Tag Archives: trawler Nathaniel B. Palmer
The afternoon during World War II when they made a ‘Beeline for Block Island’
Encounters with unexploded ordinance from World War II is not limited to Europe or decades after the conflict. The waters around Block Island in the spring of 1945 proved this latter point. While the war in Europe was winding down, three fishermen were killed off the southeastern shore of Block Island. These three fishermen were all over the age of 30, which of course resulted from the war taking any of the younger fishermen away to the far corners of the world. As result, a trawler out of Stonington accidentally bringing up an unexploded 550-pound bomb that rested on the ocean bottom some eight miles from Block Island, would not only take three lives but caused 11 children to be fatherless. World War II stands out in the history of human conflict for two main reasons. First, of course, is the unprecedented scale of the conflict, in terms of weapons used, nations involved, and lives lost. Second, and less understood, was the high percentage of civilians killed in the war. This would include the three Stonington fishermen. >>click to read<< 10:48
