DOB/DOD: January 9, 1919 (Greenwich, CT) – January 27, 1942; 23 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 90 Pemberwich Road, Greenwich
SERVICE NUMBER: Z-206440
FAMILY: Born to Bruno (1881-1984) and Carmela Morabito Tiriolo (1893-1971). One brother, Patrick (1916-1970). Three sisters, Mary Tiriolo Provost-Slocum [died at 111 years old] (1912-2023), Grace Tiriolo LaRusso (1921-), and Mildred “Millie” Tiriolo Popp (1929-)
Greenwich High School Class of 1937
The following information was in the mid-year yearbook about Joseph Tiriolo.
Nickname: Joe
Disposition: Merry
Worst Failing: Women
Favorite Occupation: Farming
Will Be: Agriculturist
The information was provided by Karen Gilder, Media Assistant, Greenwich High School.
CIRCUMSTANCES: At 0943 hours on January 27, 1942, the unarmed and unescorted Francis E. Powell (Master Thomas J. Harrington) was hit by the last torpedo from U-130 about eight miles northeast of the Winter Quarter Light Vessel, while proceeding completely blacked out at 10.5 knots. The torpedo struck on the port side aft of the midships house, between the #4 and #5 tanks. The explosion started a small fire in the pump room and destroyed the radio antenna. Then the U-boat was sighted a few hundred yards away, which had planned to attack with the deck gun but gave up when other vessels came into sight. The eight officers and 24 crewmen abandoned ship in two lifeboats. The master was crushed to death when he slipped and fell between the boat and the ship. The same boat was lifted back on the ship by a wave, and the occupants had to launch another boat. Another officer and two men were also lost. The tanker later broke in two, caught fire, and sank at about 1400 hours.
After five hours, 17 men in one of the boats were picked up by the American steam tanker W.C. Fairbanks and landed at Lewes, Delaware. The remaining eleven survivors in the other boat were picked up by a US Coast Guard boat from the Assateague Station and landed at Chincoteague, Virginia.
The fate of U-130
Sunk at 0010 CET on March 13, 1943, by depth charges from the USS Hobby in position 37°12N, 40°32W. 53 dead (all hands lost). [Axel Niestlé, 2024].
From The Daily Item (Port Chester, NY) on January 28, 1942
JOS. TIRIOLO OFFICER ON LOST TANKER
Pemberwick Youth Not Listed Among Known Survivors
NEARLY ALL RESCUED
Axis submarine activities along the Atlantic Coast may have claimed the first victim from this section, it was feared today. At press time, parents of Joseph Paul Tiriolo, 22, of 90 Pemberwick Road, East Port Chester, a quartermaster aboard the torpedoed tanker Francis E. Powell, had not been told by the Navy Department whether their son was among the 30 survivors accounted for up to noon today.
The tanker was torpedoed early Tuesday. Seventeen seamen were brought ashore at Lewes, Delaware, last night, and today, 12 survivors and the body of at least one crew member were landed at Chincoteague, Virginia.
This accounted for at least 80 of the ship’s normal complement of 32 men, the Fifth Naval District announced.
Home For Christmas
According to young Tiriolo’s older brother, Patrick, he had been aboard the Francis E. Powell for the past year and a half. “He was home for a couple of days before Christmas, but the last we heard from him was several weeks ago when he said he was in ‘a Texas port’ and expected to sail north soon,” the brother said this morning.
The young seaman graduated from Greenwich High School in January. After a short stay in a CCC Camp, he took an examination for admission as a cadet in the Maritime Service, his brother said. Later, he obtained a position with the Atlantic Refining Corp. and was assigned to the Francis E. Powell as a quartermaster.
His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Bruno Tiriolo. Besides his parents and older brother, he has three sisters, Grace and Mildred Tirole, of the Pemberwick Road address, and Mrs. Mary Slocum, of Pelham.
Although the loss of the 7,006-ton Powell brought to eight the number of ships sent to the bottom by marauding Axis submarines off the eastern seaboard, the lengthening period of silence from another attack tanker increased hope it might have escaped.
The Navy reported that nothing had been heard from the Pan Maine, 7,236-ton tanker with a
normal complement of 40 since it flashed yesterday afternoon that it had been attacked. This gave rise to a belief that it may have eluded the enemy, a spokesman said.
Captain Missing
The torpedo burst into the Powell shortly after 2 A.M. Tuesday. “It just broke her back,” said Second Assistant Engineer Carroll M. Walker of Philadelphia. “No effort was made to finish her off. As far as I know, she could still be afloat.”
He was one of 14 who hurriedly scrambled into No. 4 lifeboat. A short distance from the ship, they picked up three others.
Captain T. J. Harrington of Baltimore was among the missing.
Grinning Joseph Orits, 22, of Santa Fe, N. M., at sea only nine months, considered himself one of
the luckiest sailors now looking for a new berth. He was asleep when the explosive struck, and
“Just made the boat,” clad in a light pair of pants and one shoe. Fortunately, he explained, others had two pairs of pants, two shirts, and extra sweaters.