It was a little over two years ago and I had just completed a project that culminated in a spreadsheet with key data for the 108 alumni of Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic High School who gave their lives in World War II. The data had been pieced together from multiple sources with a good portion gathered by Roman’s students. Spreadsheet columns listed the following for each alumnus: name, class year, branch of service, parish, date of death, and burial location.

While researching possible Roman alumni casualties on D-Day (June 6, 1944), I sorted the spreadsheet by the “date of death” column but was unexpectedly drawn to another date – December 25, 1944. It immediately caught my eye because three alumni were listed as having lost their lives that day: Joseph J. Drivick ’39, Thomas J. Kane ’40, and Thomas J. McDermott ‘43. How sad, I thought to myself, all three on Christmas Day. I wondered if they had died in the same battle and was also puzzled because there was no burial location listed for them. Further research not only revealed why, but the terrible fate that befell them on Christmas Eve in 1944.

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On the morning of December 24, 1944, over 2,200 soldiers of the U.S. 66th Infantry Division left the English port of Southampton aboard the Belgium troopship SS Leopoldville to begin their nine-hour voyage across the English Channel. Also in their convoy transporting additional 66th Infantry Division troops was the HMS Cheshire. The vessels were under escort of the British destroyers, HMS Brilliant and HMS Anthony, the frigate HMS Hotham, and the French frigate, Croix de Lorraine. The convoy was bound for Cherbourg, France, where the troops would disembark to reinforce beleaguered U.S. forces fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. For most of the soldiers, this would be their first time in combat.

Just before 6pm, a German submarine stalking the convoy, U-486, fired a torpedo that struck the Leopoldville while just over 5 miles from Cherbourg harbor. Jim Kern, a 66th Infantry Division soldier, recalled that moment in the 1998 History Channel documentary, Cover Up! The Sinking of the S.S. Leopoldville: “When the torpedo struck, we didn’t really know what it was…whether it was a torpedo or a mine, and the ship seemed to just stop…many of the hammocks came tumbling down so we just scrambled for the life vests.” 

The torpedo exploded in the compartments occupied by the 262nd Regiment’s E, F, and H Companies, killing most of the soldiers there. Despite the intense smoke and freezing waters pouring through the ship’s gaping hole, soldiers from the upper decks still bravely tried to rescue those below.

Activities on the deck were initially orderly, but confusion mounted as the Leopoldville slowly sank into the freezing waters of the Channel. The Belgian crew were shouting instructions in Flemish which the American soldiers didn’t understand. There weren’t enough life jackets or lifeboats and radio communications from the convoy alerting Cherbourg of the attack were hindered due to differing radio frequencies and Allied codes. Rounding up servicemen in Cherbourg to help in the rescue efforts was also severely hampered as most were out celebrating the Christmas Eve holiday. 

To avoid drifting into the mines surrounding Cherbourg harbor, the Belgian captain of the Leopoldville, Charles Limbor, ordered the anchor to be lowered but that subsequently prevented the ship from being towed to shore. American soldiers soon witnessed acts of cowardice among the Belgian crew. “We saw the crew come above deck…lower the lifeboats and take off,” recalled 66th Infantry division veteran Sid Spiro in the documentary. “They deserted the ship.” Jim Kern added that “if we had rifles with ammunition, we would have shot them as they left the ship.” The soldiers were silent as they watched the near empty lifeboats pull away. Incredibly, one of the soldiers began to sing The Star-Spangled Banner, then others joined in. Soon hundreds were singing as the ship slowly sank and their fates hung in the balance.

The HMS Brilliant went along the port side of the Leopoldville as the other escort ships in the convoy, per protocol, hunted for the German submarine. Jack Dixon, a seaman aboard the Brilliant, recalled the chaotic scene for the BBC’s WW2 People’s War Project: “We had put our starboard fenders over the side as the sea swell was causing a rise and fall of between 12 ft. to 20 ft…I was detailed to help the men who had started to jump down on to our steel decks from a height of approximately 40 foot. Unfortunately, there were a number of casualties — bones were being broken when they landed on our deck and some men fell between the two vessels and were crushed as the vessels crashed into each other. To avoid any further injuries, if possible, all our hammocks from the mess-decks were brought up from below and laid on the starboard upper deck to cushion the soldiers’ falls…Having taken on about 500 men, we had to pull away from the Leopoldville as there was only a few inches of free board.”

By the time Captain Limbor gave the “abandon ship” order, most of the Belgian crew had already left. With no tools to lower the remaining lifeboats, the men futilely tried to cut the thick holding ropes with their pocketknives. Soldiers went into the freezing Channel waters hoping to survive long enough until rescue vessels arrived. Some formed groups or clung to floating debris. It was nearly 2 1⁄2 hours after the torpedo struck that rescue boats finally came upon the scene. 

As recounted in Allan Andrade’s seminal book on the sinking, Leopoldville: A Tragedy Too Long Secret, on board rescue ship PC 564 was SOM First Class Melvin DeWitt who recalled seeing the Leopoldville sink beneath the sea: “The bow raised several feet out of the water like a giant suffering whale. The sound of the screaming men is one that I’ll never forget, as we watched them jump over the side and slide down the sloping hull… Within a few minutes the ship disappeared beneath the waves, and all was silent except for men in the sea calling for help.” Unfortunately, many of the soldiers had already drowned or died of hypothermia by the time rescue ships arrived. 

The final death toll was staggering: Of the 2,235 American soldiers on board the Leopoldville, 763 had died. Captain Limbor and 56 crewmen also perished. Among the dead soldiers were 10 Philadelphians, including three alumni of Roman Catholic High School: Joseph J. Drivick, Thomas J. Kane, and Thomas J. McDermott. Their bodies were among the 493 that were never recovered. Although they died on Christmas Eve, government records list their date of death as the date it was declared: December 25, 1944. 

Despite German radio reporting the sinking of the Leopoldville, the Allied high command remained silent as they feared the adverse impact to morale and the inevitable troubling questions that would arise from the press. Consequently, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and the British Admiralty ordered that no information be released about the sinking. Many of the death notification telegrams sent to the next of kin simply stated that they were “missing in action in the European area.” Survivors were under strict orders to never discuss the incident with anyone, and many families of the dead soldiers didn’t know the complete story until British documents were declassified in 1996. Unfortunately, numerous survivors also suffered from the debilitating effects of PTSD for the remainder of their lives. Andrade’s book revealed the recollections of the family of Leopoldville survivor Chaplain Arnold Olson who stated that “on Christmas Eve he would wake up from his sleep screaming.”

In 1984, bestselling author and sea explorer, Clive Cussler, discovered the wreck of the Leopoldville and dedicated his novel Cyclops to the men who lost their lives. In 1997, a monument was dedicated at Fort Benning, Georgia to the 66th Infantry Division soldiers who died in the sinking and the five soldiers who survived but were later killed in battle in France. 

This Christmas Eve marks the 80th anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies in U.S. military history. Take a moment during the holidays to not only remember the brave men who perished aboard the S.S. Leopoldville, but the men who survived as well. For the remainder of their lives Christmas Eve would tragically be a night of haunting memories.

Chris Gibbons is a Philadelphia-area writer. His book, “Soldiers, Space, and Stories of Life,” features numerous stories about the harrowing experiences of America’s war veterans.