'Irene' May Mirror Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944

Two days out of Norfolk, along the Florida coast, the USS Warrington received word that she was steaming directly into what would become known as the Great Atlantic Hurricane.

That evening, the storm forced the destroyer to heave but, keeping wind and sea on her port bow, the Warrington rode out the night. But in the morning of Sept. 13, 1944, the massive steel destroyer began to lose headway and water seeped at first, then rushed through the vents of her engineering section causing a sudden loss of power, setting off a tragic chain reaction.

First, her main engines lost power, then her steering engine and mechanism went out, leaving the ship and its crew wallowing in a trough of storm swells. She regained headway briefly, desperate to outrun the onslaught of sea water, as her radiomen tried to contact a nearby ship, the Hyades, to no avail.

By noon the commander reluctantly realized his crew was unable to save their ship sending out an S.O.S. to any able vesel or land station that could hear it while giving the onboard order to abandon ship.

By 12:50 p.m., she went down. Search and rescue recovered a mere 73 of the 321 men on board that fateful day. In addition to the Warrington and the Coast Guard Cutters Bedloe and Jackson, this hurricane claimed the 136-foot minesweeper USS YMS-409, which foundered and sank with all 33 on board lost. Further north, it also claimed the Lightship Vineyard Sound (LV-73), which was sunk with the loss of all 12 aboard.  The S.S. Thomas Tracy was driven aground at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.

Joseph Sharp “Joe” Davidson, Machinist’s Mate Second Class, a 24-year-old young man from Norcross was among the lost, considered buried at sea.

It was just two years earlier that Joe fought the Battle of the Coral Sea where he was injured but returned to active duty. Buried at sea in that Great Hurricane, one that many meteorologists are drawing similarities to this weekend’s storm, "Irene."

Joe, as well as his brother Aubrey, who was lost at sea a year later when a bomb exploded on the loading bay of his ship the USS Hancock, are two of the memorialized veterans whose plaques, placed along the wall of Thrasher Park, were rededicated on Memorial Day of 2009.

The 1944 Hurricane, likely a category four storm, remains infamous for the amount of damage left in its wake along the east coast shore towns of Long Beach Island, Atlantic City, Ocean City, and Cape May. Causeways were wiped out and on Long Beach Island homes were swept out to sea. In Atlantic City the surge flooded the lobbies of famous hotels. That boardwalk, as well as the one in Ocean City, were splintered. Famed Steel Pier and Heinz Pier were destroyed and Heinz Pier, never rebuilt, is now just a memorable part of Jersey Shore lore.

The USS Warrington was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 23 September 1944.

Joe and Aubrey Davidson were survived by their parents, Reverend and Mrs. Lewis Marion Davidson, four brothers and one sister. Reverend Davidson was a Methodist minister. At the time, the Davidson family lived on Beaver Ruin Road. Davidson Drive was named for this family.

"Irene" of 2011 had a similar predicted path tracking towards North Carolina’s outer banks. The naval academy of Annapolis, Maryland  sent ships out to sea to avoid the possible onslaught of waves and wind.  

Documented in the 1996 book, "The Dragon's Breath: Hurricane At Sea," written by Commander Robert A. Dawes, Jr. (a former Commanding Officer of the Warrington), the 1944 storm produced swells of 70 feet or more. When the news reports that naval ships and aircraft have been scrambled to avoid the disaster, pray they can out run it by the grace of God and perhaps with a little help from Joe Davidson and his shipmates, all brave souls lost to the Atlantic so many decades ago.

Related Topics: Great Hurricane of 1944, Hurricane Irene, Joe Davidson