At his home in Florida, retired Lieutenant Coast Guard Commander Sidney K. Broussard, recorded his recollections of the sinking of the USCG Cutter Escanaba, which went down in the North Atlantic during convoy duty on June 13, 1943. At that time, Broussard was the Lieutenant Commander of the USCG Cutter Raritan, which came to the Escanaba's aid, although 101 men were lost. The only survivors from the ship were Melvin Baldwin of Minnesota and Raymond O'Malley of Chicago. Broussard believes the Escanaba intercepted a torpedo from a German submarine. Earlier in the year, the Escanaba distinguished herself when she rescued 132 men from the torpedoed SS Dorchester. From 1932 until 1942, the Escanaba had been stationed in Grand Haven, Michigan, where its mast is preserved in a memorial today.
Read
