Seaman William Clayton Beaty

Mariners Medal

William Clayton Beaty was born in Las Cruces NM on February 3, 1922 to Mr. and Mrs. Orren Beaty Sr. As a youth he ran a paper route for the Las Cruces Sun News and work as an usher at the Rio Grande Theater. He attended Las Cruces HS and after graduating in 1939 enrolled at NMAMC which he attended from 1939 to 1942.  After leaving NMAMC he joined the US Merchant Marine and was assigned to the Liberty Ship Edward P Dudley. On April 4, 1943, the ship left New York in convoy HX 232. Later the ship straggled from the convoy perhaps due to bent propeller blades and was never heard from again. None of the eight officers, 34 men and 27 armed guards on board were ever found.

The following was extracted from a report of actions by German U Boat U-615:

“At 1430 hours on 10 April, U-615 fired a spread of four torpedoes on a single ship, but only one torpedo hit which failed to explode. She followed the vessel, which was now steaming a zigzag course and the next day at 0446 hours fired two torpedoes which hit amidships and stopped the vessel. 20 minutes later another torpedo was fired from 1000 meters that struck at the stern and ignited the after magazine, but the ship still remained afloat. At 0516 hours a coup de grâce was fired from 800 meters that struck under the bridge. The cargo of munitions was ignited and the ship disintegrated. Debris slightly damaged the conning tower of the U-boat and wounded Captain Kapitzky, forcing U-615 to abort her patrol and return to port. The launching of many lifeboats was observed before the ship exploded. The victim is believed to have been the Edward B. Dudley. William Clayton Beaty is memorialized with a marker at the Las Cruces Masonic Cemetery.  He was 21 years old at the time of his death.