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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
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Source:  Catalino Tingzon-S. S. John D. Gill Memorial Marker, Southport. Courtesy of Waymarking.com

  • Monument Name

    Catalino Tingzon-S. S. John D. Gill Memorial Marker, Southport

  • Type

    Marker

  • Subjects

    World War II

  • Creator

    Hanover Monument Works, Foundry

  • City

    Southport

  • County

    Brunswick

  • Description

    The monument is a low granite stele set in a concrete base. The front and back faces are smooth stone and bear inscriptions. The sides are rough or uncut stone.

  • Inscription

    Front inscription: DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF / CATALINO TINGZON / INTERRED IN NORTHWOOD CEMETERY / AND ALL MERCHANT MARINE SEAMEN AND / U. S. NAVY ARMED GUARD ON THE TANKER / S. S. JOHN D. GILL TORPEDOED AND SUNK OFF / CAPE FEAR BY THE GERMAN SUBMARINE U-158 / MARCH 12, 1942 / THE CITIZENS OF SOUTHPORT CARED FOR THE / SURVIVORS AND MOURNED FOR THOSE / WHO LOST THEIR LIVES. / ERECTED MARCH 12, 1994 / BY THE/SOUTHPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

  • Custodian

    City of Southport

  • Dedication Date

    March 12, 1994

  • Decade

    1990s

  • Geographic Coordinates

    33.917170 , -78.018340 View in Geobrowsemap pin

  • Supporting Sources

      "Catalino Tingzon Memorial," Waymarking.com, (accessed January 12, 2014) Link

      "Catalino Tingzon," The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed January 28, 2013) Link

      "Marker Memorial S. S. John D. Gill, (sculpture)." Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum, SIRIS, sirismm.si.edu, IAS NC000018, (accessed January 28, 2013) Link

      "Monument dedicated to Gill, survivors," The State Port Pilot (March 16, 1994), 1, 7,

      Carson, Susie. "'Gill' survivors still coming back," Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), May 3, 2002, 30, (accessed January 28, 2013) Link

      Hartlaub, Jan. "One Family Never Notified of World War II Death at Sea," StarNews Online (Wilmington, NC), May 22, 2012, (accessed January 28, 2022) Link

  • Public Site

    Yes

  • Materials & Techniques

    Granite, concrete

  • Sponsors

    Southport Historical Society

  • Monument Dedication and Unveiling

    More than three hundred people attended the unveiling at the waterfront on a cold March day in 1994. Susie Carson, on the board of the Southport Historical Society, served as the "master of ceremonies" and gave the address.

  • Nickname

    Catalino Tingzon Memorial

  • Subject Notes

    The stone slab commemorates the sinking of the S. S. John D. Gill, an American merchant marine tanker ship torpedoed off the North Carolina coast by the German submarine U-158 on March 12, 1942 on its return to Philadelphia. Twenty-three men were killed in the German attack on the ship, one of whom was a young Filipino sailor named Catalino Tingzon who is buried in an unmarked grave in Northwood Cemetery.

  • Location

    The memorial is located in Waterfront Park, with its back facing the Cape Fear River, in Southport, NC 28461. Viewed from E. Bay Street the memorial to Jessie Stevens Taylor is at the far left edge of the lawn and the Fort Johnson marker stands near E. Bay St. in the center. The Memorial to NC Militia stands in front of and to the left of the Southport Community Building, at 223 E. Bay Street.

  • Landscape

    The monument is located in a grassy area of the park, between a walkway and the water.

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