Signalman Third Class Richard Hayes TIECHE, USNR was Killed in Action on 05 June 1944, when the merchant cargo ship SS Pillory was torpedoed and sunk off the northwest coast of Puerto Rico by the German U-539 submarine. He was one of ten US Navy armed guards aboard the ship and was blown overboard from the bridge when the first torpedo exploded.

Signalman Tieche's body was not recovered. He is memorialized at the East Coast WW II Memorial Plaza in Battery Park, New York City, NY. The Memorial contains inscribed pillars honoring the 4,601 American servicemen who died in the Atlantic during WWII. His name is engraved on a pillar that is closest to the riverfront, with his name on the side that faces the Statue of Liberty, 1.7 miles distant.

Richard was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hayes Tieche, 8043 Ten Mile Rd., Center Line Michigan. Prior to enlisting in the USN he owned and operated the Center Line Bakery in Center Line, Michigan.

At 20.05 hours on 5 June 1944 the Pillory (commanded by Master Laurid N. Sorensen) was torpedoed by U-539 off Puerto Rico. The ship had departed San Juan about 13.00 hours and met six hours later her escort, the US Coast Guard vessel USCGC CG-83310, which took station about 500 yards off the starboard beam but had difficulties to keep up. One torpedo struck in the #2 hold directly below the starboard wing of the bridge, blew away that part of the ship and caused a starboard list because the hold was flooded immediately. Three officers and a signalman were blown overboard. Two minutes later a second torpedo hit amidships on the starboard side breaking the ship in two, blowing parts of the machinery out through the skylight and causing her to sink immediately by the bow.

The 37 crew members and ten armed guards on board had no time to launch the lifeboats and jumped overboard after releasing some rafts. 21 survivors (one later died of wounds in hospital) were picked up by the escort and two more by USCGC Crawford (WPC 134) and were taken to Mayaguez, arriving at 23.30 hours. The master, 20 crew members and four armed guards were lost.

Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/128498319

MT Pillory sunk by U-539/Lauterbach-Emden 5 June 1944 off Bahamas, Puerto Rico

April 26, 2014 by Eric Wiberg

Pillory

The WSA operated the ship under bareboat, or demise charter from 5 August 1941 onwards. According to uboat.net the Marine Operating Company took over management and ownership of the vessel, renamed it Pillory and flagged it to Panama. Then from August 1942 to February 1944 the Stockard Steam Ship Company operated her, and finally the Danish Ship Operating Company took her over under a GAA agreement (uboat.net).

The ship was in ballast and being convoyed from San Juan to Guayanilla, Puerto Rico where she planned to load sugar. She left San Juan on the 5th of June 1944 escorted by the US Coast Guard patrol boat # 83310. There were 190 tons of fresh water ballast stowed aft and 200 tons of salt water in the after peack tank and in three bottom tanks.

By 4:00 pm that afternoon they were west of San Juan and five miles north of Cape Boriquen, in 500 fathoms of water, off the northwest tip of the island of Puerto Rico. Five miles ahead of them a tanker, the US-flagged Glenpool, was steaming towards them. Also within sight was the San Juan convoy #274, composed of three merchant ships, a US Armed Transport, and two escorts. This convoy was steaming the same direction as the Pillory – west – and was also five miles ahead.

The Pillory had not made much westward progress when U-539 under Hans-Jurgen Lauterbach-Emden boldly attacked in broad daylight and with numerous Allied vessels in sight. She was on course 220 degrees true, or south-southwest and making 11 knots. There was an Armed Guard on the wing bridge along with a Navy Signalman, and another Armed Guard off the stern. The Second Mate was on the starboard wing bridge with the Armed Guard and Chief Engineer watching a block of wood between the ship and its escort.

Sources:

http://ericwiberg.com/2014/04/mt-pillory-sunk-by-u-539lauterbach-emden-5-june-1944-off-bahamas-puerto-rico

https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship3256.html

Richard H Tieche