A Compass Saves the Crew
A WWII sailor's memento recalls the harrowing ordeal when his ship, the SS Alcoa Guide, was struck by a German U-Boat
- By Owen Edwards
- Smithsonian magazine, September 2009, Subscribe
A small, seemingly unprepossessing device—a compass four and a half inches in diameter—testifies to a story of war and remembrance, resolve and survival. The artifact is one among scores showcased in a major permanent exhibition at the National Museum of American History, "On the Water: Stories from Maritime America," which opened this past May.
Retired merchant seaman Waldemar Semenov, 95, donated the compass in 2005. In 1942, Semenov, a Russian immigrant, was serving as a junior engineer on the American merchant ship SS Alcoa Guide, sailing from New Jersey to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe with a cargo of supplies and equipment for the West Indies. On the night of April 16, about 300 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, a German submarine, the U-123, surfaced and opened fire with its deck cannon. "We didn't have any guns, and there was no escort," Semenov recalls. "We didn't have much speed. They used us as target practice."
In the first six months of 1942, German submarines sank 400 ships in the Atlantic. At the time, my family was living in a house on the New Jersey shore. I was only 4, but I vividly recall my father waking my older brother and me in the middle of the night, wrapping us in blankets and taking us down to the beach. He pointed to flickering lights on the horizon. "Remember this," he said. "Those are the flames of ships torpedoed by the Germans."
The Alcoa Guide was unarmed, but its captain, Samuel Cobb, tried to ram the sub; he was easily outmaneuvered. Before long, Cobb was wounded, the ship was on fire and beginning to sink, and the crew was scrambling on deck to lower two lifeboats and a raft into the water.
Semenov says he stayed calm; this was not his first exposure to combat. "I had been in Spain during the civil war," he says. In waters off England, he adds, "the ship next to us had been hit by German planes, so I'd seen bombing and shooting before. I wanted to size up the situation."
Semenov returned to his cabin and put on a new suit and an overcoat, even taking some time to decide between two neckties. A photograph taken later in a lifeboat attests to his account—Semenov's fedora looks the worse for a night of rain, but his suit and carefully knotted tie are surprisingly presentable. By then Semenov had given his overcoat to a crew member who had rushed on deck in his underwear.
Before getting in a lifeboat, Semenov also had gone to the galley and snatched up three loaves of bread. "I knew we might be in the lifeboats for a while," he says, "and the rations in the boats wouldn't be enough."
As the burning ship sank lower in the water and the lifeboats and raft pulled away, the crew could see the submarine illuminated by flames, its deck gun now silent. "They didn't fire at the lifeboats," Semenov recalls. "In those days, everyone played by the rules."
Using the small compass on the lifeboat, the survivors sailed west by northwest toward the shipping lanes. After three days, a patrol plane, searching for sailors from any of the half-dozen ships sunk that week, spotted Semenov's lifeboat. The next day, after a night of heavy rain, the American destroyer USS Broome rescued the men and soon picked up the other lifeboat and its survivors. (The raft was found three weeks after the sinking, with only one man still alive. Captain Cobb had died in the other lifeboat and was buried at sea, along with a crew member who had been killed in the shelling.) In all, 27 Alcoa Guide crew members survived; seven perished.
During preparations for the NMAH exhibition, about U.S. shipbuilding efforts during the world wars, curator Paula Johnson heard about Semenov's wartime experiences while touring the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association at the Calhoon Engineering School near Easton, Maryland. She visited Semenov at his home on Long Island in New York. "He told me his remarkable story; when I asked if the museum could have the compass, he immediately said yes."
Not long after his return to port, Semenov enlisted in the Army and served as an engineer on troopships and supply ships with both the Army and Navy in the Atlantic and Pacific. He continued to serve in the military and as a merchant seaman until 1987. Semenov's nemesis, the U-123, was intentionally scuttled by the Germans off the coast of France in 1944, but was salvaged by the French Navy. Re-christened the Blaison, the sub remained in service until 1959.
Owen Edwards is a freelance writer and author of the book Elegant Solutions.
Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.
Comments (6)
Dear Mr. Waldemar Semenov,
I would appreciate it very much if you get in touch with me. My friend, a Russian journalist from Murmansk, is working on an article about US Merchant Marine and its connection to Murmansk and he is looking for an opportunity to interview you. Many thanks!
My email is buddhabop@gmail.com.
Posted by Alla Makeeva-Roylance on August 7,2010 | 10:16 AM
I am definitely one of the men that would have benefitted from the S663 bill passing, if the bill had been granted much earlier.
At the end of the war, coming home from the Phillipines to the U.S. and continuing to work for the US Army Transportation Corp on various ships, I decided to continue my education to upgrade my seamen's license. I paid for all of my schooling myself and was not reimbursed as many other veterans were. Later on, while serving on one of the transport ships, I worked with the rest of the crew to insure that the ships machinery was in good shape. I was then bumped off the ship by another man who was a "veteran" who had just received his license as an engineer. (Even though I had a higher engineer's license too). I was discouraged, but could not do anything about it because I was not considered a "veteran" or have a veteran's status.
I feel that the bill that is in the Senate now should be passed. There aren't many people left who might benefit from the passing of this bill!
Posted by Waldemar Semenov on October 25,2009 | 08:27 PM
September 19, 2009
The full story of the U.S Merchant Marine during WWII, were not included in the September article, “Ship's Compass”.
the WWII U.S. Merchant Marine carried tanks, personnel, ammunition, food, oil, planes, and supplies to every theatre of the war. We could not have won the war without the men who sailed through submarine infested water to keep this lifeline constantly alive.
2,700 merchant ships landed troops and munitions right on the beaches in the first wave of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and participated in every landing operation in the Pacific: from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima. Without the Merchant Marine, WWII would have been prolonged many months.
Over 731 United States merchant ships were sunk,and another 40 ships disappeared without a trace. 8,651 mariners were killed at sea, 11,000 wounded, and 604 men and women were Prisoners of War (P.O.W.s). In 1942, thirty-three Allied ships were sunk each week! From September 1939 to May of 1945, German submarines sank merchant ships in the Atlantic faster than the Allies could build them.
Unfortunately, Merchant Marine Veterans of WWII were not granted the G.I Bill of Rights, nor any Veteran Benefits until Forty years after WW II!- too late for the families of seamen who died in prisoner of war camps, or lost at sea. Too late for surviving merchant seamen who lost forty years of health benefits, education, or insurance benefits. The moment a ship was sunk, the survivors' pay stopped! There was no compensation to prisoners of war. If a seaman was left overseas due to illness, pay stopped when his ship docked in the U.S.
Senate S 663, if passed would grant recognition, and compensation to WWII Merchant Marine veterans for benefits missed. the House of Representatives already passed a similar bill.
Posted by sheldon Merel on September 21,2009 | 08:04 PM
As a child I grew up on the South Shore of Long Island; town of Long Beach. I well remember the flash of Ambrose Light and the outline of Sandy Hook, New Jersey against the far horizon
I also remember the bunker oil in the surf, the life rafts and jackets in the sand. I knew not their tragic meaning
Exciting for a small boy,during the war,were the sub patrols and the live-fire anti-aircraft gun practice.We had dual mount 40mm guns stationed at every block along the boardwalk. A plane would fly by out at sea,towing a big,red,nylon sleeve;as it passed the guns, in turn, would open fire.
The U123 was quite a famous boat.It had an extensive war record. It was commanded by Kapitan-lieutnent Reinhard Hardegen. Knights Cross
The missions off the East Coast of the US. were part of Admiral Karl Donitz' (commander in chief U-boats) Operation Drumbeat. (Operation Paukenschlag) Its objective was to bring the war here and interrupt the flow of war material.
The Alcoa Guide previously known as Point Brava went down at 05:30CET on 17April. According to the U-boat log she settled stern first in a cloud of steam. She was sunk by naval gun fire.
After all these years Seaman Semenov's memory is quite accurate. His recounting is right in line with the sub's records.
So many have passed away unrecorded;"Each time someone dies a library burns."
A great source of information about Operation Drumbeat is Michael Gannon"s book of that name Harper and Row, 1990
Jack Isaacson
Worthington, Ohio
Posted by Jack Isaacson on September 19,2009 | 03:12 PM
My father joined the MM in 1938 because he was # 13 of 15 children and he knew that he wasn't getting any of the family farm in Indianna - he had three ships sunk under him, but made it thru each time he was on the Murmansk run - he liked to tell stories of the adventures he had - but the best story concerned his arrest for draft evasion after the war in 1946 - he was in handcuffs and on a train in South Bend Indianna on his way to Fort Dix NJ when his mother brought down his paperwork showing the ships that he had served on during the war - he had thrown overboard the draft notices he received for all those years - the real funny part of the story happened in 1966 - twenty years later when I enlisted in the US Navy the day after high school ended - the Navy took me physically and shipped me off to Great Lakes for the summer (!) - but left the Jr off of my paperwork - sure eneough the Shore Patrol from the Brooklyn Navy yard went to our home in Bohemia NY to take into custody Grant Herbster Sr for the second time - he was able to convince them of the error a second time and all three of them got roaring drunk - he died before the Federal recognition of his service, but he was proud of what he did
Posted by Grant Herbster Jr on September 16,2009 | 11:36 AM
I loved the article, kudos to Owen Edwards. Its about time that credit is given to Merchant Marine Veterans of WWII, who did not receive veteran status until forty years after the war and consequently missed an G.I. Bill of Rights during their growing years when needed most.
I sent an e mail to the Editor with some details of the tremendous contributions of the Merchant Marine and news of a bill in the Senate S 663 that if ever passed would finally grant recognition and hopefully some compensation for the 40 years of missed benefits.
there are many hair raising stories of Merchant Marine ships sinking and loss of life and with no insurance for families.
Sheldon Merel
Posted by sheldon Merel on September 10,2009 | 09:14 PM