1942 — Feb 20, US freighter Lake Osweya sunk by U-boat, Atlantic, off SW Nova Scotia-all 39

–39 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–30 crew
— 9 armed guard
–39 Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Lake Osweya – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net.
— 8 officers
–22 crewmen
— 9 armed guards
–39 Kindell, Don. “Naval Events, February 1942 (Part 2 of 2) Sunday 15th – Saturday 28th.”
–39 O’Neal, Patricia. “Thomas Livingston Evans.” Findagrave.com. Posted 3-22-2020.
–30 Merchant Mariners
— 9 US Navy Armed Guards.
–39 United States Navy Memorial. “Lake Osweya.” Website accessed 5-3-2021.
–30 U.S. Merchant Marine crew
— 9 U.S. Navy armed guards
–37 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology…US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV: 1942.
–30 crew
— 7 armed guard
–30 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–30 crew (no mention of armed guard)

Blanchard note on date of loss: Two sources (the AMMW and Clancey/HyperWar) note the date of loss as Feb 19. The other five sources cited all note Feb 20. O’Neal writes that the attack and loss of the nearby Empire Seal (UK) was on Feb 19 approaching midnight, while the attack on the Lake Osweya did not take place until the early morning hours of the 20th.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
02/19/42 Lake Osweya Freighter Torpedo Sunk NAtlantic Crew 30; AG 9.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology…US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV: 1942:
“February 19, Thu. ….
“Atlantic….U.S. freighter Lake Osweya is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-96 in the North Atlantic, 43°14’N, 54°45’W. Although U-96 sees three lifeboats pull away from the ship, no survivors from the 30-man merchant complement or the seven-man Armed Guard are ever found.

Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Lake Osweya – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net:
Helgason/uboat.net:
“Name Lake Osweya
“Type Motor merchant
“Tonnage 2,398 tons
“Completed 1919 – Saginaw Shipbuilding Co., Saginaw MI
“Owner Ford Motor Co., Detroit MI
“Homeport Detroit
“Date of attack 20- Feb 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-96 (Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock)
“Position 43° 14’N, 64° 45’W – Grid BB 7884
“Complement 39 (39 dead – no survivors
“Route New York – Halifax – Reykjavik
“Cargo General cargo
“History ….
“Notes on event On 19 Feb 1942 the unescorted Lake Osweya (Master Karl E. Prinz)
followed three miles behind the Empire Seal, while they approached Halifax. When the British ship was sunk by U-96 at 23.29 hours, the Lake Osweya tried to escape by changing course and zigzagging. But at 04.53 hours on 20 February, the vessel was struck amidships by one torpedo fired by U-96 from a distance of 500 yards, broke in two and sank quickly by the bow. Lehmann-Willenbrock reported that three lifeboats were launched, but none of the eight officers, 22 crewmen and nine armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in guns) were ever found.”

Note: uboat.net contains information on all 39 people onboard at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1351.html

Kindell, Don. “Naval Events, February 1942 (Part 2 of 2) Sunday 15th – Saturday 28th.”
“Friday, 20 February
….
“U.96 sank American steamer LAKE OSWEYA (2398grt) in 43-14N, 64-65W.”

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“M/S Lake Osweya Torpedoed 2/20/42 Freighter Crew 30.”

O’Neal, Patricia. “Thomas Livingston Evans.” Findagrave.com. Posted 3-22-2020:
“On Feb 19, 1942, Second Engineer THOMAS LIVINGSTON EVANS was on the American freighter, MS Lake Osweya, as the ship left New York, bound for Halifax Nova Scotia and Reykjavik Iceland. Loaded with goods and supplies for the Allied War Effort, the unescorted ship was following a British merchant ship, the Empire Seal. Around midnight, as they approached Halifax, Empire Seal was sunk by U-96, a German submarine, and Lake Osweya immediately changed course and began zigzagging. Early the next day, U-96 fired one torpedo from a distance of 500 yards. Hitting Lake Osweya amidships, the freighter broke in two and sank quickly. Three lifeboats were launched but were never found.

“There were 30 Merchant Mariners and 9 US Navy Armed Guards on board; none survived.”

United States Navy Memorial. “Lake Osweya.” Website accessed 5-3-2021:
“Friday, February 20, 1942
“U-Boat Attack in the North Atlantic
“The Freighter Lake Osweya was torpedoed by U-96 while en route from New York to Nova Scotia and Iceland. … Although the British merchant ship MS Empire Seal had seen the Freighter and heard the explosion in the distance the ship and her crew were never seen again.”

Note: The “Lost At Sea Log” contains names, ranks and U.S. Navy or U.S Merchant Marine information for thirty-nine men.

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged January to June 1942. Accessed 5-3-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk42a.html#anchor331462

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV: 1942. Accessed 5-3-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Lake Osweya – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-3-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1351.html

Kindell, Don. “Naval Events, February 1942 (Part 2 of 2) Sunday 15th – Saturday 28th.” British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day (website). Accessed 5-3-2021 at: http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4202-42FEB02.htm

Moore, Captain Arthur R. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking: A History of the Staggering Losses Suffered By the U.S. Merchant Marine, Both in Ships and Personnel, During World War II. American Merchant Marine Museum 1983 (1st edition), 1990. Table extracted by armed-guard.com. Accessed 5-3-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html

O’Neal, Patricia. “Thomas Livingston Evans.” Findagrave.com. Posted 3-22-2020. Accessed 5-3-2021 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42716691/thomas-livingston-evans

United States Navy Memorial. “Lake Osweya.” Website accessed 5-3-2021 at: http://navylog.navymemorial.org/lake-osweya