UKDIVING
Ladies who launch: Women played a major part in the rollout of the Liberty Ships towed towards the shore in Whitsand Bay until her stern grounded. Deck cargo and number one hold cargo could be salvaged; wheelhouse records were saved. During a further attempt at a tow, her stern broke off and she settled in less than 20 metres of water, with only her three masts visible. U399 meanwhile attacked another convoy west of Lizard Point on 26 March, and was sunk, with only one survivor.
Family connections
Mallory Hass, a director of the SHIPS Project, has tracked down and interviewed some of the people involved in the story. To prompt their memories, she always took an object recovered from the ship with her.
Mildred Bonvillain was 20 when she got her union card and started working as a welder at Delta Shipbuilding Corporation’ s yard in New Orleans in December 1942.
One of the 13,000 people employed at the yard during the Second World War, she was among the first women to train as welders and her cohort were all hired. They were paid the same as the men. Mildred was able to save some $ 2,500 in just a few years, but like many she left the work when the men returned from war.
Earl George Blache was a 17-year-old merchant seaman. He jumped into the water during the sinking to rescue the US flag from the stern of the ship. He returned home safely, taking the flag with him, and the Blache family brought it over for the 80th celebration.
Purvis C Evans was a 16-year-old oiler. He had joined the merchant marine by forging his papers. Being from Florida, he always felt the cold aboard ship and told Mallory that he remembered drinking hot cocoa from a white china mug, just like one
salvaged from the wreck.
George Hines was an armed guard on the ship. His family has a large collection of letters. One that has been recently read was sent from a Welsh sweetheart to his mother, enquiring whether George survived the sinking.
Charles Whitehead’ s family reached out to the project to see if any others from the crew were still alive. Charles was able to talk with Purvis, both had been wipers, among the lowest ranks in the engine room.
A changing wreck
The ship was eventually sold for salvage, carried out in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. By the 1970s the largely intact wreck was attracting scuba divers. Two locals who dived the wreck in the early days shared their memories. Dave Peake remembers seeing the wreck from the shore as a young
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Wally Layne meets ship ' s welder Mildred Bonvillain
Who was James Eagan Layne?
A US merchant seaman, second engineer James Eagan Layne was lost when the Esso Baton Rouge was sunk on 23 February 1943. Mrs Layne launched the ship named after her husband in December 1944. The middle of his three children, Wally Layne, was always affected by the fact that he was too young to remember his dad. As part of the Liberty 80 project, Wally met welder Mildred Bonvillain at her 90th birthday party.