On This Date in Minnesota History: October 4

October 4, 1918 – Ervin Theodore Blix, of Nora, Clearwater County, Minn., was one of 25 men who died on this date when the USS Herman Frasch, the freighter he worked on as an electrician, third class, was accidently rammed by the tanker USS George G. Henry.

The tanker had just survived a gun battle with the SMS U-152 on Sept. 29, 1918, and was on her way to New York to repair the damage. The collision happened just after midnight about 110 miles southeast of Cape Sable.

The USS Herman Frasch “sank just seven minutes later taking twenty-five men with her. Boats were put over the side and about sixty-five survivors were picked up, but by morning the search was abandoned.”1

Blix’s mother, Mrs. James Blix, received a telegram on Oct. 11, 1918, from Z. C. Palmer of Washington, D.C., informing her that her son was listed as missing; however, The Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, was reluctantly compelled to believe he lost his life.

¹http://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2013/10_oct/04_uss_herman_frasch_id1617.htm

The Bemidji Daily Pioneer; “Mother is Notified Son Lost Life When His Vessel Collided”; October 11, 1918; p. 1.

USS Herman Frasch
http://nswrecks.net/ns-images/hermanfrasch-1917-navsource.org.jpg

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