Allied Merchant Ships Sunk on this day ww2

SS Alcoa Guide



A small, seemingly unprepossessing device—a compass four and a half inches in diameter—testifies to a story of war and remembrance, resolve and survival. The artifact is one among scores showcased in a major permanent exhibition at the National Museum of American History, "On the Water: Stories from Maritime America," which opened this past May.



Retired merchant seaman Waldemar Semenov, 95, donated the compass in 2005. In 1942, Semenov, a Russian immigrant, was serving as a junior engineer on the American merchant ship SS Alcoa Guide, sailing from New Jersey to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe with a cargo of supplies and equipment for the West Indies. On the night of April 16, about 300 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, a German submarine, the U-123, surfaced and opened fire with its deck cannon. "We didn't have any guns, and there was no escort," Semenov recalls. "We didn't have much speed. They used us as target practice."

In the first six months of 1942, German submarines sank 400 ships in the Atlantic. At the time, my family was living in a house on the New Jersey shore. I was only 4, but I vividly recall my father waking my older brother and me in the middle of the night, wrapping us in blankets and taking us down to the beach. He pointed to flickering lights on the horizon. "Remember this," he said. "Those are the flames of ships torpedoed by the Germans."

The Alcoa Guide was unarmed, but its captain, Samuel Cobb, tried to ram the sub; he was easily outmaneuvered. Before long, Cobb was wounded, the ship was on fire and beginning to sink, and the crew was scrambling on deck to lower two lifeboats and a raft into the water.

Semenov says he stayed calm; this was not his first exposure to combat. "I had been in Spain during the civil war," he says. In waters off England, he adds, "the ship next to us had been hit by German planes, so I'd seen bombing and shooting before. I wanted to size up the situation."

Semenov returned to his cabin and put on a new suit and an overcoat, even taking some time to decide between two neckties. A photograph taken later in a lifeboat attests to his account—Semenov's fedora looks the worse for a night of rain, but his suit and carefully knotted tie are surprisingly presentable. By then Semenov had given his overcoat to a crew member who had rushed on deck in his underwear.

Before getting in a lifeboat, Semenov also had gone to the galley and snatched up three loaves of bread. "I knew we might be in the lifeboats for a while," he says, "and the rations in the boats wouldn't be enough."

As the burning ship sank lower in the water and the lifeboats and raft pulled away, the crew could see the submarine illuminated by flames, its deck gun now silent. "They didn't fire at the lifeboats," Semenov recalls. "In those days, everyone played by the rules."

Using the small compass on the lifeboat, the survivors sailed west by northwest toward the shipping lanes. After three days, a patrol plane, searching for sailors from any of the half-dozen ships sunk that week, spotted Semenov's lifeboat.



The next day, after a night of heavy rain, the American destroyer USS Broome rescued the men and soon picked up the other lifeboat and its survivors. (The raft was found three weeks after the sinking, with only one man still alive. Captain Cobb had died in the other lifeboat and was buried at sea, along with a crew member who had been killed in the shelling.) In all, 27 Alcoa Guide crew members survived; seven perished.

(Source: A Compass Saves the Crew | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian Magazine)

U-123 was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Reinhard Hardegen. In the course of the war he was credited with the sinking of 22 Allied Ships. He was awarded the Knights Cross in 1942.

Reinhard Hardegen



Korvettenkapitän Reinhard Hardegen - German U-boat Commanders of WWII - The Men of the Kriegsmarine - uboat.net

U-123 departing from Lorient

 

SS Empire Bruce



At 12.39 hours, the unescorted Empire Bruce was hit in the stern by one torpedo from U-123 about 100 miles southwest of Freetown. She capsized and sank after being hit by two coups de grâce at 13.51 and 14.19 hours. The master, 41 crew members and seven gunners were picked up by the British minesweeper HMS MMS-107 and landed at Freetown on 19 April. (Source: uboat.net)

U-123 was commanded on this patrol by Oberleutnant zur See Horst von Schroeter. During the war he was credited with the sinking of seven vessels including one warship and was awarded the Knights Cross in 1944. In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine and ended his career in the late 1970's as commander of NATO naval forces in the Baltic.

Horst von Schroeter

 

MT Corbis



At 03.56 hours, the unescorted Corbis (Master Stanley Wilfred Appleton) was hit by two torpedoes from U-180 about 500 miles east-southeast of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. At 04.10 hours, the U-boat fired a further torpedo at the stopped tanker, which evaded by reversing. A second torpedo fired six minutes later hit the foreship, set the ship on fire and caused her to sink in a short time. The Germans observed four lifeboats at the sinking position, but three of them were swamped. The master, 47 crew members and two gunners were lost. Four crew members and six gunners were rescued after drifting 13 days in an open boat by a SAAF crash launch and landed at East London. (Source: uboat.net)

The Tower Hill Memorial



U-180 was commanded by Kapitän zur See Werner Musenberg. He was credited with the sinkings of two allied ships during the war.

Werner Musenberg

 

SS Wanstead



At 08.14 hours, the Wanstead in convoy ONS-3 was hit by one stern torpedo from U-415 (Neide) southeast of Cape Farewell. Two crew members were lost. The master, 40 crew members and seven gunners abandoned the burning ship and were picked up by HMS Poppy and HMS Northern Gift and landed at St. Johns. The corvette probably tried to scuttle the ship, but she remained afloat and was sunk by a coup de grâce from U-413 at 13.45 hours. (Source: uboat.net)

U-413 was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Gustav Poel who sank 5 ships during the war. He was awarded the Knights Cross in 1944.

Gustav Poel

 

SS Calchas



At 14.20 hours, the unescorted Calchas was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-107 about 550 miles north of the Cape Verde Islands. The ship stopped and sank after being hit amidships by a coup de grâce at 14.58 hours. The master, 21 crew members, one gunner and one of the nine passengers were lost. 33 survivors landed at Sal Maria Island, Cape Verde on 4 May. 23 survivors landed at Boavista Island, Cape Verde and 33 survivors landed at St. Louis, Senegal after sailing 650 miles in 16 days in the No.5 lifeboat.

The Tower Hill Memorial







Gunther Hessler (1909-1968)
Knights Cross Winner (24 June, 1941)

His U-Boat Crew Sank 21 Allied Ships for a total of 118.822 tons.

Kptlt. Hessler married Admiral Karl Donitz's daughter, Ursula, in November 1937. At that time Hessler was serving on torpedo boats. Because Hessler was his son-in-law, Donitz had some reservations about giving Hessler his Knights Cross; but, eventually Grand Admiral Raeder signed the papers.

Hessler put out from Lorient, France at 19:30 on 29 March, 1941 for what would become the most successful patrol of the entire war against Allied merchant shipping.

After the war Hessler spent more than a year in Allied captivity. From 1947 to 1951, the Royal Navy had him write The U-Boat War in the Atlantic

Günter Hessler

 

I found the attach records on my Great Grandfather William Gilmour and his son, William Dieter Gilmour from WW1.

If you served in WW1 did you automatically have the same service number if you served in WW2 in the Merchant Navy?

Never been able to find anything definite on Great Uncle Bill for WW2. He served with the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War and may have found it difficult to enlist for WW2 when he returned to the UK (as it was assumed they were all Communists).

I think my Granddad Perera had the same service number during both wars when he was in the Merchant Navy.

 

MV Amerika



At 01.54 hours, the Amerika, a straggler from convoy HX-234, was torpedoed and sunk by U-306 south of Cape Farewell in the mid-atlantic. 42 crew members, seven gunners and 37 passengers (RCAF personnel) were lost. The master, 29 crew members, eight gunners and 16 passengers were picked up by HMS Asphodel and landed at Greenock. (source: uboat.net)

The master Christian Nielsen was awarded the Lloyds War Medal for bravery at sea.

The Tower Hill Memorial



U-306 was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Claus von Trotha. The Amerika was the only ship he accounted for. In October 1943 U-306 was sunk in the North Atlantic north-east of the Azores, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Whitehall and the British corvette HMS Geranium. All 51 crew members were lost.

Claus von Trotha

 

SS San Jacinto April 22 1942

WRECK WRAK EPAVE WRACK PECIO

 

I've been given these pictures of a crew that served on the Darcolm/Middleton from Glasgow dated 1937.

It was bought over in 1937 and renamed Middleton. From what I can find, it collided with a Norwegian vessel MV Tungsha on 18th Feb 1941.

The pics was taken in Monte Video Uruguay and I've found on the net that the German Battleship Graf Spee was destroyed there in 1939.

Just curious if anybody knows if it was just a commercial trip to Uruguay or did we have a naval prescence there in 1937?

Can't seem to find a crew list from the time of the collision. Could any of you kind folks shed some light on it's history?

 

Hi Di How do I contact you?

 

Hi Di How do I contact you?

Alas, Di no longer contributes to the forum. Maybe you could contact Owen and see if he can put you in touch? Maybe you can talk her into returning?

 

I've been given these pictures of a crew that served on the Darcolm/Middleton from Glasgow dated 1937.

It was bought over in 1937 and renamed Middleton. From what I can find, it collided with a Norwegian vessel MV Tungsha on 18th Feb 1941.

The 1937 crew agreement is in Canada at this link: Crew List Index Search Results

Can't seem to find a crew list from the time of the collision. Could any of you kind folks shed some light on it's history?

The crew agreement for this ship in 1941 will be held under her official number, 164047, at Kew in piece BT 381/1603 The official logbook, if it has survived, may give more details but probably went down with the ship.

Regards
Hugh

 

Were you responding to my post in April? I note from the date it was during the time we had no internet access for 3 months.

 

Yes, reply to post #209.
Regards
Hugh

 

1939-The British freighter Dorino (1,351 tons) was sunk by U41. The British freighter Stanbrook (1,383 tons) was sunk by U57. The British freighter Pensilva (4,258 tons) was sunk by U43.
1941-The tanker War Mehtar (5,502 tons) and the freighters Aruba (1,159 tons) and Waldinge (2,462 tons) were sunk off Great Yarmouth by German S-boats.
1942-The Norwegian freighter Gunda (2,241 tons) was sunk by U181. The British tanker Scottish Chief(7,006 tons) was sunk by U177.
1943-The American freighter D.E. Lisle and the British freighter Penolver were sunk by mines off St. John's, Newfoundland.

Although technically not during WWII, the American freighter Cedar Mills was sunk off Ancona, Italy by a mine on this day in 1945.

 

Hi Hugh, thanks for the lead, just noticed your post, sorry for delayed response. Cheers maria

 

Finally got around to scanning in my Uncle Sandy's paperwork. I also through some newspaper archives got to the bottom of why he was awarded a Life Saving Certificate. My brother was also at Tower Hill last year and took a snap of Panel 87 which lists his death in 1941. It's been really interesting looking at all the info on the ships he served on (most of which suffered from U-boat attacks, but not necessarily while my uncle served on them).

 

Hello Maria,

Well done!

Looking at the information in the Word document. You show the dates of engagement on the various ships he served on apart from DELILIAN, the date you show is the date of discharge from the ship. His date of engagement being 10th October 1937.

Also you don't mention his service on COURLAND date of engagement 29th August 1940.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hello Maria,

Well done!

Looking at the information in the Word document. You show the dates of engagement on the various ships he served on apart from DELILIAN, the date you show is the date of discharge from the ship. His date of engagement being 10th October 1937.

Also you don't mention his service on COURLAND date of engagement 29th August 1940.

Regards
Hugh

Hi Hugh, I was hoping you might spot my errors. I couldn't have achieved this without your help. Your initial tips managed to unfurle it all for me. I'm most grateful. All the very best - Maria

 

Just wanted to post a picture of my Uncle Alexander (Sandy) John Gilmour who could have been 95 today had he not drowned on the SS Rhineland 21/9/1941. Rhineland was sunk by U-Boat 201. Hope you are still resting in peace Uncle Sandy.