 Stanley
Sylvester Stewartz was born in 1914. He lived at 210 River
road in South Pottstown. His parents Mr. And Mrs. Albert Stewartz raised a
large family of 9 children: Joseph, Albert Jr., Anthony, Tina, John, Mary,
Claire, and Josephine. and Stanley.
Stanley attended North Coventry High School,
where he was known as an outstanding athlete. He was a member of St.
Peter’s Catholic Church and the Good Will Fire Company in Pottstown.
Stanley was employed at the U.S. Axle Company.
Stanley entered service in the Coast Guard in
November 1943. The Coast Guard manned many Navy Destroyer Escorts and
patrol ships during WW II.
Stanley was assigned to serve on the USS Menges,
DE 320. The Menges was an Edsall Class Destroyer escort, named after
Herbert Menges who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The ship displaced 1,200 tons, was 306 feet long with a 36 foot beam.
She was powered by 2 diesels with a top speed of 21 knots, and was crewed
by 200 men.
The USS Menges after a shakedown cruise off
Bermuda, served as a school ship in the Chesapeake Bay. In January
she left New York, as part of a convoy escort to the Mediterranean. The
convoy was attacked by German torpedo bombers off the coast of Algiers,
and she shot down an enemy plane, and rescued 137 survivors of the
destroyer Lansdale DD-426 sunk by a torpedo.
On May 3rd, the Menges was 15 miles astern of the convoy searching for
a radar contact when she was hit just after 1 a.m. by a homing torpedo by
the German U-boat U-371 (which was sunk the next day by 2 destroyer
escorts from the convoy). The explosion killed Stanley and 30 other
crewmembers.
The damage to his ship was so great the aft third of the ship was
destroyed. The Captain refused to abandon the ship after the
sacrifice of the men. Crewmembers jumped astride torpedoes loosened in the
explosion to heroically disarm them. The ship was later
repaired, by welding the after third of the destroyer escort Holder
DE-401, (whose forward two-thirds was severely damaged from another
torpedo attack): and survived the war.
His family was notified Stanley was Missing In Action on May 19, and
Killed In Action on July 26, 1945. Seaman 2nd Class Stanley Stewartz was
buried at sea and is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the
North Africa American Cemetery, at Carthage, Tunisia. Stanley's brothers,
Aviation Mate 3rd Class Joseph and Aviation Mate 3rd
Albert served in the Navy, PFC Anthony served in the Army in the Pacific
Theater, and sister Tina served in the Army as a WAC.
Stanley was awarded the Purple Heart
and is listed on the Tablets of the Missing or Buried at Sea at the
North Africa American Cemetery, in Carthage, Tunisia.
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