1942 — Feb 22, US tanker W.D. Anderson sunk by U-boat off Jupiter Island, FL — 35

–35 AAMW. US Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S….World War II…. 2010.
–35 Helgason. “Ships hit by U-boats. W.D. Anderson, American Steam merchant.” Uboat.net.
–35 Kleinberg. “Budget cuts keep Jupiter shipwreck mystery afloat.” USA Today, 8-19-2013.
–35 NOAA. Screening Level Risk Assessment Package W.D. Anderson. 2013, p. 4.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“02/22/42 W.D. Anderson Tanker Torpedo Sunk Eastcoast Crew 35

Helgason/uboat.net:
“Name W.D. Anderson
“Type Steam tanker
“Tonnage 10,227 tons
“Completed 1921 – Moore Shipbuilding Co., Oakland CA
“Owner Atlantic Refining Co., Philadelphia PA
“Homeport Philadelphia
“Date of attack 23 Feb 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-504 (Hans-Georg Fredrich Poske)
“Position 27° 09’N, 79° 56’W – Grid DB 9793
“Complement 36 (35 dead and 1 survivor).
“Route Corpus Christi, Texas – Philadelphia
“Cargo 133,360 barrels of crude oil
….
“Notes on event At 01.32 hours on 23 Feb 1942 the unescorted and unarmed W.D. Anderson (Master Albert Benjamin Walters) was torpedoed by U-504 about 12 miles northeast of Jupiter Light, Florida. The sole survivor was standing on the fantail when a first explosion let the ship burst into flames. Immediately he dove overboard and escaped a second explosion, but got caught in the wash of the propeller and surfaced astern of the tanker as burning oil spread around her. Eight officers and 27 crewmen were lost. The ship settled by the stern and later sank in 27°09N/80°15W. The survivor was picked up by a small fishing boat, transferred to a US Coast Guard vessel Trouper and taken to Stuart, Florida.”

Note: uboat.net has information on all 36 onboard at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1371.html

Kleinberg: “Modern-day economics are stymieing efforts by federal researchers to detect whether a sunken, World War II-era tanker 12 miles off Jupiter harbors a potential oil spill. The W.D. Anderson was sunk by a German U-boat in 1942, setting afire its cargo of crude oil and killing all but one of its 36 crew members.

“In May, researchers from a joint National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/U.S. Coast Guard project identified it as one of three dozen shipwrecks off the U.S. coast that might pose an environmental threat….

“The Anderson is one of 24 merchant ships that U-boats sank off Florida, 16 of them from Cape Canaveral to Boca Raton, between February and May 1942, as America’s entry into World War II heated up. In all, from Maine to Texas and from California to Alaska, U-boats sank 400 ships, killing 5,000 seamen. Also sunk: paint, cotton, sugar, airplanes, tanks, trucks and oil.

“A German torpedo slammed into the Anderson, a 500-foot, 10,277-ton tanker, around 7 p.m. on Feb. 22, 1942. When the first torpedo struck, crew member Frank Leonard Terry jumped over a railing and dove into the cold February waters. He floated for three hours before he was rescued. He was the only survivor….”

NOAA: “The tanker W.D. Anderson, torpedoed and sunk during World War II off the coast of Florida in 1942, was identified as a potential pollution threat, thus a screening-level risk assessment was conducted….

“Date Lost: February 22, 1942….
“Nautical Miles to Shore: 15 [Chart Number 11460, p. 4. Shows “Approximate Location of W.D. Anderson” almost directly east of Port Salerno, which is inland from Jupiter Island.]

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S. and Gulf of Mexico During World War II. Eastcoast of U.S. (175 ships). 12-22-2010. Webpage accessed 4-43-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. “Ships hit by U-boats. W.E. Anderson, American Steam merchant.” uboat.net. Webpage accessed 4-14-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1371.html

Kleinberg, Eliot. “Budget cuts keep Jupiter shipwreck mystery afloat.” USA Today, 8-18-2013, updated 8-19-2013. Accessed 4-14-2021 at: http://gm5-lkweb.newscyclecloud.com/news/budget-cuts-keep-jupiter-shipwreck-mystery-afloat/qtHcmKs3wWZWoZIBD1T1QO/

NOAA, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Office of Response and Restoration. Screening Level Risk Assessment Package W.D. Anderson. March 2013. Accessed 4-14-2021 at: https://nmssanctuaries.blob.core.windows.net/sanctuaries-prod/media/archive/protect/ppw/pdfs/w_d_anderson.pdf