Obituaries

German U-boat sinks Good Reuben James

By Peter Ayers Wimbrow III Contributing Writer (Oct. 29, 2021) Songster Woody Guthrie asked if, 80 years ago, this week, you had, “... heard of a ship called the Good Reuben James? Manned by hard-fighting men, both of honor and fame.

She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free ...” Later in the song, Guthrie asked if you had, “... a friend on The Good Reuben James?”

Chances are that you didn’t have a friend on “The Good Reuben James.” It was a four-funneled Clemson-class destroyer, which was commissioned on Sept. 24, 1920. It was 314 feet long, weighed 1,190 tons and had a top speed of 35 knots. Its main armament was a 3-inch gun and four 4inch guns, supplemented by 12 21-inch torpedo tubes.

By this time, 80 years ago, although the U.S. had yet to enter the war, the United States Navy was assisting its British cousins by convoying ships to Iceland, bound for Great Britain. Ostensibly, the supplies were for American troops stationed in Iceland.

At Iceland, British warships assumed escort duties. The convoy that the Reuben James was helping to escort was convoy HX156. HX indicated that the ships departed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The other escorting ships for HX156 were the United States destroyers Niblack (which was the only ship equipped with radar), Tarbell, Benson and Hillary P. Jones. The convoy’s ultimate destination was Liverpool.

The “Rube” departed Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada, with the other four destroyers, on Oct. 23, 1941, where it met the convoy, which topped 50 ships.

As Guthrie tells it, “`Twas the last day of October we saved the fortyfour

From the cold icy waters off that cold icy Iceland shore.”

“It was there in the dark of that uncertain night that we watched for the U-boats and waited for a fight.”

The “Rube” had been ordered to investigate a faint radio transmission. Just as it was changing position, a torpedo fired from U-552, commanded by Kapitän Leutnant Erich Topp, meant for one of the merchantmen, struck the “Rube” in its forward magazine.

“Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared and they laid the Reuben James on the cold ocean floor.”

The bow section of the “Rube” was blown off and sank immediately, taking the captain, Lt. Commander Heywood L. Edwards, and all of the officers. Edwards, was a 1926 Naval Academy graduate and a member of the 1928 U.S. Olympic wrestling team.

The rest of the crew abandoned ship. But there had been no time to defuse the depth charges. When they reached a depth of 50 feet, they exploded. Surviving seaman, Fireman Second Class George Giehrl, recalled, “If it hadn’t been for those depth charges, we probably would have had another 40 or 50 survivors. Some were knocked unconscious. Others were torn apart.”

“When the good ship went down, only 44 were saved” (out of a crew of 159).

The following year, construction began on the “Rube’s” namesake, a destroyer escort which was commissioned on April 1, 1943. The most recent Reuben James was a guided missile frigate which was decommissioned in 2013. In July of 1943, construction began on the destroyer Heywood L. Edwards, which was launched from Boston Navy Yard in October and saw service in the Pacific.

After Pete Seeger and Guthrie sang Guthrie’s song on CBS Radio, the headline of one newspaper, the next day, read, “COMMIE FOLKSINGERS TRY TO INFILTRATE RADIO.”

Kapitän Leutnant Topp was already a recipient of the Knight’s Cross. U-552 was 13 months old. It had departed its base at St. Nazaire, in occupied France, on Oct. 25, 1941. The fatal torpedo was fired about 600 miles west of Iceland. U-552 was nicknamed “Roter Teufel” (“Red Devil”) because it sported a grinning devil painted on its conning tower. After 33 days, the Roter Teufel returned to base.

Although the U-552, and its captain, miraculously survived the war, both were involved in the controversial sinking of the SS David H. Atwater, under the command of William K. Webster, an unarmed coastal steamer, which was hauling coal to Massachusetts, from Norfolk, Virginia.

The attack occurred 10 miles off Assateague, Virginia, on the evening of April 2, 1942. The German submarine surfaced and pumped 50 shells into the small freighter from its deck gun. Even as it began sinking, the sub’s crew opened up with machine guns, striking the Atwater’s crew as they attempted to man the life boats.

When the Coast Guard cutter Leagre arrived, it found the life boats with dead crewmen riddled by machine-gun fire. There were three survivors from a crew of 27. The Leagre delivered the three survivors and four bodies to Chincoteague Coast Guard Station.

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OBITUARIES

DOLLY M. MAGEE Bishopville

Dolly M. MaGee, age 57, of Bishopville, died Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin. She was born in Baltimore and was the daughter of Margaret “Dolly” E. (Mayer) Bortner and the late Lewis A. Bortner. Dolly had been a registered nurse at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury for many years until she retired because of her illness. She was a member of Zion United Methodist Church, United Tour Riders and a former member of the Bishopville Vol. Fire Co. Ladies Auxiliary.

She is survived by her mother, Dolly Bortner of Ocean City; her husband of 39 years, Eugene A. MaGee of Bishopville; two daughters, Rebecca M. Benson and husband, Brian, and Lauren A. Draheim and husband, Lance, all of Bishopville; two brothers, Harry L. Bortner and John F. Bortner both of Baltimore; and four grandchildren, Lawson, Tripp, Lakelyn and Levyn. She is also survived by several nieces and a nephew.

In addition to her father, she was preceded in death by a brother, William P. Bortner.

A funeral service was held on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, at Zion United Methodist Church in Bishopville with Rev. Paul Sherwood officiating. Burial followed in Bishopville Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to: Bishopville Vol. Fire Co., P.O. Box 350, Bishopville, Maryland 21813; or Zion United Methodist Church, c/o Sandra Venable, 11213 Beverly St., Bishopville, Maryland 21813.

Condolences may be sent by visiting www.bishophastingsfh.com. JEANNE DEVERS WHITE Frankford

Jeanne Devers White, 85, of Frankford, passed away on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, at home with friends and family by her side.

Jeanne was the daughter of the late Patrick and Helen Devers of West Pittston, Pennsylvania.

Born on Dec. 21, 1935, she resided in the family home in West Pittston, where her early education took place at Immaculate Conception Elementary School, and Saint John the Evangelist High School.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and nutrition from College Misericordia, in Dallas, Pennsylvania. She also completed advanced dietetics studies at several medical centers in New York City. Jeanne was a dedicated civil servant, joining the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1963. During her career at FDA, Jeanne held many senior positions including being named the first FDA White House Liaison and serving as the assistant director of Field Operations in the White House Office of Consumer Affairs.

In 1972, Jeanne was directed by the Nixon Administration to establish the country’s first White House Consumer Protection Office in a Disaster Area in the aftermath of Hurricane Agnes.

This initiative to open a Consumer Protection Office has continued as a template for other disaster areas that have occurred since then. She also served as the regional director, director of Field Operations and national director of Communications at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Com-

mission (CPSC). In 1999, Jeanne retired from the FDA Commissioner’s Office of National Industry, Scientific, and Trade Affairs. Among her numerous national and international awards, Jeanne is a seven-time winner of the FDA Award of Merit, the FDA’s highest award. She is also a recipient of the Presidential Award of Excellence and was named Regulatory Professional of the Year in 1992 by the Regulatory AfDolly MaGee fairs Professional Society. Jeanne most recently was the director of Communications at Nocopi Technologies, being appointed to that position in December 2003. Jeanne was an avid shopper and had a flare for bold colors. She enjoyed spending time with family and friends and staying active during her retirement years. She was a member of St. Luke Catholic Church in Ocean City. Jeanne is survived by her husband, Philip White; his daughter, Marnie Merrill, and granddaughter, Sloane Mitchell; her sister, Carole Quinn of Laflin, Pennsylvania; nephew, Lawrence Kovacs Jr., and his daughter, great-niece, Bridget Kovacs; niece, Lynn Kovacs Pellegrino;

Jeanne White