Creator of @AMMWWII X account moved! Highlighting the vital role of the U.S. Merchant Mariners in WWII. Congressional Gold Medal recipients 2022 ⚓🥇 🇺🇸
Joined July 2023
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UPDATED: MILITARY🎖️MEDALS PROGRAM & CONGRESSIONAL GOLD -Effective Monday, Sep 8th, 2025, the medals program will be moved to the “Historian’s Office” at MARAD. The primary contact in that office is: Daniel Roberts - Daniel.roberts@dot.gov
Information is now on our website to APPLY for a duplicate bronze medal of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to WWII USMM Veterans living or deceased! Please carry on their legacy! maritime.dot.gov/outreach/el…
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#OTD 13 June 1944, U-107 missed the Lark with a torpedo and again at about 32 miles southeast of Cape Sable. The master and the cook (74 years old) started the engines at 15.30 hours and picked up all men within one hour. 27 (0 dead and 27 survivors).
uboat.net/allies/merchants/s…
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#OTD 13 June 1942 the unescorted Sixaola (Master William H. Fagan) was hit on the starboard side by two torpedoes from U-159, about 50 miles off Bocas del Toro, Panama. Crew 201 (29 dead and 172 survivors). uboat.net/allies/merchants/s…
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With that, the U.S. Merchant Marine was born on June 12, 1775!
Jun 11
The war was barely seven weeks old when the townspeople of Machias, Maine pulled off what is considered the first naval engagement of the Revolution.
The backstory: The British needed lumber to build barracks for troops besieged in Boston. They sent Loyalist merchant Ichabod Jones with two supply ships and a naval escort — the armed schooner HMS Margaretta, commanded by Midshipman James Moore — to trade food for lumber. The townspeople resented the arrangement and voted against cooperating. When Jones said he would only deal with those who had voted for the trade, the community turned hostile.
On June 11, militia leader Colonel Benjamin Foster tried to arrest Jones at church. Jones spotted them and fled into the woods. Moore made it back to his ship. The locals then seized one of Jones' merchant vessels, the Unity, armed it with breastworks, and set out in pursuit alongside a second local schooner, Falmouth Packet. They were armed with muskets, pitchforks, and axes.
Moore tried to flee but a botched jibe snapped his boom and gaff, crippling Margaretta. The colonists caught up. Jeremiah O'Brien had been elected captain of Unity, and his crew pulled alongside and boarded. Moore threw hand grenades onto Unity and exchanged musket fire, but was shot in the chest and mortally wounded. He surrendered, was taken back to Machias, and died the next day.
Casualties: ~10 British killed, 9 wounded. About 2 Americans killed, 3 badly wounded.
The captured Margaretta was renamed Machias Liberty and commissioned into the Massachusetts State Navy, with O'Brien in command. He went on to capture two more British schooners the following month. Machias became a persistent thorn in the Royal Navy's side for the rest of the war.
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MMWWII retweeted
Happy Birthday to U.S. Merchant Marine. Here in a Nevada, our state was blessed to have been the home of a few World War 2 Merchant Marine Veterans.
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The United States Merchant Marine celebrated a birthday today on June 12. Established in 1775, it predates both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy and originates from a naval battle fought off the coast of Machias, Maine. #Merchantmarine
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The Liberty ship SS Robert Jordan, hull #796, tied up at outfitting pier, July 21, 1943, at the East Yard, New England Shipbuilding Corporation, South Portland, Maine. #libertyship
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#OTD 12 June 1942 the Cities Service Toledo was torpedoed by U-158 about 20 miles east of the Trinity Shoal Light Buoy. One of these lifeboats could not get clear the flames and the men had to jump in the water. Crew 45 (15 dead and 30 survivors). uboat.net/allies/merchants/s…
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American-Hawaiian SS Co, New York more photos of the American. She was on her return leg from Santos, Brazil to New Orleans, Louisiana under the command of 41-year-old Master Robert M. Pierce. ssarkansan.com/american-hawa…
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Coming soon! Merchant Marine Outstanding Achievement Medal!
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MMWWII retweeted
Jun 11
LOVE IT. Now, Ben… how exactly are we getting the 17 US Navy @MSCSealift ships laid up for lack of US Merchant Mariners back to sea?
Serious question: if we can’t crew the ships we already own, what’s the point of building more?
This should be the Navy’s #1 priority.
Jun 11
We are asking our people to solve modern challenges with systems built for a different era.
The future belongs to organizations that can identify, develop, and employ talent faster than their competitors.
Appreciate @FedScoop for the conversation.
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MMWWII retweeted
Jun 11
My grandfather after the battles in 1919. He joined the Merchant Marine at age 14 and the US Navy a year later. His ship, the USS Beaver/Bóbr🦫😁outfitted in new dazzle camo was capable of servicing 8 submarines nonstop at sea. He is still my model for morality and ethics today.
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MMWWII retweeted
"If my words have any reason to excite you, then tell others about us. Tell them what we did."
At 98 years old, WWII Merchant Marine veteran David Yoho delivered a powerhouse of a speech at @USDOT HQ for National Maritime Day.
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MMWWII retweeted
Jun 6
A few miles east of Omaha Beach is Gold Beach where the British war memorial is located. Down towards the beach you’ll see 1,475 life sized silhouettes of soldiers, sailors, airmen, merchant marines and two nurses who were killed there. A very moving tribute.
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#OTD 11 June 1942 the unescorted and unarmed American was attacked with two torpedoes from U-504 off Honduras. The American sank in 25 minutes, listing to starboard and then capsizing. Crew 38 (4 dead and 34 survivors). uboat.net/allies/merchants/s…
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#OTD 10 June 1942 the unescorted Merrimack was hit by one torpedo about 65 miles southeast of Cozumel Island, south of the Yucatan Channel. The master, 34 crew members, 8 armed guards and one US Army passenger were lost. Crew 54 (44 dead and 10 survivors). uboat.net/allies/merchants/s…
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Thanks to Taliesin Gamache, Archivist at @SUNY for assisting the family of Gilberto Sanzari with records of his time at Fort Schuyler in Long Island. In 1932, when Gilberto graduated, the school was using the Empire State I & started on the previous ship the USS Newport.
I am researching a WWII USMM born in 1911. He served during WWII. His training was at Fort Schuyler in Long Island., “The restoration of Fort Schuyler as the permanent land base of the New York State Merchant Marine Academy began in the summer of 1934.” sunymaritime.edu/about-suny-…
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#OTD 10 June 1943 the #tanker Esso Gettysburg was hit by two torpedoes from U-66 about 100 miles southeast of Savannah, GA. Seconds later the second struck on the port side at the engine room, causing an immediate fire. Crew 72 (57 dead and 15 survivors). uboat.net/allies/merchants/s…
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MMWWII retweeted
The unsung heroes of WW2. Eisenhower: "When final victory is ours there is no organization that will share its credit more deservedly than the Merchant Marine."
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MMWWII retweeted
The rescue of Army helicopter pilots by a Navy unmanned vessel made by @Saronic shows America’s unmatched potential for technological achievement and maritime innovation. I will continue to work towards revitalizing our maritime industrial base to ensure the best possible support for our warfighters.
A U.S. crew was saved in the first-ever sea drone rescue after an Apache helicopter crash near the Strait of Hormuz. cbsn.ws/3SvGJu4
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