1942 — June 24, U.S. tug John R. Williams hits mine laid by U-Boat off Cape May, NJ– 14

–14 American Merchant Marine at War. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S…
–14 Chen, Peter. “Second Happy Time – 14 Jan 1942 – 31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database.
–14 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV.
–14 Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “John R. Williams – American Steam tug.”
–14 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“06/24/42 John R. Williams Tug Mine Sunk Eastcoast Crew 14.”

Chen: “….24 Jun 1942…. US rescue tug vessel John R. Williams struck a mine and sank at 2005 hours; 14 were killed, 4 survived…”

Clancey: “….June 24, Wed. ….Atlantic. Unarmed tug John R. Williams, bound for Cape May, New Jersey, is sunk by mine laid by German submarine U-373 on 11 June. Only four men from the 18-man crew survive the sinking at 38°45’N, 74°55’W; they are rescued by district patrol vessel YP-334 and taken to Lewes, Delaware.”

Helgason/u-boat.net:
“Name John R. Williams
“Type Steam tug
“Tonnage 396 tons
“Completed 1913 – Staten Island Shipbuilding Co., Richmond NY
“Owner Moran Towing & Transportation Co., New York
“Homeport New York
“Date of attack 24 Jun 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-373 (Paul-Karl Loeser)
“Position 38° 45’N, 74° 50’W – Grid CA 5447
“Complement 18 (14 dead and 4 survivors).
“Route Delaware Capes – Cape May, New Jersey
“Cargo None
“History ….
“Notes on event At 20.05 hours [8:05 PM] on 24 June 1942 the unarmed John R. Williams (Master Leroy Herbert Allen) struck a mine laid on 11 June by U-373 off Cape May and sank. Four hours earlier the ocean tug had been ordered to proceed to Fenwick Island Shoals [off DE] to tow a French ship into the Delaware River, but at 18.40 hours the ship was found heading for the river under her own power, so the tug returned to the Cape May Naval Air Station, where she was stationed for rescue and salvage. The mine struck on the port side just forward of amidships and the explosion sank the vessel instantly. Only the chief engineer, the second assistant and two deckhands survived because they were blown overboard by the explosion. The survivors were picked up after about one hour by the American patrol vessel USS YP-334 and taken to Lewes, Delaware and thence to Beebe Memorial Hospital. The remaining four officers and ten crew men were lost.”

Note: u-boat.net has details on all eighteen of those onboard. Accessible at
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1844.html

Moore: “S.S. John R. Williams…Mined 6/24/42…Tug…Crew 14.”

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 4-21-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time.” World War II Database. Accessed 4-21-2021 at: https://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=277

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV: 1942. Accessed 4-21-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “John R. Williams – American Steam tug.” Accessed 4-21-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1844.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 4-21-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html