WWII mariners not paid when their ships sank

RE: April Issue, Page 60, CAPTAIN CHARLES DANA GIBSONS ARTICLE:
IN FACT, MERCHANT MARINERS WERE PAID WHEN THEIR SHIPS SANK.

Something is wrong someplace. This is the second time that I have read comments by Mr. Gibson about WWII mariners being paid when their ships sank until repatriated.

I say that, because I just got off the telephone speaking with a 1943 US Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point graduate who had his ship sunk during the war and he said they did NOT get paid after the ship got sunk This merchant marine veteran of WWII is now 88 years old and has perfect recollections of the events. He was serving as a Cadet-Midshipman obtaining his “sea time” for the Academy when his ship was sunk on the Murmansk run. He was being paid from the ship (company) just like all of the other seamen at the time of the sinking.

Not only did the pay stop at the sinking, but he was not paid for the three months that he spent in Russia waiting to be repatriated. There was a failed attempt to get him onto a cargo ship for return to the states, and he was finally repatriated by the British naval vessel out of Russia and finally onto the Queen Mary for a return to the states. All of which took time.

With perfect recollection, he stated that he never received any pay from the time of the sinking until his return to the United States.

There has to be some clarification.

By Professional Mariner Staff