Fifty one years ago this week, on July 23, 1964, the scallop trawler Snoopy was trawling off Currituck Sound, NC.  During World War II that stretch of the coast earned the grim nickname, Torpedo Alley, when German U-boats sank nearly 400 ships in the area, killing over 5,000 merchant seamen. That Friday night, Torpedo Alley would claim eight more sailors, among the last causalities of the unrestricted submarine warfare of World War II.

Edward Doody, captain of the trawler, radioed to another scallop trawler nearby that they had a torpedo caught in their nets. Not long after, there was an tremendous explosion and the trawler Snoopy disappeared in a blinding flash. One trawler captain reported, “There was nothing left but splinters.” Four of the twelve crew aboard were rescued from the water by other trawlers.  All were seriously injured. Coast Guard cutters from Norfolk, VA and Ocracoke, NC rushed medial assistance to the survivors. The bodies of Captain Doody and seven of his crew were never found.

Captain Edward Doody was survived by his brothers, George and Ronald. George Doody is now 82.  A half century after the sinking of the Snoopy, he still struggles to make sense of the tragedy that took his brother’s life.