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June 29, 1942 - hot - muggy - typically coastal - W.F. Randolph, his wife Rebecca and two friends are flounder fishing on Saint George Island - Somewhere off shore they hear the rumbling of a ship's engine - one of the big ones that wouldn't fit in safe-harbor for the night - rushing along at 11 knots to reach the staging area where it would be protected by the safety of a convoy with Naval escort - the Randolphs can't see it because of the rigid blackout rules - after all, there is a war on somewhere over in Europe - isn't there??
Ninety miles away in Tallahassee - folks are irritated because air raid sirens - another stupid drill - awaken them?? After all, Tallahassee is the Capital city but would German bombers really come this far?? Better practice because there is a war on somewhere over in Europe - isn't there?
Out in the Gulf of Mexico - U-67 is taking a real chance coming in close over the 10-fathom curve - only 60 feet of water to protect it from depth charge attack by Coastal Defense Planes. Suddenly the sonar operator turns to Korvettenkapitan Gunther Mueller-Stoeckheim and whispers "Wir erhielten uns einen wirklichen prize Kapitän" (We've got us a real prize Captain) - Cavitations from18 foot screws pushing 11200 tons of cargo create quite a rumble in his earphones. The HMS Empire Mica comes into the crosshairs of Captain Mueller's periscope. "feuer eintz - a pause - feuer zwei - another pause - at one o'clock the gentle rustling of the surf and buzzing of mosquitoes is interrupted by a blast heard from Cedar key to Panama City - an orange ball rises from the dark horizon almost as bright as a sunrise - a pause - the second torpedo tears into the port side of the Empire Mica - 11200 tons of burning aviation grade gasoline makes quite a show - W.F. Randolph looks up in awe - that war somewhere over in Europe just came to the Panhandle.
Most of the Mica's crew is lost - the coastal defense folks swing into action and heroes are made - in the end only 14 survive.
Captain Mueller - having claimed his fifth Gulf victim in 13 days wins the Knight's Cross for his efforts - Before his death on July 16, 1943 he made dive sites of more than 72000 tons of allied shipping and damaged another 30000 tons. The Empire Mica was one of 13 sunken and 5 crippled ships in his short career - He went from Sea Cadet to Full Captain in only 8 years.
The Mica didn't give up easily - she burned for 10 days before settling to the bottom in 105 feet of water. Once a proud member of Her Majesty's Registry of Ships - she reigns eternally as a virtual haven for marine life of all sorts and sizes. Justifiably called the premier wreck dive of the Gulf of Mexico.
We're going to dive her on June 7 th - we have a few slots left if any of you'd like to join us.
Rick
"You can have peace, or you can have Freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." (Heinlein)
"... they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep." (Ps107:24)
I have a "work thingie" scheduled for that weekend, but right now I doubt if all the parts will get built in time to do it. There are too many players in this pot to get a major heavy construction thing going with custom heat treated rolled heavy section parts in a 2 week time frame.
Please e-mail me the info anyway, but don't count me as anything more than a "possible". There are always miracles happening SOMEWHERE, Perhaps there will be one that will allow me to join you
"You can have peace, or you can have Freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." (Heinlein)
"... they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep." (Ps107:24)
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