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bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Naval War, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 15 Jun 2025
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Several thousand US personnel died at sea in the Mediterranean during World War II.
During the earlier stages of US operations in the Mediterranean Theater, the German Luftwaffe still had strong offensive capabilities. Thus, three of the eight Pottawattamie area fallen listed below died via Luftwaffe attacks on naval vessels. Of the remaining five, three died from submarine torpedoes, one from an E-boat torpedo, and one from a  naval mine.
 
                ██  Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Naval War  ██​ ​​02-04 - WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Naval War: (eight dead, updated 23 Jul 2025)
​† Alff, John Fredrick, SN 37-118-084, US Army, Pott & Cass Cos.
  • 436 Coast Artillery Bn.; on troop transport USS Tasker H. Bliss (AP-42); KIA 12 Nov 1942 Fedala Roads, off Casablanca, Morocco; Bliss sunk by German submarine U-130, 31 dead, 204 survivors; BNR.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > North Africa > Operation Torch
† Andersen, Eugene Phillip, SN 648-40-43, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • Landing Ship Tank LST-3; KIA 6 Aug 1943 off N coast of Sicily, between Palermo & San Stefano; LST-3 damaged by German bomber.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Sea War @ Operation Husky​
† Berry, Kenneth Coit, SN 648-12-71, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • Destroyer USS Buck (DD-420); KIA 9 Oct 1943 off Capri, Naples Bay, Italy; Buck torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-616; 168 dead, 94 survivors; BNR.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Sea War
† Morris, Eddie Jack, SN 648-09-05, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • Cruiser USS Savannah (CL-42); KIA 11 Sep 1943 off Salerno, Italy; Savannah damaged by radio-controlled German guide-bomb,197 died; BNR.
  •  WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Sea War @ Salerno-Naples-Foggia
​​† Nelson, Merrill Marvin, SN 620-69-02, US Navy, Audubon Co. (St. Paul's)
  • Destroyer USS Buck (DD-420); KIA 9 Oct 1943 off Capri, Naples Bay, Italy; Buck torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-616; 168 dead, 94 survivors; BNR.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Sea War @ Salerno-Naples-Foggia
† Soppe, Raymond Ferdinand, SN 37-156-293, US Army, Tripp Co., SD & Pott. Co.
  • Co. B, 31st Signal Const. Bn.; on HMT Rhona, part of convoy KMF-36 traversing the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to the Suez Canal, Co. B probably boarded the Rhona in Oran, Algeria and was bound for the China-Burma-India Theater via Bombay, India; KIA 26 Nov 1943 off Bougie, E of Algiers, Algeria; Rhona sunk by a German guided glide bomb; abt 1,173 died, including 1,050 US personnel, abt 819 survivors; BNR.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Sea War
† Supernois, Donald Ward, SN 316-34-38, US Navy, Pott. Co. & Portsmouth, VA
  • Destroyer USS Rowan (DD-405); KIA 11 Sep 1943 off Salerno, Italy; Rowan hit by German E-boat torpedo, sank in one minute; 202 dead, 71 survivors; BNR.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Sea War @ Salerno-Naples-Foggia.
† Thomsen, Walter Peter Henry, served as Thomsen Walter P H, SN 37-651-579, US Army, Crawford Co.
  • 83rd Chemical Bn.; KIA 26 Jan 1944 off Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy; HMS LST-422 en route from Naples, Italy drifted into a German mine field during heavy winds, hit a mine, and burned intensely; 454 American soldiers and 29 British sailors died; BNR.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Sea War @ Battle of Anzio

              ██  Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Naval War webpage  ██
  • HMT Rhona, the webpage header photo, https://rohnaclassified.com - C/O Ultravision Films & Center for Independent Documentary. 1,015 American servicemen died on His Majesty's Transport Rhona, 35 more subsequently died of wounds. Except for the sinking of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, it was the worst single-ship disaster in US military history.