Hampton Roads
American Steam merchant
Name | Hampton Roads | ||
Type: | Steam merchant | ||
Tonnage | 2,689 tons | ||
Completed | 1920 - Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, Manitowoc WI | ||
Owner | Polar Steamship Co, New York | ||
Homeport | Wilmington | ||
Date of attack | 1 Jun 1942 | Nationality: American | |
Fate | Sunk by U-106 (Hermann Rasch) | ||
Position | 22° 45'N, 85° 13'W - Grid DL 6538 | ||
Complement | 28 (5 dead and 23 survivors). | ||
Convoy | |||
Route | Tampa, Florida - San Juan, Puerto Rico | ||
Cargo | 3620 tons of phosphate rock | ||
History | Completed in April 1920 as Lake Galien for US Shipping Board (USSB). 1923 renamed Hampton Roads for Philadelphia & Norfolk Steamship Co, Wilmington DE. 1939 sold to Union Shipbuilding Co and later that year to Polar Steamship Co, New York. | ||
Notes on event | At 11.40 hours on 1 June 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Hampton Roads (Master William Hanson Lane) was stopped by two warning shots fired across the stern by U-106, while proceeding on a zigzag course at 6 knots northwest of Cape San Antonio, Cuba. The most men of the eight officers and 20 crewmen on board immediately began to abandon ship in the port lifeboat and a raft, while the radio operator sent distress signals. At 11.46 hours, U-106 fired one torpedo that struck the ship at the #3 hatch, causing the vessel to sink within one minute. The master, one officer and two crewmen were still on board and were lost. The second mate was in the water near the lifeboat when the torpedo struck at close range and was not seen again. The 23 survivors were picked up seven hours later by the Alcoa Pathfinder and landed at CuraƧao on 6 June. | ||
On board | We have details of 5 people who were on board. |
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