A plaque on the other side reads:
3" GUN USED BY ARMED
GUARD ON WORLD WAR II
MERCHANT SHIP
DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF THE
5,268 MERCHANT MARINERS
WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
IN WORLD WAR II
Day 862
WWII merchant ship gun
May 10th, 2014
I'm walking every street in New York City.
This is the counterpoint to my walk across the US. Instead of seeing a million places for just a minute each, I'm going to spend a million minutes exploring just one place. By the time I finish walking every block of every street in all five boroughs, I'll have traveled more than 8,000 miles on foot — all within a single city. Details!
Email me at matt@imjustwalkin.com
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Maps: Progress | Photos
~9,954 miles walked
Your donations allow me to keep walking full-time. If you think what I'm doing is valuable and you'd like to offer some support, I would be very grateful. On the other hand, if you think I'm a worthless bum, feel free to email me and tell me to get a job, bozo. Both are excellent options!
The Armed Guard and their guns was a desperate attempt to ward off U-boat attacks during the period that Allied ship convoy protection was inadequate and the U-boats were running rampant. They never sunk a U-boat. Instead it placed civilians in the role of the military and at risk of execution if captured. In the early stages of the U.S. involvement in the war there were episodes where the Armed Guard persisted in firing on submarines which had just struck their cargo ship. The German boat, which was going to allow the crew to escape, instead attacked the ship again.
See: “Hitler’s U-boat War” by Clay Blair.