In early October 1941 an Ally convoy (SC-48) consisting of 50 merchant ships was traveling through the Strait of Belle Island to the Atlantic Ocean. Due to poor weather conditions 11 of the fifty ships were separated from the others, including the ship carrying the Commodore. The remaining ships stayed on course.
On Oct 15, the 38 remaining ships encountered a wolf pack (German U-boats lying in wait to attack Allied supply convoys) about 400 miles off the coast of Iceland. Three merchant ships were sunk by torpedoes that night. The convoy sent out a call for help.
The US Navy, stationed in the Atlantic, responded to the call for help, sending a division of 5 US destroyers under the command of Captain L.H. Thebaud. The division included the Plunkett, the Livermore, the Kearney, the Greer, and the Decatur. The US destroyers were joined by the HMS Broadwater and the French corvette Lobelia. The escorts were in place by the evening of October 16.
The convoy’s escorts were stationed only 1000 to 1500 yards from the convoy. This allowed the u-boats to attack from a distance of 4000-5000 yards, beyond the range of the destroyer’s sound gear. The destroyers were not yet equipped with radar. During the night of Oct 16 the u-boats successfully attacked six of the merchant ships.
At approx, 0200 Oct 17, 1941, four more ships were successfully attacked by the wolf pack. The flames from one of these ships lit the sky around the destroyer Kearny and left her open for attack. As she tried to maneuver out of sight, the U-568 struck her on the starboard side, killing eleven men and wounding 22 others. After approx, ten minutes she was able to turn her engines over and head to Iceland on her own power, escorted by the Greer.
An official list of those who perished on the Kearny included; George Alexander Calvert F1c, Floyd Andrew Camp SC1c, Luther Asle Curtis WT1c, Louis Dobnikar WT2c, Herman August C. Gajeway WT1c, Lloyd Dalton La Fleur PhM2c, Sidney Gerald Larriviere F1c, Dwight Floyd Pyle S2c, Iral William Stoltz F1c, Russell Burdick Wade F3c, and Harry Tull Young F1c.
After this battle certain changes were made in the way escort duty was carried out. Escorts were ordered to patrol at a distance of 2000-5000 yards as opposed to 1000-1500 to keep the wolf packs at a greater distance from the convoys. Also destroyers were equipped with SG radar.