Service History
Clara Barton was chartered to the Army Transportation Service and participated in the Normandy Invasion on D-Day and made many trips from the UK to various ports on the continent as the invasion progressed.
On D-Day the ship was hit by a tank shell which passed clear through the ship with minimal damage before detonating.
On one of her trips as the invasion progressed the Clara Barton blew a major packing in her main engine and limped back to port through U-boat infested waters powered by the jacking engine, a small engine intended only to get the main engine off dead center.
On a subsequent trip the same packing blew again and then the jacking engine failed, leaving her dead in the water again in U-boat infested waters. After an anxious wait she was safely towed back to port.
Read more about this topic: SS Clara Barton
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