1942 — Jan 24, US collier Venore sunk by U-boat ~20m southeast of Cape Hatteras, NC– 17

–17 AAMW. US Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S….World War II…. 2010.
–17 Helgason. “Ships hit by U-boats. Venore. American Steam merchant.”

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“01/23/42 Venore Collier Torpedo & Shelled Sunk Eastcoast Crew 17”

Helgason:
“Type: Steam merchant; Tonnage, 8,017 tons
“Completed 1921 – Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Sparrow’s Point MD
“Owner Ore Steamship Corp., New York; Homeport: New York
“Date of attack 24 Jan 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-boat (Richard Zapp)
“Position 34° 50’N, 75° 20’W – Grid CA 7968
“Complement 41 (17 dead and 24 survivors).
“Route Cruz Grande, Chile – Cristobal – Baltimore
“Cargo 8000 tons of iron ore
….
“Notes on event. At 02.40 hours on 24 Jan 1942, U-66 torpedoed and sank the Empire Gem [UK] and three minutes later fired two torpedoes at the unescorted and unarmed Venore (Master Fritz Duurloo) that followed the other ship two miles behind about 20 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. One missed and the other struck amidships forward of the boiler room and set her on fire. Her master tried to escape zigzagging at high speed, but some of the crew of eight officers and 33 crewmen panicked and launched three lifeboats, of which two disintegrated upon hitting the water and the most men drowned. In the surviving boat were only two men and it made landfall after 49 hours. At 03.24 hours, a second torpedo hit on the port side at #9 hold and the remaining crew abandoned ship in the last lifeboat. The ship capsized to starboard and sank at 04.05 hours, 15 minutes after a coup de grâce had missed. The master, one officer and 15 crewmen were lost. The 21 survivors in the last boat were picked up on 25 January by the Tennessee about 62 miles north of Diamond Shoals and landed at Norfolk. One man was rescued from debris by the Australia on 25 January.” [Note: uboat.net has information of 38 crewmembers at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1288.html ]

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 4-11-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. “Ships hit by U-boats. City of Atlanta, American Steam merchant.” Uboat.net. Webpage accessed 4-12-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1268.html