Cherokee
6/15/1942
Torpedoed near Halifax

On June 15, 1942 the troopship S.S. Cherokee was part of a convoy out of Halifax Nova Scotia. The Cherokee was a fast freighter just down from Iceland carrying 41 army enlisted men, 4 Russian naval officers, and an army air force pilot, all headed for the US. Two torpedoes had hit the S.S. Port Nicholson and she was firing flares. A low boom followed by two huge explosions were seen on the troopship. Two torpedoes had hit her. The troop ship sank almost immediately taking half of her ships crew and the soldiers down with her. Flares and rockets indicated a submarine attack (U-87) on the convoy. The Escanaba came to the position where the SS Cherokee had gone down and to assist with survivors.