December 24, 1944, two U-boats in the Atlantic are still at work late on Christmas Eve. Off the coast of France one sinks the American troop ship Leopoldville sending over 800 GI's to their grave. The other, in an effort to close the convoy ports of North America, sinks the Clayoquot four miles off the shores of North America. Join The Sea Hunters as they dive the depths and tell the story of what happened and what didn't happen on Christmas Eve, 1944.
On December 16th, the last of Hitler's reserves, smashed through the American lines along the forests of the Ardennes and hurtled toward Antwerp and the sea. Throughout allied Europe, men who had been preparing for a quiet Christmas, perhaps the last of the war, were suddenly called into action.
The troop transport Leopoldville was one of the first to mobilize. She left England with over two thousand two hundred American soldiers on route to Cherbourg, France, and the embattled allied forces. But just a few kilometers from her destination, she was torpedoed and eight hundred and two men perished.
When Leopoldville was torpedoed there was mass confusion on board. What followed on board were feats of heroic bravery, and outrageous incompetence, which ultimately resulted in the loss of over seven hundred and sixty three soldiers and crew. Most of those killed were between the ages of eighteen and thirty-one. The survivors were given strict orders not to discuss what had happened that Christmas Eve. At first, families of the dead were told only that their loved one was 'missing in action', and later that they had died in combat, but no details were provided. The details were kept secret by the British and American war departments for over fifty years.
Across the Atlantic at Halifax, the Canadian minesweeper Clayoquot departed with a convoy of troops and supplies for the reeling allied forces. Tragically, on December 24th, she too was struck down by a German U-boat. Ironically, her sinking ultimately saved hundreds of lives. And those who survived that Christmas of 1944 no doubt pay tribute every Christmas Eve to the crew of the minesweeper that saved a convoy.
Clive's finding of the Leopoldville and the team's finding of Clayoquot, helps to write a final chapter in the events that transpired so many years ago.
Join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks, another true adventure with... The Sea Hunters.
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