| USS BUCK (October 8/9, 1943)
On patrol in the Gulf of Salerno, the destroyer was hit by two torpedoes from the U-616 (Cpt. Lt. Siegfried Koitschka) The devastating result of the exploding torpedoes caused a depth charge to explode and cover the ship in a pall of smoke and flame. Brought to a standstill, she settled swiftly by the bow and four minutes later disappeared beneath the sea. Detonations of depth charges that hadn't been set on 'safe' continued underwater as fuel oil rose to the surface choking many of the survivors in the water. Soon rescue vessels appeared on the scene and within 48 hours had plucked 76 men from the sea, but her captain, Lt. Cmdr. M. Klein and 150 crew members perished.
__________________
On weald of Kent I watched once more
Again I heard that grumbling roar
Of fighter planes; yet none were near
And all around the sky was clear
Borne on the wind a whisper came
'Though men grow old, they stay the same'
And then I knew, unseen to eye
The ageless Few were sweeping by
|