New York 2016 - American Merchant Mariners Memorial

Located in Battery Park, NYC, near Pier A is a memorial to American Merchant Mariners who have lost their lives at sea from the American Revolutionary War in 1775 to the present day. The memorial looks onto new York Harbour with views towards Ellis Island and Liberty Island.

 

American Merchant Mariners Memorial Pier A
Battery Park NYC

American Merchant Mariners’ Memorial – New York City

 

 The inscription on the Memorial on the memorial reads:

 

Dedicated to all Merchant Mariners who have served America from the Revolutionary War through the present day. In the prosecution of war and in pursuit of peaceful commerce, unrecognized thousands have lost their lives at sea. Their sacrifices have helped secure America’s liberty and prosperity.

The sculpture was inspired by a photography of the victims of a submarine attack on an American merchant ship during World War II. Left to the perils of the sea, the survivors later perished.

This memorial serves as a marker for America’s Merchant Mariners resting in the unmarked ocean depths.



American Merchant Mariners Memorial
NYC

  The memorial is based upon an incident which was photographed by a German submarine after they has sank an American merchant ship. It depicts three seamen in a lifeboat, one of who is trying to rescue a sea mate from the water. At low tide the whole torso of the man can be seen in the water, at high tide only his head and outreached hand. The German submarine did not pick up the survivors and the men were lost at sea.

Pier A  NYC