Lonnie Vinson
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Seaman 2nd Class Lonnie Vinson, of Lando South Carolina was a member of the Naval Armed Guard aboard the Stanvac Calcutta on May 29, 1942 when the ship sailed from Montevideo, Uraguay. Aboard was a crew of 42 Merchant Marines and 9 Naval Armed Guards. On June 6, 1942 the Stanvac Calcutta was attached by the Germain raider Stierwhile sailing 500 miles off Recife, Brazil. Of the crew of 51, 14 were killed and 14 seriously wounded. Orders were given to abandon ship. The sailors and crew were taken prisoners. The prisoners were later transferred to a Japanese freighter. Lonnie Vinson was imprisoned at POW Camp #3 Kokuro Fukuoka Japan until his release at the end of the war.
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Lonnie Vinson enlistedin the Navy eleven days after Pearl Harbor. He was stationed as a member of the Naval Armed Guard aboard a merchant ship in the Atlantic. He was fighting on the critical frontline in the of the Battle of the Atlantic- the United States and Great Brittan’s battle to supply strategic (and Basic) war materials to remain in the fight against Nazi Germany. Since before the United States’s entry into the war (after December 7, Hitler declaration of war against the US on December 11) the fight to keep Great Britain supplied was of paramount importance. For if England failed the war was lost. German submarines and surface raiders were sinking merchant ships faster that they could be replaced. In 1941 1,299 ships of over 3.6 million tons were sunk. Another 1,664 merchant ships would be lost in 1942. On May 29, 1942 the Stanvac Calcutta, a tanker,sailed from Montevideo, Uruguay heading north unescorted. Aboard the ship was acrew of 42 Merchant Marines and Seaman 2nd Class Lonnie Vinson and eight other Naval Armed Guards. On June 6 off the coast Recife Brazil the ship was spottedby the German raider Stier [Schiff 23]. When the lookout spotted the Germanensign/flag, the captain ordered full steam and attempted to out distance theenemy. Both deck guns fire 20-25 shells each. The heavier armed Stier respondedwith 148 rounds and torpedoes. The Stanvac Calcutta soon became dead in the water, sinking, the 37 surviving crew members were taken aboard the Stier. OnJune 12 the Stier meet supply tanker Charlotte Schliemann and transferred herprisoner to this ship. On June 21 Charlotte Schliemann rendezvoused forresupply. The rendezvous point was most likely the Martín Vas Islands were thesupply refueling ship rendezvoused with the German submarine fleet and raidersoperating off the coast of South America and the Caribbean. One-hundred andtwenty-eight prisoners from were transferred to the German mine-layer/supplyship Doggerbank (former UK Speybank). The Doggerbank then steamed for Jakartathe on her final destination, Yokoyama Japan on August 19, 1942. The prisonerswere transferred to the Japanese SS Nanking were the remained until transferredto prison camps. Seaman Vinson was imprisoned at Pow Camp #3-B Kokuro inFukuoka Japan at Yalata Steel Works. Yalata steel major producer of steel forJapan. Approximately 1,200 prisoners worked as slave labor in the various actories. Steel works, shovel coal in the power plant…. The area was targeted for the second atomic bomb, but due to cloud cover, was diverted to Nagasaki.Camp was liberated on September 13, 1945 All men worked unless too ill, then food restricted. Worked 10 hours days for 10 days on. The typical diet was less than 700 calories per day. Slow starvation and numerous diseases, caused by lack of sanitary conditions and malnutrition, lead to a high rate of mortality.
Lonnie returne dhoem to Chester County after the war.
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