Merchant Seaman Ralph Charles Gaudet Cook (Service No. Z121097) SS Patrick J. Hurley, US Merchant Navy Ralph Charles Gaudet was born January 1, 1899, in Dorchester, Westmorland Co., New Brunswick, the son of Antoine ‘Anthony’ Gaudet (1852-1910) and Margaret ‘Maggie’ (O’Hearn) Gaudet (1856-1918). His father was born in Memramcook, Westmorland Co., New Brunswick and his mother was born in Milbury, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Ralph had two brothers, Frank G (Francis Clifford Allen Alfred) Gaudet (b. 1887) and Ernest Joseph Gaudet (1889-1970). Ernest served 3 years with the Militia with the 74th Infantry Regiment (New Brunswick Rangers) prior to the First World War, and then served in Canada, England, and France with the 2nd Signal Corps (Service No. 123, 522) from Jan. 21, 1915 - Feb. 10, 1919. Ralph also had a sister, Marie ‘Mary’ Geraldine Gaudet (1891-1953), who married John McCoombs in Amherst June 11, 1919. Prior to his First World War enlistment, he served a year with the Amherst Detaining Force. The Amherst Internment Camp was a significant detaining force during the First World War, housing a maximum of 853 prisoners, primarily German reservists. It was the largest internment camp in Canada at the time, established in response to the suspicion of disloyal immigrants from enemy nations. The camp's most famous prisoner was Leon Trotsky, who was detained in April 1917. The camp's conditions were described as dilapidated, with poor living conditions and limited exercise, but it provided the same rations as Canadian soldiers and allowed for craftmaking and other activities. The camp officially shut down operations on September 27, 1919, after the last of the POWs were repatriated. At the time of his enlistment at Aldershot in Kings Co., Nova Scotia in June 1917, Ralph was living in Amherst, Cumberland Co., NS, as was his mother. He served in the Canadian Forestry Corps in Canada, England, France, and Belgium (Service Number 2329919). He served from June 12, 1917, until his discharge March 28, 1919. He registered for the US military draft on July 28, 1942, in New York City, New York. He was unemployed at the time and lists no next of kin, just the National Maritime Union at 346 17th Street in New York as the contact that would always know his address. Ralph had spent years at sea prior to World War II and was serving as a merchant seaman, specifically as a the second cook and baker aboard the merchant vessel Patrick J. Hurley, in September 1942 during the war. On September 13, 1942, the American steam tanker SS Patrick J. Hurley, en route from Aruba to Belfast and Avonmouth, was attacked and sunk by German submarine U-512 in the mid-Atlantic, approximately 950 miles northeast of Barbados. Built in 1941 and operated by Sinclair Refining Company, the vessel carried a volatile cargo of 75,000 barrels of high-octane gasoline and 60,000 barrels of diesel oil, critical fuel for Allied operations. The attack began in the early hours of the morning when U-512, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Schultze, surfaced and opened fire with deck guns after a failed torpedo strike the previous day. The submarine fired approximately thirty shells, striking the midships cabins, destroying lifeboats and communications, and igniting the fuel cargo. Despite evasive maneuvers and return fire from the ship’s stern gun and 20mm cannons, the Patrick J. Hurley was overwhelmed. Flames engulfed the vessel, and she sank shortly after dawn. Of the sixty-two men aboard, including ten officers, thirty-four crew members, and eighteen armed guards, seventeen were lost, among them Captain Carl Stromgren, and Ralph Charles Gaudet, age 43. Survivors escaped in lifeboats and rafts, enduring days adrift before rescue. One lifeboat was recovered by the Etna after seven days at sea, with survivors landing in New York on October 2. Another was picked up by the British merchant ship Loch Dee on October 4 and brought to Charleston, South Carolina. Ralph, a U.S. Merchant Navy casualty lost at sea with no known grave, has no memorial bearing his name. While the American Merchant Mariners' Memorial at Battery Park in New York City honors the collective sacrifice of mariners, it does not include individual names.

Sources: findagrave American Merchant Mariners' Memorial HonorStates.org