It Happened One Night

One of the greatest sea disasters of the Second World War was the sinking of the US Army Transport Dorchester in the late winter of 1943 by the U-223 off Greenland. The waters were frigid; the torpedo struck at night. The lights instantly failed and 904 men struggled in the pitch black to find their way up on deck through the unfamiliar passages, some only in their skivvies. The ship sank in 20 minutes. Six hundred and seventy five men went down with her. It is remembered as one of the greatest losses of life in a single day for the US Army. But it is also remembered as the moment of the Four Chaplains. This is their true story.

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