2nd Mate Albert Nogales Flores – Born December 5th, 1920, in High Rolls, NM
Albert Flores was the second son of Chana and Manuel B. Flores. During this period Chana and Manuel continued to live with Chana’s parents in High Rolls, NM. Albert went to the High Rolls Mountain Elementary school where he became good friends with Bill Mauldin. At Bill’s home he would hear stories from Bill’s father, Sidney Mauldin, who was an artilleryman in WW1. Albert and Bill stayed friends, even after Bill became a renowned editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his works.
Like his older brother Ramon, Albert was impacted by his father dying when he was 15 years old. Albert was able to graduate from Alamogordo High School. He noticed a poster about the Merchant Marine Academy and submitted his application, his goal was to be an officer.
Albert was accepted into the Merchant Marine Academy and completed the officer requirements to and started his career in the US Merchant Marine force. Before he could be assigned a commission he was required to apprentice as an “able body” seaman. An early assignment was on the ship SS Wilscox which sailed from San Antonio, Chile to New York city starting on the 16 Nov 1941 arriving on the 10 Dec 1941. Not only did he turn 21 years of age during this trip, but the US was now at war with Japan and Germany. Japan and Germany would turn the open seas into “Death and Destruction” beyond anyone’s imagination.
Military records that associate WW2 Merchant Marine sailors and officers with WW2 convoys are not readily available. Unlike the US Navy that generated “Report of Changes” and “Ship War Diaries” I have not been able to locate archives from the US Merchant Marines. (I was able to locate a few “Liberty Ship” manifest that list Albert Flores in his USMM positions).
Albert’s son Patrick Flores wrote the following about his father and his Merchant Marine experience.
“One thing about my dad was he didn't like talking about his experiences in the war. I have a good idea of where he'd been but not a lot of specifics. Like when I asked him what ships he was on, he'd say too many to count, or it was a different ship every time they dropped off a load and when they went back to pick up more supplies. He did often say he worked hard to get into the Merchant Marine Academy but once he figured out, he'd probably not live through the war, he worked harder trying to get out.
I did say he made many North Sea runs to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Russia. He also said that most of the convoy's ships never made it. He was sunk by a Japanese aircraft off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean and was injured. He had shrapnel in his eye and leg. He said they floated for several days until they got picked up. He said he worried most about the Japanese finding them because they didn't take prisoners. He ended up in a hospital in Bombay (now Mumbai) India where luck would have it, there was an eye doctor that saved my dad's vision.
Another story he once told me was in a convoy in the southern Atlantic Ocean. They got caught in a hurricane and a U-Boat sub attack. The hurricane made it so they couldn't be defensive, so all the ships made a run from the U-boats. He said there was always a predetermined plan to escape where each boat had an escape route. It so happened that my dad's escape route was a southern route, and they sailed all the way around South America, back through the Panama Canal to New Orleans. This took a couple of weeks and in the meantime, there had been no contact with the ship, so they presumed they'd sunk. Grandma Chana received notice from the government that my dad had been lost at sea and presumed dead. When my dad got to New Orleans, he called his mother, and my dad said she became hysterical thinking his “ghost” was on the line!
I know he was on D-Day and many days afterward, taking supplies back and forth from England to Normandy. This is a little unclear to me, but I thought he told me once that one of the ships he was piloting over got hit by a torpedo and sunk like a rock. I think he said they were bringing train cars and locomotives.
He spent most of his time in the European Theater, but I did ask if he was ever in Asia. He said after the Germans surrendered, they headed to the Pacific and started taking supplies to the Philippines and preparing to invade Japan. He said he was sure that if we would have invaded Japan that he wouldn't have lived through it.”
Arctic Convoys 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945 – Industrial and war supplies to the Soviet Union
The Arctic convoys of World War II were large convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union, primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945, sailing via the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, with two gaps with no sailings between July and Sept 1942, and March and Nov 1943. About 1,400 merchant ships delivered essential supplies to the Soviet Union under the Anglo–Soviet agreement and US Lend-Lease program, escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, Canadian Navy, and the US Navy. Eighty-five merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships (two cruisers, six destroyers, eight other escort ships) were lost during these dangerous convoys!
The Arctic Convoys demonstrated the Allies' commitment to helping the Soviet Union, prior to the opening of a second front. This very dangerous convoys not only supplied equipment but also tied up an appreciable part of Germany's naval (U-boats and destroyers) and Luftwaffe bombers and scout planes.
D-Day 6 Jun 1944 – In early 1944, most merchant ships were assigned duties in support of invasion of northern France. Operation Neptune /Overlord required an extraordinary amount of equipment and supplies to be staged in southern England. Merchant ships operated continuously from the US, Canada and UK colonies to amass landing crafts, tanks, trucks, jeeps, artillery, weapons, ammunition, food, medical equipment, etc. to support an invasion force of over 1.2 million soldiers and support personnel.
The invasion fleet, which was drawn from eight different navies, comprised 6,939 vessels: 1,213 warships, 4,126 landing craft of various types, 736 ancillary craft, and 864 merchant vessels. And June 6th was only the beginning of the supply chain. By the end of June, Allied ships had landed 850,279 men, 148,803 vehicles, and 570,505 tons of supplies.
USS John A Treutlen 29 Jun 44 – On this date 3rd Mate Albert Flores was conducting his normal activities on this Liberty Ship which was transporting equipment to Normandy. At 15.28 hours German U-boat U-984 fired a spread of two LUT torpedoes at convoy ECM-17 about 30 miles south of the Isle of Wight. The first struck the USS Edward M House and the second the USS H.G. Blasdel. Six minutes later, the U-boat fired a single torpedo at one of the damaged ships and missed but struck USS John A. Treutlen.
The “John A. Treutlen” was struck by a torpedo on the port side between the #5 hold and the after-peak tank that blew a large hole in the side. The explosion lifted the stern out of the water and flames shot into the air. The explosion forced its way forward and set off the after magazine. This second explosion blew another huge hole in the port side. The blast broke the shaft, destroyed the steering gear and cracked the vessel athwartships, leaving the stern hanging several feet lower.
The most of the eight officers, 35 crewmen and 31 armed guards abandoned ship in three lifeboats, leaving only a skeleton crew of twelve men and the master on board. The survivors, twelve of them injured were picked up by HMCS Buctouche and USS LST-336 and taken to Southampton, England on 30 June, where one of the armed guards later died of wounds.
The next morning, a tugboat towed the vessel to Southampton, where she was beached. The cargo was removed, and the vessel declared a total loss.
SS Talisman (18 Jul 1944 to 22 Dec 1944) – Albert Flores would make three Atlantic crossings on the SS Talisman. The first would leave Belfast, England on 18 Jul 1944 arriving at New York on 27 Jul 44. The second convoy left Swansea, Wales 20 Oct 44 and arrived in New York on 1 Nov 44. The third would leave Liverpool on 9 Dec 44 and dock in New York on 22 Dec 44.
Prior to the last SS Taliman crossing, Albert Flores would be promoted to the rank of Second Mate. Albert was yet to turn 24 years old and was responsible for the entire ship, cargo, and crew when he was at the helm.
SS Sturdy Beggar 8 Mar 1945 – Albert Flores and his crew were assigned to Convoy CU61, which left New York harbor to deliver soldiers, fuel and supplies for the final push into Germany. Albert’s ship the SS Sturdy Beggar was loaded with 6,000 tons of bombs, shells, and ammunition for delivery to the port of Rouen, France. From Rouen the men and supplies were transported to the Allied front on the Rhine River.
By this time of the war the German U-boat threat in the mid-Atlantic was eliminated due to success of the Allied anti-submarine campaigns.
What the allies could not suppress was the weather. On 13 Mar 45, the convoy of 43 merchant ships and 10 US Navy escorts were stuck by a major storm which caused a dangerous environment for the convoy ships. The SS Sturdy Beggar barely missed colliding with a fuel tanker. One can only imagine the destruction that would have resulted if 6,000 tons of explosives collided with high octane fuel.
Unfortunately, the storm caused the French carrier Bearn to lose steering and it collided with the attack transport USS J. W. McAndrews resulting in the loss of 68 young American Soldiers and a Navy Armed Guardsman. Destruction and death was always a possibility in the open seas.
After the surrender of Germany, the US Merchant fleet and mariners moved to the Pacific Ocean for the eventual invasion of Japan. Fortunately, Japan surrendered in August 1945 and all hostilities ceased.
2nd Mate Albert N Flores would serve out his Merchant Marine requirements till early 1946. After completing his service, Albert returned to his mother Chana, his brothers, grandparents, and his extended family in New Mexico.