SOLE SURVIVOR SMOKEY

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Naval Institute

By Vinny Del Giudice

Brave little "Smokey" was the sole survivor aboard a merchant tanker engulfed in flames off Florida in World War Two.

Rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard crew from Port Everglades, the cuddly, black-and-white canine was adopted and enlisted, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

He weighed in at 15 pounds and stood a little over one-foot. His age was thought to be two years. He was issued an official U.S. Coast Guard serial number and photo identification with paw print.

It's not known if he also donned "dog tags" like his handlers but his rating was "Expert Eater" - perhaps equivalent to "E-K9" in today's enlisted ratings.

Smokey's doomed tanker had collided with another, a fiery disaster that claimed 88 souls in October 1943. The tankers - one laden with aviation fuel, the other empty - were running without lights, a maneuver to evade German submarines.

"Persons ashore heard the explosion and saw the towering flames and gave the alarm which sent Coast Guard craft racing to the scene," the Associated Press reported. "The flaming hulls floated slowly Northward in the Gulf Stream."

The AP didn't report the names of the tankers in its dispatch, perhaps due to wartime censorship.