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It’s been 70 years, but the memory is still powerful enough to bring Dorothy Wise to tears.
“I’ll never forget that night,” the 83-year-old said.
“It was Monday, April 19. There had been rumors over the weekend at the shipyard, so my mother left us with a babysitter and went over to my aunt and uncle’s house to try to sort out what they were hearing.
“I was 13, my sisters were 9 and 11 and our little brother was 5. There was a knock on the door and I answered. It was a telegram for my mother. I signed for it, thinking, ‘I hope this is not bad news.’
“My hands were shaking. I read down to the line that said ‘missing and presumed lost’ and I couldn’t read anymore.
“I worshipped my father.”
Battle for the Atlantic
Savannahian Anthony Joseph Von Dolteren was a career merchant mariner when he met and married Bertie Lee Brinson, also a Savannahian. Together, they had five children.
Life was relatively uneventful for the Savannah family until 1941 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, thrusting the U.S. into World War II. By that time, the war in Europe had been raging for two years and the Germans were winning the Battle of the Atlantic, which would be the war’s longest continuous military campaign.
That battle pitted German U-boats against Allied ships as the Germans attempted to establish a blockade that would keep critical supplies from reaching Allied troops in Europe.
In the early years of the war, the German submarines were so successful in picking off Allied supply ships that U.S. shipyards were pressed into service to build the replacement freighters that came to be known as Liberty ships.
In Savannah, Southeastern Shipbuilding took up the cause and Von Dolteren became one of thousands of workers — many of them still reeling from the Great Depression — who began building Liberty ships along the Savannah River.
On Nov. 20, 1942, the S.S. James Oglethorpe “slid down the ways” at Southeastern and into the river, marking the launch of Savannah’s first Liberty ship.
‘Dad was our world’
“My father was so proud of helping to build that ship,” Wise said. “He was ready to build more. But when my older brother — who had enlisted in the Navy at 16 — got orders to go fight overseas, my dad was determined to be there with him.
“So he signed on to sail with the Oglethorpe.”
The ship embarked on its maiden voyage from New York, carrying supplies bound for Liverpool, England, as part of the convoy Halifax 229. On March 16, 1943, the Oglethorpe was torpedoed by a German U-boat, and was lost the following day along with 44 of the 74-man crew.
“After the telegram came, a neighbor called my mother to come home. When she saw the telegram, she collapsed on the front porch of our house on 43rd Street,” Wise said.
“We couldn’t believe it. My dad was our world.”
The aftermath
Wise’s brother survived the war, left the Navy and joined the merchant marine; Wise left school after ninth grade, becoming the youngest operator ever at Southern Bell’s Savannah office on Drayton Street.
“It was a tough time. We all did what we could,” she said.
She later married Britton “Bucky” Wise, himself a career merchant mariner, and had six children.
“He was gone to sea six months and home six months,” she recalled. “So I learned to compartmentalize. When he left, I would close that door, concentrate on the children, volunteer at school. I even drove a school bus — anything to stay busy.”
And she always remembered her father.
“I’ve been to every memorial and commemorative service for the Merchant Marine in World War II that I knew about,” she said, adding that, about 10 years ago, she and a grandson rode for three days and two nights on a bus to attend one such ceremony in California.
On Wednesday, Wise will be in the front row when the Georgia Historical Society, in partnership with the Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center Authority, dedicates a historical marker to the Liberty Ship S.S. James Oglethorpe and the Battle of the Atlantic.
Overdue recognition
“This marker commemorates Georgia’s important role in the Allied war effort in World War II, the most pivotal event in the 20th century,” said Todd Groce, president and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society.
“The Liberty ships built here in Savannah were an important part of that story, and this marker will help teach a wider audience about this crucial moment in American history.”
The marker dedication ceremony will feature newly uncovered photos by the New York Daily News of the Oglethorpe and her crew, as well as rare film footage of a Liberty ship launch in Savannah. Also on display at the Trade Center will be a beautifully constructed model of the S.S. James Oglethorpe, on loan from the Coastal Heritage Society.
A local exhibit has also been developed to honor the Oglethorpe and Savannah’s Liberty shipbuilding efforts. It will be on display at Savannah City Hall through December. The exhibit features materials from the city of Savannah, the Georgia Historical Society, Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum and the private collections of community members — including Wise — associated with the Oglethorpe and the Southeastern Shipyard.
As for Wise, she’s delighted that so many people will have the opportunity to learn about the Oglethorpe, the merchant mariners and the critical role they played in the war effort.
“I’m so glad my dad and other merchant mariners are finally getting the recognition they deserve for the part they played in keeping our country free,” she said.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: The Georgia Historical Society will dedicate a historical marker for the Liberty Ship S.S. James Oglethorpe and the Battle of the Atlantic.
WHERE: The Savannah International Trade and Convention Center on Hutchinson Island
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 22
IF YOU GO
WHAT: An exhibit to honor the S.S. James Oglethorpe and Savannah’s Liberty shipbuilding efforts.
WHERE: On display at Savannah’s City Hall through December 2013
WHEN: The exhibit is open on City Council meeting days and during public tours on the first Tuesday of every month. To register for a tour, or to learn more about the City Hall exhibit, contact Luciana Spracher at 912-651-6411 or Lspracher@savannahga.gov.
ON THE WEB
To read the last letter Anthony Von Dolteren wrote his wife, Bertie, from the James Oglethorpe, go to savannahnow.com.