1942 — June 23, US tanker Rawleigh Warner sunk by U-boat just south of East Bay, LA–33

–33 American Merchant Marine at War. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S…
–33 Chen, C. Peter. World War II Database. “23 Jun 1942.”
–33 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV.
–33 Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Rawleigh Warner – American Steam tanker.” uboat.net.
–33 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–33 NOAA. Screening Level Risk Assessment Package: Rawleigh Warner. 2013, pp. 3-4.

Blanchard note on dating: We cite six sources, five of which date this loss June 23, 1942. Only usmm.org dates loss as June 22. We choose to follow the June 23 dating.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“06/22/42 Rawleigh Warner Tanker Torpedo Sunk GulfMexico Crew 33.”

Chen, C. Peter. World War II Database. “23 Jun 1942.”
“….U-67 sank US tanker Rawleigh Warner, killing all 33 aboard.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
“23 Jun 1942…. U-67 sank US tanker Rawleigh Warner, killing all 33 aboard.”

Helgason/uboat.net:
“Name Rawleigh Warner
“Type Steam tanker
“Tonnage 3,664 tons
“Completed 1912 – New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden NJ
“Owner Sabine Transportation Co., Inc., Port Arthur TX
“Homeport Baltimore
“Date of attack 23 Jun 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-67 (Gunther Muller-Stockheim)
“Position 28° 53’N, 89° 15’W – Grid DA 9349
“Complement 33 (33 dead – no survivors)
“Route Smiths Bluff, Texas (21 Jun) – Port St. Joe, Florida
“Cargo 38,909 barrels of gasoline
“History ….
“Notes on event At 06.11 hours on 23 June 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Rawleigh
Warner (Master Jewel Homer Levingston) was hit by two torpedoes from U-67 about 40 miles south of South Pass, Louisiana. The cargo immediately burst into flames and engulfed the entire length of the ship. The tanker sank in less than ten minutes, leaving no survivors among the eight officers and 25 crewmen on board.”

Note: uboat.net contains information on all thirty-three of those onboard at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1840.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Rawleigh Warner Torpedoed 6/23/42 Tanker Crew 33 [Number Killed]

NOAA. Screening Level Risk Assessment Package: Rawleigh Warner. 2013, pp. 1, 3-4:
“Executive Summary…The tanker Rawleigh Warner, torpedoed and sunk during World War II at the mouth of the Mississippi River, Louisiana in1942, was identified as a potential pollution threat, thus a screening-level risk assessment was conducted….

“Casualty Information ….Date Lost: June 23, 1942….Casualty Narrative….[we omit quote from uboat.net] “Under Captain Jewel Homer Levingston, the ship departed Smiths Bluff, TX and was struck by U-67(Muller-Stockheim) about 40 miles south of South Pass, Louisiana en route to St. Joe, FL. The torpedo caused a huge explosion and the gas cargo burst into flames and engulfed the entire length of the ship. The ship sank in less than 10 minutes and no one survived (33).”

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). Accessed 4-28-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Chen, Peter. World War II Database. “23 Jun 1942.” Accessed 4-29-2021 at: https://ww2db.com/event/today/06/23/1942

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV: 1942. Accessed 4-29-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Rawleigh Warner – American Steam tanker.” uboat.net. Accessed 4-29-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1840.html

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 4-29-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html

NOAA, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Office of Response and Restoration. Screening Level Risk Assessment Package: Rawleigh Warner. March 2013. Accessed 4-29-2021 at: https://nmssanctuaries.blob.core.windows.net/sanctuaries-prod/media/archive/protect/ppw/pdfs/rawleigh_warner.pdf