At about 1 a.m. on February 3, 1943, a convoy of 3 ships and 3 Coast Guard cutters passed through “Torpedo Alley” about 100 miles off the coast of Greenland when the submarine U-223 fired 3 torpedoes, one of which struck the midsection of the Dorchester, a US Army troopship carrying more than 900 men. As the vessel sank quickly and ammonia and oil spread through the ship and across the freezing sea, the 4 chaplains on board—2 Protestant pastors, a Catholic priest, and a Jewish rabbi—were among the first on deck, calming the men and handing out life jackets. When the supply was exhausted, they removed their own jackets and gave them to waiting soldiers without regard to faith or race.
