DOB/DOD: December 24, 1906 (Waterbury, CT) – March 19, 1944; 37 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Doris L. Baker on July 23, 1935, in Pinellas, Florida.
LOCAL ADDRESS: New Haven
SERVICE NUMBER: Z-149121
FAMILY: Born to Maxim A. [born in Quebec, Canada] (1860-1943) and Marie “Mary” Olivine duLac (1861-1918). Two sisters, Alma (1884-1918), Margaret (1888-1940), Eva Dulac O’Rourke (1894-1983), Lucy (1894-1983), Clara Dulac Goldenbee (1897-1967), Stella (1899-1975), and Alice M. Dulac Dowling (1901-1981). Four brothers, Charles A. (1884-1963), Arthur C. (1884-), Edward (1887-1929), Albert A. (1890-1980), and Raymond (1905-1969).
CIRCUMSTANCES: Francis served as the Master (Ship Captain), S.S. John A. Poor, Merchant Marines, during World War II.
The S.S. John A. Poor was hit by two torpedoes from German U-Boat U-510 in the Arabian Sea. The first torpedo struck on the starboard side between #4 and #5 holds. The explosion blew off the #4 hatch cover and created a hole about 12 feet in diameter in the deck. The second struck in the #5 hold. The vessel immediately listed to starboard and settled rapidly, sinking within two minutes.
Nearly half of the eight officers, 35 crewmen, and 30 armed guards went down with the ship, including the master (Dulac). One officer, 17 crewmen, and 21 armed guards reached three rafts, lashed them together, and rigged a sail.
The survivors were picked up on March 22nd by the British steam merchant Fort Walsh and landed at Colombo, Ceylon, four days later.
The fate of submarine U-510
Surrendered on May 9, 1945, at St. Nazaire, France. Unseaworthy. Became the French submarine Bouan. Stricken May 1, 1959, as Q176. Broken up in 1960.
From The Day (New London, CT) on October 12, 1944
MARITIME SERVICE HONORS NEW HAVEN SKIPPER WHO LOST LIFE AT SEA IN TORPEDOING
In the presence of 186 newly commissioned ensigns in the maritime service, members of the 39th class to be graduated from the Maritime Service Officer’s School, the mariners’ medal was awarded posthumously at graduation exercises this afternoon at the school to Captain Francis Wallace duLac, master mariner, of New Haven. The medal is the Purple Heart of the Merchant Marine.
Captain Alfred G. Ford, superintendent of the school, made the presentation to Captain duLac’s sister and next of kin, Miss Estelle duLac of 255 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. The superintendent paid tribute to Captain duLac and held him forth as a model and inspiration for the 186 ensigns of the graduating class.
Many friends of Captain duLac from the New Haven area and from out of the state were on hand to witness the presentation. Captain duLac, born in Waterbury, attended Wilby High School in that city. He served in the Navy and Coast Guard for 11 years before entering the merchant marine in 1936 with the Ward Steamship line. He was one of the volunteer seamen to respond to an emergency appeal to assist in the rescue work during the Louisville, Kentucky, flood in 1937. During the next few years, he was promoted rapidly, finally receiving his master mariner’s license in November 1943. He was given command of the S.S. John A. Poor that month and last February, while captain of the vessel, towed a disabled ship, torpedoed by an enemy attack, a distance of 650 miles to port. He saw much enemy action before his own ship was finally torpedoed last March.
Captain duLac was on the boat deck at the time of the torpedoing, and his first reaction, after ascertaining that his ship was going down and ordering it to be abandoned, was to go below to the chart room and destroy the secret log. There he was trapped by the sea as it poured into the ship.
In making the presentation to the New Haven skipper’s sister, Captain Ford read a citation which accompanied the medal signed by Vice Adm. Emory S. Land, administrator of the War Shipping Administration.
The licenses and commissions to the graduates were presented by Captain Ford. Proficiency awards and certificates of merit were presented to the following members of the class:
Deck of Honor Student – Ensign Ronald E. Miner of Mannsville, New York
Engineer Honor Student – Ensign Arthur T. Armstrong of Lakewood, Ohio
Navigation – Ensign Julian Prager of New York City
Signaling – Ensign Harold T. VanSickle of Cleveland
Seamanship – Ensign John L. Genta of Manchester, this state
Cargo Handling – Ensign William M. Vaughn of Birmingham, Alabama
Deck Officer Candidate Overcoming Most Obstacles – Ensign Paul J. Campbell of West Gastonia, North Carolina
Marine Engines and Auxiliaries – Ensign Arthur W. Black of Conneaut, Ohio
Boilers – Ensign John M. Bevan, Jr., of Pennsylvania
Machine Shop – Ensign Robert E. Shannon of Saginaw, Michigan
Diesel – Ensign Morris Sperber of New York City
Electricity – Ensign Norman P. Benson of Princeton, Florida
Engineer Student Overcoming Most Obstacles – Ensign Ottaviano Rice of Providence
From The Day (New London, CT) on October 12, 1944
By James S. Watterson
MYSTIC MAN SERVED ABOARD HARD LUCK VESSEL; SAW HER TORPEDOES AND SABOTAGED
When Leon J. Benoit of Mystic, a chief carpenter in the merchant marine, picked up The Day recently and read about the award of a mariner’s medal to the late Captain Francis W. duLac of New Haven, who lost his life last February in the torpedoing of the Liberty ship, SS John A. Poor, he gave a low whistle of surprise and murmured, “I thought so; if there ever was a hard luck ship the John A. Poor was it.”
Mr. Benoit was speaking from experience because he served aboard the vessel before her fatal trip and saw her sabotaged, torpedoed, and severely damaged another time when her boilers blew up.
After he left the John A. Poor following an Atlantic crossing, he was content to live with his nightmarish memories of the vessel, but when he read that she had gone down and her skipper, Captain duLac, had been lost, he recalled some of the none too pleasant memories. Captain duLac was posthumously awarded the mariner’s medal, which is the Purple Heart of the merchant marine, at exercises last Thursday at the local Maritime Service Officers’ school at Fort Trumbull.
The Mystic merchant seaman says the John A. Poor was commissioned on July 1, 1943, at Portland, Maine. From then on, what luck the vessel had was all bad.
Damaged at Dry Dock
At the very outset of her career, the ship was damaged when she was being taken out of drydock. She ran astern, despite all efforts to halt her, hit a pier, and damaged her propeller. As a result, she had to return to drydock for repairs.
Not being psychic, Mr. Benoit could not visualize what lay ahead and therefore had to take the subsequent bad breaks as they came.
After the repairs were made, the merchant ship was taken from her berth to the grain elevators at Portland. While there, something went wrong below, and both boilers blew up. This meant another long and costly repair job.
After being readied for sea again, the vessel proceeded to Boston to pick up more equipment. She left Boston for Halifax on July 27 and joined a convoy. On the way north, more trouble befell the Poor. The ship kept holding right rudder and consequently had to drop out of the convoy.
Hit by Torpedo
One afternoon, about 4 o’clock, the Jinx struck again in the lethal form of a Nazi torpedo fired from a lurking submarine. The Poor was 200 miles from land and about a mile astern of the convoy at the time. A heavy fog had set in, Mr. Benoit recalled, making things more eerie and troublesome.
As soon as the torpedo hit, the gun crew went into action. The sub was spotted two or three times, but the gunners were unable to get in a telling blow.
About 4:20 o’clock, the second torpedo hit the stricken ship. When the tin fish exploded against the hull, one of the engineers was badly hurt when he fell from the main switchboard to the main deck of the engine room, fracturing his arm in four places.
Despite the two torpedo hits, the Poor managed to remain afloat, so the Nazi submarine threw another tin fish at her. This torpedo struck about 4:50 o’clock. Although her plates were smashed and there was wreckage everywhere, the Poor refused to go down. At this point, an SOS was sent out by the radio operator. The submarine declined to waste another torpedo on her and, perhaps fearing that she might be caught by an Allied ship steaming to the assistance of the Poor, disappeared.
Helpless for Hours
The badly damaged merchant ship lay helpless for hours before a Norwegian destroyer came alongside. After ascertaining the damage, the Norwegian vessel radioed for help ashore, and a tug put to sea and towed the torpedoed ship to Halifax.
Now, you would think the ill luck of the Poor would stop here after all she had gone through, but destiny ruled otherwise. Trouble in big bunches was still to come.
After nine weeks at Halifax, the Mystic merchant seaman related that the Poor was ready for work once again. Sailing from the Nova Scotia port, the vessel joined a convoy and remained with it for 12 hours. It was unable to maintain the necessary knots to keep in formation and was gradually left behind. The commodore of the convoy ordered the Poor back into port to wait and make the trip with a slower convoy.
The Poor stayed in port three days, and when another group of ships was ready to sail, preparations were made to have the Poor join them. But at this point, Mr. Benoit said, the ugly head of sabotage made its appearance.
Sabotaged
When it came time to turn the screw to determine if everything was functioning properly, it wouldn’t work. Mr. Benoit related that the captain and chief engineer went below and found that two big bolts had been placed between the steering gears and several oiling pipes had been torn out. Members of the Canadian Navy intelligence came aboard and investigated while repairs were being made.
After the Navy personnel left and the damage was corrected, the Poor finally sailed and made England without further incident.
“It was sure some trip,” Mr. Benoit said. “We knew we had saboteurs aboard, and the crew members were as jumpy as cats.”
He said that when the vessel returned from England, three men were taken off and held by Canadian authorities. He said he never learned how they fared.
At any rate, he left the vessel, and shortly afterwards the late Captain duLac took command. He lost his life several weeks later when the Poor was again torpedoed and this time sunk.
When the Poor was attacked by the Nazi submarine en route to Halifax, it was the third torpedoing that the Mystic man experienced. He once spent 12 days in a lifeboat off the coast of Norway when his ship was hit, and 21 crew members were lost. Another time, he spent five hours in a lifeboat in the North Atlantic.
Mr. Benoit, who formerly lived in Lowell, Massachusetts, worked for the local contracting firm of Mondelci & Benvenuti before joining the merchant marine. He is now spending a leave at his home in Mystic and expects to put to sea again soon.