High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USAT Dorchester was a United States Army Transport ship that was sunk when it was part of a naval convoy during World War II. In February 1943, Convoy SG-19 left St. John's, Newfoundland, bound for the Army Command Base at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland. SG-19 consisted of six ships: Dorchester, two merchant ships (SS Lutz and SS Biscaya) that were leased by the United States from the Norwegian government-in-exile, and their escorts, the small United States Coast Guard cutters Comanche, Escanaba (both 165 feet), and Tampa (240 feet). On the night of 3 February 1943, Dorchester was torpedoed by German U-boat U-223. The damage was severe, boiler power was lost, there was inadequate steam to sound the full 6-whistle signal to abandon ship, and Dorchester sank by the bow in about 20 minutes. Loss of power prevented the crew from sending a radio distress signal, and no rockets or flares were launched to alert the escorts.