Slattery, Robert Thomas
Navy RD 2nd Class

Robert Thomas Slattery, age 20, from Worcester County Milford, Massachusetts .

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, August 27, 1952
Death details: In late August 1952, the USS Sarsi (AFT-111) was performing cleanup and recovery support tasks in the aftermath of Typhoon Karen, which hit the Wonsan Harbor area of North Korea. After refueling on the evening of August 27, the Sarsi began patrolling along the edge of the mine-swept corridor between Wonsan and Hungnam, and reached Hungnam without issue. However, the typhoon had broken the mooring lines of some of the mines, causing them to float freely with the currents. As the Sarsi began patrolling northward to Wonsan, one of these free-floating mines exploded against its hull. Within twenty minutes the ship sank, and survivors spent the night in the water awaiting rescue. In the morning, rescue ships arrived to pull the survivors out of the water; however, four men were soon discovered to be missing. It is unknown whether these four crew members were killed in the explosion or lost in the water afterwards. Radarman Second Class Robert Thomas Slattery entered the U.S. Navy from Massachusetts and was a crew member aboard the Sarsi when it hit a mine on August 27. He was lost with the ship and remains unaccounted for. Today, Radarman Second Class Slattery is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Boston Globe (1952)