Rank and Name, Private Roscoe Harrison Albaugh.
Unit/Placed in, Marine Detachment, Naval Operating Base Iceland.
Roscoe is born on 13 March 1924 in Akron, Summit County, Ohio.
Father, Roscoe Alnaugh.
Mother, Mary (Harrison) Albaugh.
Roscoe enlisted the service in Ohio with service number # 487405.
Roscoe was MIA onboard the USS Henry J. Mallory (troop transport) with the Marine Detachment to the Naval Operating Base Iceland when it was Torpedoed in the Atlantic Sea by the U-402 on 7 February 1943, he is honored with a Purple Heart, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Navy & Marine Presidential Unit Citation, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal.
Roscoe is buried/mentioned at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England.
Walls of the missing.
Thanks to,
Jean Louis Vijgen, ww2-Pacific.com ww2-europe.com
Air Force Info, Rolland Swank.
ABMC Website, https://abmc.gov
Marines Info, https://missingmarines.com/ Geoffrey Roecker
Seabees History Bob Smith https://seabeehf.org/
Navy Info, http://navylog.navymemorial.org
POW Info, http://www.mansell.com Dwight Rider and Wes injerd.
Philippine Info, http://www.philippine-scouts.org/ Robert Capistrano
Navy Seal Memorial, http://www.navysealmemorials.com
Family Info, https://www.familysearch.org
WW2 Info, https://www.pacificwrecks.com/
Medals Info, https://www.honorstates.org
Medals Forum, https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/
Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com
Tank Destroyers, http://www.bensavelkoul.nl/
WordPress en/of Wooncommerce oplossingen, https://www.siteklusjes.nl/
Military Recovery, https://www.dpaa.mil/
Circumstances Of Loss
Private Roscoe “Ross” Albaugh was assigned to the Naval Operating Base, Iceland, as his first duty station after boot camp. He boarded the USS Henry R. Mallory, an ocean liner turned transport, at New York City on 23 January 1943. Mallory carried 494 passengers and crew, plus a cargo of food, clothing, cigarettes, mail, and vehicles bound for Reykjavik. Although capable of reasonably fast speeds, she was assigned to a slow convoy (SC-118) for the dangerous North Atlantic crossing.
At 0659 on 7 February 1943, a single torpedo fired by U-402 hit the Mallory’s #3 hold where the Marines were quartered. An untold number died in the initial explosion and rapid flooding; others managed to scramble topside. Only three of the ship’s ten lifeboats cleared the ship – men jumped overboard into fifty-degree water as the Mallory settled by the stern and slipped from sight.
The Mallory sent no distress calls, fired no rockets, and no order was given to abandon ship. Any rationale for these decisions died with the ship’s master, Captain Horace Weaver. After several hours afloat, the survivors were rescued by Coast Guard Cutters Bibb and Ingham. German U-Boats still haunted the area; the cutters were unable to recover bodies from the sea. Only 222 men survived the sinking – less than half of those aboard.
Roscoe’s body lost at sea. Roscoe H. Albaugh was officially declared dead on 8 February 1944.
