The Leopoldville

 On Christmas Eve, 1944 the S.S. Leopoldville, a Belgian troopship, was transporting 2,235 American soldiers from the 262nd and 264th Regiment, 66^th Infantry Division across the English Channel. They were reinforcements to fight the Battle of the Bulge. Most of the soldiers on shore were in church or in bars celebrating the holiday.             Suddenly the Leopoldville was torpedoed by a German submarine the U486 just 5 miles off the coast of France. There seemed to be no explosion. Those that saw it from shore thought it was engine trouble and assumed the escort ships would take care of her but, the convoy that was escorting her left to destroy the German sub.

            Everything that could go wrong did, delayed radio transmissions, heavy seas and freezing temperatures to name a few. The British commander in charge ordered the anchor dropped so the ship would not drift into a minefield outside the harbor. The dropped anchor prevented a tug boat from towing her in. Survivors say the Belgian crew abandoned ship and left the Americans to fend for themselves.

            A U.S. Army officer dispatched a P.T. boat and a Navy Lieutenant in charge saw that the ship was sinking fast, he radioed ashore. The H. M. S. Brilliant began taking on the troops of the 66^th. The men were ordered to the rails dressed in overcoats with their full combat packs which weighed about 60 lbs. They had to leap across from the Leopoldville deck to the Brilliant deck. Many fell into the freezing water and were drowned or were crushed between the hulls of the two ships. When the Brilliant had taken on what they considered a safe number she took off toward the shores of Cherbourgh leaving behind the rest of the confused and injured men. Remember these men were just 5 miles off shore and could see the harbor lights.

              The ship sank in 2½ hours and more than 800 American soldiers lost their lives. They were between the ages of 18 and 21. There were three sets of brothers killed including two sets of twins, 493 bodies have never been recovered.

            Because of wartime censorship and to cover up the mistakes made by government officials this tragedy was never reported to the media. The survivors were told to keep quiet. The victim’s relatives received letters listing these men as Missing in Action even though the U.S. War Department knew they had been killed. Later the men were declared Killed in Action but no details were ever divulged to the families. You have to be killed in action for the family to collect on insurance policies. These men had $10,000 policies. This tragedy was considered an embarrassment to the governments of France, Belgium, England and the U.S. and all records were sealed.  Families searched in vain for information about the deaths of their loved ones.

            On July 1st, 1984 a National Underwater & Marine Agency search team aboard the Research Vessel ARVOR found the final resting place of the S.S. Leopoldville. In 1996 the British finally declassified the documents relating to the sinking of the Leopoldville.  The Leopoldville Trilogy was published in June of 2001 consolidating the stories of the victims told by the survivors of this tragedy. On this Christmas Eve please remember all veterans and  the men of the S.S. Leopoldville.