Hampton Curtis Carter, age 26, from Erie County Sandusky, Ohio .
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. Steward Second Class Hampton Curtis Carter, who entered the U.S. Navy from Ohio, served aboard the Sarsi and was one of the four men lost in the explosion. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Steward Second Class Carter 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, Associated Press (1952)
