PEVERILL, Harold 1895-1918

PEVERILL

Posted By: Joe Conroy (email)
Date: 9/12/2010 at 11:27:33

Waterloo Evening Courier
Waterloo, Iowa
28 Aug 1918
Page 10

Harold Peverill Believed in Crew of Sub-Chaser

Harold Peverill, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Peverill, R. 5, Waterloo, is believed to have been a member of the crew of American sub chaser No. 209, sunk off Fire Island, N. Y., yesterday when mistaken for a submarine. The last communication his parents received from him advised that he had been assigned to the chaser.

He is 23 years old and has been in service in the navy nine months, rating as a machinists' mate.

Mr. and Mrs. Peverill have received no communication from the navy department regarding the accident.

Waterloo Evening Courier
Waterloo, Iowa
29 Aug 1918
Page 1

Harold Peverill Is Among Missing In Sea Disaster

Harold Peverill, machinists' mate on submarine chaser 209, sunk Tuesday morning when mistaken for a submarine, is among the missing, a telegram from the navy department advises his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Peverill, R. 5, Waterloo.

Machinists' Mate Peverill is the first Waterloo sailor reported missing. One other casualty has been listed among the sailors from this city, that of Earle P. Nelson, who was injured in an explosion on the Manley when it collided with a British boat March 19. He is recovering in a British hospital.

Harold Peverill enlisted in the navy about nine months ago and received assignment to the subchaser about a month ago. Prior to enlistment he worked on the family farm near Waterloo and for a time was a student at the College of Commerce.

Seventeen members of the crew are reported missing, this number including the captain and other officers. Nine men, several of them wounded, were rescued.

Waterloo Evening Courier
Waterloo, Iowa
19 Jun 1919
Page 3

Forgotten Naval Heroes Who Died

Father of Harold Peverill Will Ask Government to Raise Submarine Chaser 209.

On the ocean's bottom, 45 miles off the coast of New Jersey, lies the U. S. submarine chaser No. 209. Its hull is the sepulcher for the 16 men who composed the crew when the little boat went down, the victim of mistaken identity.

Among the heroes thus entombed in unmarked graves beneath the waves is Harold Peverill, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Peverill, whose home is on route No. 5, east of Waterloo. Apparently they, together with the fathers and mothers of the other boys, are the only ones who have not forgotten submarine chaser No. 209 and the sacred bodies within the battered wreck.

Seemingly Forgotten.

It was the night of Aug. 27, 1918, when the boat was fired upon by the freighter Felix Taussig and sunk under the apprehension that it was a German submarine. Altho nearly a year has passed, scarcely any recognition of the fact has been taken by the government. The men died bravely in the line of duty.

No special mention in orders; no word of praise; no posthumous decorations for the heroic dead has come from the high officials, and above all, no efforts have been made to recover the bodies which are seemingly within reach of human effort.

Petition for Some Action.

Believing that the justice and honor which is due his son and the other members of the crew has not been accorded, Mr. Peverill and a number of friends have taken up the matter with the government in the hopes that the body of Harold may be brought back to them, or buried in a national cemetery where his grave may be marked and given loving care. With the boat but 45 miles off shore and in comparatively shallow water, it is believed that it could be raised or that divers might bring the bodies to the surface.

A petition has been prepared by Mr. Peverill asking that this be done and circulation for signatures will be commenced tomorrow. The paper will first be signed by the neighbors and friends of the boy who never came back and will then go out in a widening circle for general endorsement thruout Iowa.

The Literary Digest recently published an appeal for some recognition of these men who went down in submarine chaser 209. After a description of the disaster the article closed with the following:

"They were both about the squarest, whitest, most fearless and courageous men that ever lived, and they did their duty and made the supreme sacrifice. No shouts of encouragement, no waving flags, just cold-blooded death, without a chance to even fire a shot at the enemy.

"These boys were guarding the cities along the coast. They were protecting New York, Atlantic City, and many other communities from bombardment. Night after night and day after day they kept their vigil, and finally gave their lives.

"Is their sacrifice to go unrecorded? Are they to be forgotten? They lie with their ship on the ocean's bottom. Not even a wooden cross marks their graves; nothing but the trackless sea without a single additional ripple or white cap on its surface to mark their resting place."

Waterloo Evening Courier
Waterloo, Iowa
8 Jul 1919
Page 14

Petition of 11,000 Citizens Sent to Congressman Sweet

With 11,000 signatures attached, the petition praying that the government make an effort to recover the bodies of Harold Peverill and 15 companions from a sunken sub chaser off the New Jersey coast went forward to Congressman Burton Sweet last night.

The petition was contained in many sheets which had been circulated in this and other counties of the Third congressional district and $1.62 in postage was required for the package, which went as first class registered mail.

Harold Peverill lost his life one night in August, 1918, when the U. S. sub chaser 209 was mistaken for a German submarine and sent to the bottom by a shot from a freighter. The boat lies in comparatively shallow water 45 miles off the coast of New Jersey.

H. C. Peverill, father of the dead sailor boy, has been indefatigable in his efforts to secure action by the government that will lead to the raising of the boat or recovery of the bodies, that they may be given burial at their homes. In presenting the petitions to the people, Mr. Peverill traveled 2,000 miles. Everywhere he was given the kindest consideration, and he wishes to thank the people of Black Hawk and surrounding counties for signing the petition and rendering assistance in circulating the same. Waverly was the banner city in the percentage of inhabitants attaching their names to the petition.

Waterloo Evening Courier
Waterloo, Iowa
17 Jul 1919
Page 1

Effort Will Be Made To Recover Iowa Boy's Body

Washington, D. C., July 17. -- (Special.) -- Secretary of the Navy Daniels today informed Representative Burton E. Sweet of Iowa that he would order an immediate investigation by naval authorities to determine whether it is possible to recover the bodies of Harold Peverill of Waterloo and 15 other sailors who were lost off the New Jersey coast when the submarine chaser No. 209 was mistaken for an enemy U-boat by another American vessel.

"This petition signed by the good people of Iowa," Secretary Daniels told Mr. Sweet, "will be given the earnest consideration of the navy and everything possible will be done to recover the bodies. Such an undertaking appeals greatly to my sense of justice and I heartily sympathize with your efforts to recover the bodies of the brave boys who met such an unfortunate death. If possible I am sure that the navy will try to respond to this petition by returning to his loved ones the body of the Waterloo boy."

Waterloo Evening Courier
Waterloo, Iowa
28 May 1921
Page 7

(Excerpt from article on preparations for Memorial Day.)

All War Veterans United.

American Legion, Grand Army of the Republic and Spanish-American war men are joined in one loyal comradeship and, mingling as one great body, will decorate the grave of every comrade who rests in Waterloo.

There are now approximately 400 soldiers' graves in the four Waterloo cemeteries. A score are Spanish war veterans, 16 to 18 are world war dead and the great majority served in Civil war. In Fairview cemetery there is a monument which will carry an appeal even more poignant than the others -- it is to the memory of a lad who went down with submarine chaser No. 209, when it was mistaken for an enemy submarine and fired on by a destroyer. His body has not been recovered, as the chaser was not raised. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Peverill, Route 5, Waterloo, disappointed in their efforts to induce the government to return their boy's body to them, have placed a handsome marker in the family plot to commemorate "Harold Peverill, lost at sea."

(Contributor note: A formal obituary for Howard Peverill was not noted. His draft registration card provided birth information as 5 May 1895, in Laporte, Iowa. - J.C.)