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JOHN R. GORDON JR.

    John R. Gordon Jr. was serving onboard the Liberty ship SS Nathanael Greene when she was torpedoed on February 24, 1943.  He was serving as an engine cadet.  The ship was steaming from Algiers, Algiera to hook up with convoy MKS-8.  While forty miles northeast of Oran, she was torpedoed by the U-565 (Franken).  The explosion damaged the deck cargo (tanks and trucks) and midships deckhouse, disabled the engines, and flooded the forward compartments.  The HMS Brixham, a British minesweeper, came to her aid but not before she had settled by the head.  Before the Master, George A. Vickers, could react the ship came under an aerial attack.  One aerial launched torpedo struck the already damaged midships.  As she the Brixham came alongside she picked up the few survivors and the USS Redwing towed the SS Nathanael Greene to port in Oran.  She was beached there but due to the valiant efforts of all involved, 400 tons of cargo was saved.  John R. Gordon Jr. died while in the attack.