Clifford Edward Conrad was born 4 July 1912, in Marion, Ohio. His parents are Charles & Bierth M. Conrad. His mother died in October of 1943, before Clifford entered service. Clifford attended schools in Mansfield, Ohio. His family relocated to Marion, and Clifford would graduate with the class of 1932, at Harding High School.
Clifford E. Conrad worked at the Scioto Ordnance Plant in the Hospital Department, after high school. He was also employed with the United States Rubber Company and then with the King Beverage Company. Conrad married Mary F. (McAndrew), and they had two children, Patricia and Michael.
Clifford E. Conrad entered service on 26 April 1944. He attended basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station. He would go to Gulf Port, Mississippi for further training before receiving orders for overseas duty. He did get to come home for Christmas with his family before his departure overseas.
Conrad attained the rank of Seaman First Class (S-1C). He served on a ship in the British Isles. He was assigned as a gunner, onboard the Steam Merchant Roanoke.
On 2 August 1944, while on a transport mission in the Irish Sea, the Roanke would be attacked by the German Submarine, U-1055 (Rudolf Meyer). S-1C Clifford E. Conrad was killed in action along with 3 others in this attack. S-1C Conrad was lost at sea, missing in action presumed dead. A brief account of the attack is below.
Between 16.10 and 16.40 hours on 11 Jan, 1945, U-1055 attacked some ships from a just dispersed coastal convoy in the Irish Sea west of Anglesey and reported two ships sunk. A first torpedo exploded behind the Yugoslavian steam merchant Senga, while other torpedoes sank the Roanoke and Normandy Coast.
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The Roanoke was struck by one torpedo between the #4 hold and the stern, which was blown off by the explosion. The #3 and #4 hatches were blown out and the crew quarters, radio shack and the machinery were destroyed. She sank by the stern within three minutes although the bow remained on the surface for about one hour. Two crew members and two armed guards were lost. The survivors among the 38 crew members and 25 armed guards on board abandoned ship in two lifeboats and one raft and were picked up after about three hours by the Senga and the British patrol ship HMS PC-74 and landed at Holyhead on 11 and 12 January.
S-1C Clifford E. Conrad left behind his wife and two children, aged eight and four years of age. His wife was employed at the Marion Engineer Depot, at the time of her husband’s death.
S-1C Clifford E. Conrad’s remains were not recovered. He is remembered on the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England.
S-1C Clifford E. Conrad is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; and on the World War II Veterans Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.
Honoring Marion Ohio Veterans 