American Merchant Mariners Memorial, by Marisol Escobar: Situated on an old piling (Pier A, just west of Battery Park), it shows three sailors trying to rescue a man in the water. The victim’s fingers do not quite reach the rescuer’s, and he seems fated to slip under the gray-green waters of the harbor. The sculpture features a depiction of a dramatic rescue after an attack by a German submarine on a merchant marine vessel. At high tide, one of the sculpted figures is submerged under water. Although the memorial depicts an event from World War II, it commemorates the thousands of merchant ships and crews that were pressed into military service throughout the nation’s history. As the memorial itself states: “This memorial serves as a marker for American’s merchant mariners resting in the unmarked ocean depths.” The sculpture draws inspiration from photographs taken by the crew of the U-Boat of their handiwork. In fact, the figures who inspired the sculpture died at sea.