Thomas Byrnes Jr.
Rank: Ordinary Seaman, United States Merchant Marine
Ship: SS John Morgan
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died:
Biography
Thomas Byrnes Jr.
Thomas Byrnes Jr. was born and raised in North Jersey. He lived at 413 Linden Street in Camden, New Jersey. He attended the Maritime Commission school in St. Petersburg, Florida, and had followed the sea for approximately three years before his death.
Thomas Byrnes married Beatrice Hartzell of Frackville, Pennsylvania, in Elkton, Maryland, on July 9, 1942. Mrs. Byrnes last saw her husband in Camden on May 27, 1943 and received a letter postmarked from a United States port on June 1.
On June 1, 1943, the SS John Morgan, an ammunition ship, collided with the SS Montana off Cape Henry, Virginia. The John Morgan split in two and exploded, killing 42 crew members and 25 armed guard sailors, a total of 67 lives. Thomas Byrnes Jr. was among the dead. His body was recovered and identified in Norfolk, Virginia. Burial was in Locustwood Memorial Park in Cherry Hill (then Delaware Township), New Jersey.
SS John Morgan
Camden Sailor Among Dead in Collision Blast
Camden Courier-Post — circa
A Camden resident was killed in the collision of a munitions ship and a tanker off the Atlantic Coast last week. It became known when the widow identified the body in Norfolk yesterday. The explosion which followed the collision took 89 lives.
The dead man was Thomas Byrnes, 22, an ordinary seaman, who claimed 413 Linden street as his home address for two years. The widow, the former Beatrice Hartzell, of Frackville, Pa., is living with relatives at 521 North street.
After her return to Camden last night, Mrs. Byrnes said her husband was born and educated in North Jersey. He followed the sea for three years after graduating from the Maritime Commission school in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Mrs. Byrnes last saw her husband here on May 27 and received a letter from him postmarked at a United States port on June 1. They were married in Elkton, Md., on July 9, 1942.
The body will arrive this morning and the funeral will be held either later in the day or tomorrow. Burial will be in Locustwood Memorial Park.
Paul R. Rilatt will have charge of the funeral.