. Coamo
The Porto Rico Steamship Line was founded in 1890 to carry sugar from Porto Rico to Brooklyn New York. In 1896 it began passenger service between San Juan and Brooklyn. Later it moved to Pier 16 which adjoined the Wall St. Ferry dock at the foot of Wall Street. It shared this pier with the New York & Savanah Line. By 1909 the Porto Rico Line was advertising ‘Sailings every Saturday’ for the 4 to 5-day trip to San Juan.
The S. S. Coamo was built in Newport News, VA , completed December, 1925 and sailed her maiden voyage in January of 1926. The ship weighed 7,057 gross tons, was 429 feet long, and had 3 decks above the hull. The Coamo alternated on this route with a slightly younger, nearly identical, sister ship the S.S. Borinquen, built in 1930. They transported passengers along with perishable and other cargo between New York and San Juan. Their 1934 booklet states that,” Passengers are surrounded by sumptuous luxury. This note of Supreme refinement is found in the spacious lounges, the dining saloon, the library, tea room, writing room, smoking room, music room and other public spaces”. “ An excellent orchestra provides music for daily concerts and dancing every evening”. #1
A 1935 breakfast menu from the S. S. Coamo begins with a choice of fresh blueberries, Puerto Rico pineapple, grapefruit and oranges, or ripe Kadota figs in syrup or Puerto Rico preserved grape fruit. Then on to a choice of fried white perch, grilled mutton chops, ham, bacon, or minced chicken on toast. There were the usual eggs served six different ways, or five styles of omelets. Five choices of bread and rolls, along with milk, coffee chocolate, Ovaltine, and Lipton’s teas in five flavors. #2
All of this luxury came to an abrupt end in January of 1942 when the Coamo was chartered as a U. S. Army Transport ship and began service transporting troops and some supplies for the military. On January 19, 1942, shortly before the Coamo began military duty, German U-Boat 66 torpedoed the Canadian National Steamship, “Lady Hawkins”, sinking it off the coast of North Carolina. 350 people died when the ship went down. 76 survivors in the only remaining lifeboat floated in the Atlantic for five days until spotted, and 71 people were rescued by the S. S. Coamo. 5 had died during the ordeal. They were taken to San Juan. The Coamo’s first trip as a military troop carrier was to South America and then to Africa.
Captain Nels Helgesen, was born on January 2, 1888, in Haugesund , Norway. He emigrated to America in 1905. In 1912 he attended navigation school in New York City and received his first deck license. The same year he began his career with the Porto Rico Line. In 1918, at age 30, he was given command of his first ship. By 1942, at the age of 54 he was Captain of the then17 year old Coamo. #3
For some unknown reason the military records of Walter Compton Davis do not contain copies of any orders he received after his return to Brooklyn on September 5, 1942. For this reason it is not known when he was ordered to begin duty aboard the Coamo. Compton and the rest of his gun crew were aboard when the Coamo departed the Brooklyn Navy Yard on September 23, 1942* and arrived in Liverpool, probably early in November. The ship left Liverpool around the 8th and sailed to the Clyde where about 1,500 British troops boarded for transport to Algiers. MKF-3, a convoy of 17 ships left the Clyde on November 14, and arrived in Algiers on November 23. On November 25 the Coamo departed Algiers and went to Gibraltar. The following day they departed Gilbraltar as part of westbound Convoy MFK-3, headed toward Land’s End, England. At Land’s End they were detached from the convoy with orders to head for New York by way of the relatively safer Bermuda route. The following night the Coamo was torpedoed and sunk by German U-604 which had been tracking it while it was zigzagging in a storm.
Compton was part of a 37-man gun crew and these were the men that he spent his last days with. No information has turned up about how many guns were mounted aboard the Coamo. The standard installation was a 4” or 5”/38 dual purpose stern gun, a 3”/50AA gun, and eight 20mm machine guns. #5 At this early stage of WWII most of the guns were leftovers stored after WWI.This armament was to defend the ship from attack, or boarding by crews on enemy ships. They were used against airplanes when the ship was traveling near the coast. The standing orders for ships, such as the Coamo, in combat with a surface ship or surfaced submarine, were to turn away, putting the attacker on the stern and run. Therefore the heaviest armament was mounted on the stern. The idea being to discourage pursuit by the enemy. #6 The guns would have been totally useless against torpedoes heading for them at night.
Merchant ships were assigned a Navy Armed Guard contingent of one officer and about twenty men to operate and maintain the guns. Merchant Marine members of the crew were trained to assist the Navy Gun Crew.
These are the Armed Gun men Compton served with, along with the little information that is recorded about them.
John Richard Barry, Seaman Second Class, from Louisville, Ky.
Harry Wilford Benner, Seaman Second Class, age 27. Wheelwright, KY. Wife, Dorliss Ruth Benner
Fred Joseph Birzer, Seaman Second Class, from Dodge City, KS.
Sidney Alcide Bleau, Seaman Second Class. 92 E. Florence St. Highland Park, Detroit, MI. Wife, Margaret Elane Bleau.
Mike Bokulich, Seaman Second Class.
John Alexander Bratton, Seaman Second Class, 458 S. 4th St. Danville, KY.
Leo Frank Brewer, Seaman Second Class. Fryatt, AK
Edmond Lewis Broyles, Seaman Second Class. 109 N. Johnson St. Louisville, KY.
Nickolas Bukvic, Seaman Second Class.
Melvin Thomas Burns, Seaman Second Class, 408 S. Illinois St., Belleville, IL.
Edwin George Corpin, Seaman Second Class, from Kincaid, Il.
Louis Frank Craven, Seaman Second Class,1384 N. 23rd St. East St. Louis, Il.
George Edward Crowder, Seaman Second Class,1424 Wappington St. Danville, Il, who was the brother of,
Harold Eugene Crowder, Seaman Second Class,1424 Wappington St. Danville, Il.
Philip C. Crowley, Seaman Second Class.
Joyce E. Curtis, Seaman Second Class.
Walter Casmier Drvall, Seaman Second Class, Albert, WV.
James C. Ette, Seaman First Class.
Paul M. Fischer, Seaman First Class.
Robert S. Foitag, Seaman First Class.
Lawrence A. Glowczewski, Signalman Third Class, 1918 E. Tioga St., Philadselphia, PA.
Byron R. Hess, Gunner’s Mate Third Class.
Charles F. Jones, Seaman Second Class.
Robert E. McCann, Seaman Second Class.
Raymond J. Mulligan, Signalman Third Class.
Gene A. Robertson, Radioman Third Class.
George Campbell Thisby, Signalman Third Class, from Sacramento, CA.
These were all listed as U. S. Naval Reserve. (USNR)
Their two Officers were also USNR and six other Seaman were regular U.S. Navy personnel.
William A. Arens, Seaman First Class -USN.
Andrew Corrao, Seaman Second Class - USN.
Eugene J. Dettlaff, Lieutenant (junior grade), USNR. 1563 S. 60th St., West Allis, Milwaukee, WI.
Roger J. Gabler, Seaman Second Class, USN. 3227 A Barret St. St. Louis, MO.
William Elwood Gardner, Seaman Second Class, USN. 217 Franklin Ave. River Forest, Oak Park, IL.
David J. Hughes, Lieutenant (junior grade) USNR.
Richard E. Mabie, Boatswin’s Mate Second Clas, USN.
Robert Vivian Russ, Seaman First Class. USN.
Donald M. Sprague, Seaman Second Class, USN. #4
A couple others that Compton may have befriended are;
18 year old Joseph Giovinco who was a U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet, working as a Deck Hand.
Robert Sheridan Clough, Jr, a Merchant Marine Utilityman, who was from nearby Wilmington, DE. He had served three months, so may have come aboard the same time Compton did.
Granville Aden Catlett , a Merchant Marine Wiper, from Baltimore.
Henry A. Levett, Merchant Marine Deck Cadet. Summit, NJ.
Reference sources.
#1 www.timetableimages.com. 1934 Porto Rico Line booklet, collection of Bjorn Larsson.
#2 Menu collection Hunter College, CUNY.
#3 niahistoryonline@yahoo.com. The Norwegian Immigration Association, Inc. - “My Father Captain Nels Helgesen of the National Maritime Hall of Fame”, by Captain Henry N. Helgesen, US Coast Guard Retired. March 16, 2000.
#4 uboat.net. Crew lists from ships hit by U-boats -Coamo.
#5 www.usmm.org.
#6 www.navweaps.com.
* One source lists October as sailing date. Deck Cadet Harry A. Levett signed on the SS Coamo on October 2, 1942. - Kings Pointers in World War II website.
German military records for WWII give the position of the S. S. Coamo, at the time it was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-604, as 48.45N/23.30W, North North East of the Azores.The Coamo was traveling at 17.5 knots. U-604 was about 800 yards from it’s target when a single torpedo was fired
View from the 1934 Porto Rico Line folder showing the dining room before it was refitted as a mess hall to serve as a troop transport.The crew required to feed all of the troops and crew consisted of 9 cooks, 4, butchers, 2 bakers, 6 pantrymen, 8 messmen , and 8 waiters. All of which perished December 2, 1942, when the Coamo was sunk.
From collection of Bjorn Larsson, www.timetableimages.vom.
The lounge before all the furnishings were removed and it was refitted for troop use. In order to accommodate the 1,500 British military men that were transported to Algiers this space was probably filled with as many double- or triple-tier metal bunks as it could hold.
From collection of Bjorn Larsson, www.timetableimages.vom.
Compton’s medals
In February of 1945, the Navy awarded Walter Compton Davis the Purple Heart, posthumously.
In January of 1947, he was awarded the American Defense Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal, posthumously.
Purple Heart ( left ) was awarded for “Being wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces”.
American Defense Service Medal ( center ) was awarded for ‘Service between 8 September 1939 and 7 December 1941.
World War II Victory Medal ( right ) was awarded for Service in the armed forces between the dates of December 7, 1941 and December 31, 1946.
Compton’s sail boat
Maybe the only possession of Compton’s still around is this model of a sail boat that was his when he was a child. Compton’s interest in boats and the sea may have been inspired by his grandfather, Captain Daniel M. Davis , who piloted a steamer between Baltimore and Virginia. Bernard Paul obtained the model from Compton’s family estate after his mother Alice died. Bernie passed it on to his granddaughter Sharon. It now resides on the mantel in the Perfetti household.
Steamer ESSEX.
Built for the Weems Line in 1885 at William Skinner & Sons in Baltimore. It was the first screw-operated steamboat built for the Weems Line. Estimated cost $40,000. The forward part of the saloon was completely surrounded by windows. It had accommodations for 50 first-class passengers and could carry 250 tons of freight. Operated by a crew of 40. It was aboard this steamer that Captain Daniel M. Davis died in 1910.
From “Tidewater By Steamboat: A Saga of the Chesapeake” by David C. Holly. Photograph in collection of Mariner’s Museum.
Compton’s nautical heritage
Captain Daniel M. Davis was born 1840 in Stafford County, Virginia. He joined the Confederate Army on May 25, 1861, at age 21. He mustered into “C” company Virginia 30th Infantry Regiment. On April 12, 1864, he was transferred to the Confederate States Navy. He was owner and master of a schooner that was destroyed at Fredericksburg to keep it out of the hands of the Union Army. His commitment to the Confederate cause remained with him all of his life. Following the Civil War he moved to Fredericksburg , VA. He married Miss Sara Bates; and they had eight children, one of which was Compton’s father Walter M. Davis, who was born in 1887. The 1892 Fredericksburg City Directory lists him as living at 119 Main St. His second wife, Miss Ida Plummer, of Solomons Island, MD, survived him.
Daniel M. Davis went to work for the Weems Line. where he worked on their steamboats for forty years. By 1892 he was Captain of the steamboat Essex which operated between Fredericksburg and Pier 2, Light Street, in Baltimore. One night in heavy fog off Point Lookout the Essex, bound down the bay, ran into the Baltimore-bound Potomac. Seconds before the collision, Captain Davis rushed out on deck and was knocked senseless. The Essex struck the Potomac amidships on the starboard side and both ships were extensively damaged. The Essex had heavy damage to the bow and she put into Solomons Island for examination, before being sent to a shipyard for repairs.
On January 28, 1905 the Weems Line was sold to the Maryland Delaware & Virginia Railroad Co, a steamship operation subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Captain Davis continued as captain of the Essex for it’s new owner.
On Friday January 21, 1910, the Essex was lying in the Rappahannock River opposite Carter’s Creek waiting for dense fog to lift. Following dinner, Captain Davis went to his cabin with orders for the officer on watch to call him as soon as the fog cleared enough to dock at Carter’s Creek. Around 10 o’clock he was called, but did not respond. His cabin was entered, and he was found lying in his berth dead. The cause of death was described in his obituary as ‘heart trouble’. Daniel M. Davis was interred in Fredericksburg Cemetery ( Section 11, Grave 78).
Compton’s uncle, his father’s older brother, John D. Davis, began his steamboat career in 1896, as a lookout man aboard the Essex, even though it was against Compton’s grandfather’s wishes. In 1901, at age 22, he earned his first-class pilot’s license. Uncle John served on the Middlesex for 20 years. By 1924 he was assigned to the Potomac, and then on the Anne Arundel until 1937. At his request, the Anne Arundel made a final round trip between Baltimore and Fredericksburg on September 11, 1937. Captain John D. Davis filled the passenger list with many of the friends and clients who had supported his career over the years. Could Compton and his parents have been among the passengers on this farewell voyage?
The accompanying photograph shows Captain J. D. Davis and crew standing on ice next to the Potomac on the frozen Chesapeake Bay.
One of Walter M. Davis’ three sisters married W. E. Compton, which is probably the source of Walter Compton Davis’s middle name.
Information sources
Tidewater By Steamboat: A Saga of the Chesapeake, by David C. Holly, 1991. Photo - Collection of Captain J. D. Davis in Mariner’s Museum.
www.Find A Grave Memorial # 11917151 Created by BigFrench Oct. 9, 2005 (newspaper clippings and information)
Here, thanks to research by Matthew J. Kessler, DVM, Dipl. ACLAM, Associate Director, Office of Laboratory Animal Resources Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University and former Director of the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC), University of Puerto Rico; and Richard G. Rawlins, PhD, former Scientist-in-Charge of the CPRC’s Cayo Santiago monkey colony, are some more stories relating to the S.S. Coamo.
September, 1930 - The Coamo encountered one of the worst hurricanes in years, four miles off the Santo Domingo harbor. Captain Thomas Evans, his crew, and their passengers endured more than seven hours of the storms intense winds and rough seas. Steaming at full capacity the ship could make little of no headway. When they entered the eye of the hurricane the ship became a temporary shelter for all kinds of sea birds that had been caught in the storm. A half hour later the rest of the storm overtook the ship. Water then came into the ship through ceilings, doors, windows and a broken skylight. The Coamo survived with not a single loss of life and only a few passengers being slightly injured.
Source. The New York Times September 5, 1930.
November 1938 - The S. S. Coamo was used to transport about 500 Rhesus monkeys from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was the final part of a 51-day, 14,000-mile journey that began in the jungles of India. The monkeys final destination was the 35-acre island of Santiago which lies eighteen miles east of San Juan, and about five - eights of a mile from the mainland. It was selected for experiments using the monkeys to study tropical disease because its climate and vegetation is similar to their native home in the hills near Calcutta, India. In 2013 the Cayo Santiago Rhesus Monkey Colony celebrated its 75th anniversary with studies still being conducted on descents of the monkeys transported there by the S. S. Coamo.
Sources. American Journal of Primatology. “ A 75 Year Pictorial History of the Cayo Santiago Rhesus Monkey Colony”, By Matthew J. Kessler and Richard G. Rawlings.
New York Times, November 22, 1938, Special Cable to the New York Times from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov.21.
Laconia order of 1942.
This order may explain why the German U-boat that sank the S. S. Coamo did not attempt to rescue any survivors that were still alive in the water after the ship sank.
On September 12, 1942 the Royal Mail Steamer Laconia was sunk off the coast of West Africa by U-boat 156. This ship was carrying 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, 80 civilians and 428 British and Polish soldiers. U-boats 156, 506, 507, and an Italian submarine attempted to rescue the survivors. Life boats were taken in tow, the wounded were given medical treatment and survivors were allowed to congregate on the decks of the U-boats. Red Cross flags were displayed on the U-boats to indicate to any passing aircraft that the boats were engaged in humanitarian relief efforts. Despite these flags an American B-24 bomber launched an attack that damaged one U-boat and caused a large number of casualties among the non-German survivors. Admiral Karl Doenitz, head of German U-boat operations, was furious that his submariners were endangered while engaged in a rescue mission. This resulted in him issuing instructions that became known as the ‘Laconia order’, composed of four parts.
1 Efforts to save survivors of sunken ships, such as fishing swimming men out of the water and putting them on board lifeboats, the righting of overturned lifeboats, or the handing over of food and water, must stop. Rescue contradicts the most basic demands of the war: the destruction of hostile ships and their crews.
2 The orders concerning the bringing-in of skippers and chief engineers stay in effect.
3 Survivors are to be saved only if their statements are important for the boat.
4 Stay firm. Remember that the enemy has no regard for women and children when bombing German cities.
Sources. Origin of the Laconia Order, by Dr. Maurer Maurer and Lawrence J. Paszek. Royal United Services Journal 109,1964, page 338.
“The 1942 Laconia Order: The Murder of Shipwrecked Survivors and the Allied Pursuit of Justice 1945-46” by G. H. Bennett. Law, Crime and History ( 2011) 1, pages 16-34.
Information on U-604 the German U-boat that sank the S. S. Coamo is contained in a 208-page book “No Ordinary War; The Eventful Career of U-604. By Christian Prag. Seaforth Publishing, April 16, 2009. ISBN-10 1848320221.
Compton and Eunice
When Compton met and fell in love with Eunice Grimes is unknown, but they were engaged at the time his ship was torpedoed.
Eunice Grimes was born October 25, 1921, in Prince George’s County, Maryland to Andrew Jefferson and Margaret Angelica Grimes. Her father, Andrew, was the proprietor of a general merchandise store as well as an Undertaker, Embalmer, and Funeral Home director in Woodville. Their 1 1/2-story clapboard home was adjacent to the store.
Following word of Compton’s disappearance in 1942, Eunice waited for his return. In December of 1943, Compton was officially declared to be dead. Aunt Alice urged Eunice to start dating other men.
Eunice met and later married Robert Bruce Parris, Jr. They named their first child, a daughter born May 5, 1947, Alice in honor of Compton’s Mother Alice Davis.
In her October, 1949 will, Alice R. Davis left to her namesake, Alice Anne Parris all of her silverware and her hand crocheted table cloth. To Eunice she left her large diamond ring and a part of her household linens, china and table glassware, as well as one tenth of her estate.
Eunice died April 19, 2003, without ever knowing what happened to Compton.
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