William R. Fields

Bill’s name was the same as his father’s except for the middle initial, and what that stood for is unknown. His father had changed his last name from McFields because it identified the family as immigrants from Ireland but his Uncle Robert kept the original name.

Bill’s father worked in a sheet metal shop and married a woman from Switzerland in 1919. A sister, Emily, was born first, then Bill and a younger brother, Bobby. They all grew up at 2245 South Bonsall Street in the Wilson Park section of South Philadelphia. That was two blocks south of their uncle Robert with the different last name, at 2013 South Bonsall.

They walked to the Edwin H. Vare Junior High school (built the year Bill was born) which was halfway between their house and their uncle’s. The 1940 census says both Emily and Bill completed high school and were employed. Bill was doing electrical work.

The Selective Training and Service Act was revised on December 20, 1941 to broaden the age range of men eligible for military service, so Bill registered in June of 1942. At that time he was working at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

That probably made it easier for him to join the Navy, which he did the following March. He went to the Naval Training Station at Sampson, New York, then became a Gunners Mate, 3rd Class with the Navy Armed Guard. He was part of a crew that sailed with merchant ships hired by the government. They were cargo vessels, oil tankers and troop transports and needed protection against attacks by enemy submarines and aircraft. 

Bill was assigned first to the SS Fort Niagara, then this one, the SS Orville Harden. It was a Panama Transport Company tanker that delivered fuel to both the European and Pacific theaters. On February 4th, 1945 there was a collision with another tanker outside New York harbor. 

Bill’s ship was bound from Beaumont, Texas to New York with 109,486 barrels of fuel oil. It was in the middle of a cloudy, dark night when it cleared the swept channel, but the other tanker was outbound and struck the Harden on the starboard side. The ship was taking on water, the engines were stopped, the lights went out, and the order was given to abandon ship.

All 45 members of the crew and 11 of the 12 armed guards successfully escaped on lifeboats. Bill was the only one that didn’t make it; he was killed instantly while asleep in his quarters when the collision occurred.  

Funeral services were held on February 13. Bill’s parents purchased a large stone for him which would later include their names and the name of their other son. His grandparents, Uncle Robert, and an aunt are also here at Mount Moriah.