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SEAMAN FIRST CLASS GEORGE
W. DEMAREST, of Second Avenue near W. Park Avenue, Lindenwold NJ was
killed while serving with the United States Navy in August of 1943. On
his last voyage, he was assigned to a gun crew serving as the naval Armed
Guard aboard the tanker J.H. Senior, operated under the
Panamanian Flag by the Panama Transport Company, which was controlled by
the Standard Oil Company, better known then as ESSO, and known today as
EXXON. His
ship, the Panamanian flag tanker, J. H. Senior, On a voyage from
New York to Mersey in convoy HX 252, in thick fog, was involved in a
collision with the Liberty Ship SS J. Pinckney Henderson while in
convoy in the North Atlantic on August 19, 1943. The J.H. Senior,
was one of five sister tankers which had been built by the Vereinigte
Stahlwerke AG, Nordseewewrke, at Emden,
Germany. The J.H. Senior first went to sea in 1931. On her final
trip, she was carrying aviation fuel to England, and a deck cargo of
airplanes. Between
the collision with the SS J. Pinckney Henderson and ensuing fire,
both ships were lost. The J.H. Senior lost 40 of her crew, and 27
of her naval Armed
Guard. Only six of the crew and Armed
Guard aboard the Senior survived. The
SS J. Pinckney Henderson fared little better, losing at least 34 of her
crew and 25 of her Armed
Guard. A
Canadian River-class frigate in escort, HMCS
Hallowell, under the command of Lieutenant Alfred William Bett,
Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, of Toronto, Canada, pulled along side the
burning J.H. Senior, and, with a volunteer crew, managed to
extinguish the blaze, and save the ship. For this act Lieutenant Bett
was awarded the George Medal.
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"This
Officer led a volunteer boarding party to S.S. J.H. Senior, an
American tanker with a full cargo of gasoline, which was stopped
and heavily afire after collision in fog on 18 August 1943, in
order to save this very valuable ship and her cargo, this
Officer and his party fought the fires for over two hours with
hand extinguishers, although they knew the ship was in danger of
blowing up at any moment. During this time, he showed complete
disregard for his own safety, and his leadership was an
inspiration and example of bravery and devotion to duty in
keeping with the highest traditions of the service." |
After
salvage the J.H. Senior was laid up in New York at November 14,
1943. George
W. Demarest was reported missing in action in the Camden Courier-Post on
September 20, 1943 edition. He
was survived by his parents, William and Alverna E. Demarest, a sister,
also named Alverna, and six brothers, John, Edward, William Jr., Howard,
Alvin, and Craig. John was serving in the Army, and Edward in the Navy,
during WWII. |
