1942 — June 8, US freighter Sicilien sunk by U-boat ~10M so. of Cape Beata, Dominican Rep.-46

–47 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–28 crew
–19 Army
–46 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Sicilien – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net.
— 1 Captain of the Sicilien
–26 crew
–19 passengers (US Army troops)
–46 NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive. “USAT Sicilien” Accessed 5-12-2021.
–27 crew members
–19 passengers (US Army troops)
–44 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–25 crew
–19 Army

Blanchard notes: (1) Though we do not attempt to cover military losses to enemy forces, we include the Sicilien in that it was a Merchant Marine vessel and in that twenty-seven of the fatalities were American Merchant Mariners. (2) We choose to follow uboat.net and NavSource.org on the number of fatalities (46), though as can be seen, the American Merchant Marine at War website notes 47 and armed-guard.com notes 44.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“06/07/42 Sicilien (USAT) Freighter Torpedo Sunk Caribbean Crew 28; Army 19.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Sicilien – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net:
“Name Sicilien
“Type Motor merchant
“Tonnage 1,654 tons
“Completed 1938 – Helsingors Jernskibs-og Maskinbyggeri A/S, Elsinore
“Owner US Army Transport Service
“Homeport Norfolk
“Date of attack 8 Jun 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-172 (Carl Emmermann)
“Position 17° 30’N, 71° 20’W – Grid EC 3198
“Complement 77 (46 dead and 31 survivors).
“Route New Orleans – Kingston, Jamaica – San Juan, Puerto Rico
“Cargo General cargo, including beer, foodstuffs and mattresses
“History Completed in August 1938 as Danish Sicilien for Det Forenede D/S
(DFDS), Copenhagen. In April 1940 laid up in New York. On 30 Mar 1941, seized by the US government and later handed over to the US Maritime Commission. On 23 Jul 1941, taken over by the War Department and used as US Army transport.

“Notes on event At 04.58 hours on 8 June 1942 the unescorted Sicilien (Master Albert F.
Sundmacher) was hit by one G7a torpedo from U-172 about 10 miles south of Cape Beata, Dominican Republic. The torpedo struck on the starboard side at #3 hold, destroyed the lifeboats and started small fires. The ship listed to starboard due the flooding of the engine room, #3 and #4 holds and sank by the stern after nine minutes. The master, 26 crew members and 19 passengers (US Army troops) were lost. The survivors jumped overboard, swam to rafts and were questioned by the Germans. They made landfall after few hours at Barahona, Dominican Republic.”

Note: uboat.net has information on 45 of those onboard accessible at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1758.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Sicilien…Torpedoed 6/7/42…Freighter…Crew 25, Army 19 [Number Killed].”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged January to June 1942. Accessed 5-12-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk42a.html#anchor331462

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Sicilien – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-12-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1758.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 5-12-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html

NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive. “USAT Sicilien” Accessed 5-12-2021 at: http://www.navsource.org/archives/30/22/22060.htm