1942 — May 16, US Tanker Gulfoil sunk by U-boat ~75M SW of MS River delta, LA — 21

Pickup with typology document
Blanchard note on date: Four of the five sources we cite note the date of loss as May 16. Helgason/uboat.net, has the date as May 17. We choose to follow preponderance of source dating – May 16, 1942.

–21 American Merchant Marine at War. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S…
–17 Crew
— 4 Armed Guard
–21 Bertke, Kindell and Smith. World War II Sea War. Vol. 6: The Allies Halt the Axis Advance.
–21 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV.
–21 Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Gulfoil – American Steam tanker.”
–21 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–17 Crew
–04 Armed Guard

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“05/16/42 Gulfoil Tanker Torpedo Sunk GulfMexico Crew 17; AG 4.”

Bertke, Kindell and Smith: “16 May 1942….05:34…U.506 (Erich Wurdemann) damaged American tanker GULFOIL (5189grt) (Master A. Henry Rowe) with a torpedo in the Gulf of Mexico in 28, 08N, 89, 46W. Twenty-one men were lost. American tanker Benjamin Brewster (5950frt) rescued five officers and fourteen crewmen and landed them at Galveston, Texas.” (p. 136.)

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV.
“1942….May 16, Sat.

“….Gulf of Mexico
“….U-506 torpedoes and sinks U.S. tanker Gulfoil approximately 75 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi, 28°08’N, 89°46’W; the tanker sinks so rapidly that the crew have no time to launch boats. Of the 36-man merchant complement and 4-man Armed Guard, only 19 merchant seamen survive to reach two life rafts that float free when the ship sinks (see 18 May)….

“May 18, Mon….Gulf of Mexico. U.S. tanker Benjamin Brewster rescues 19 survivors from U.S. tanker Gulfoil, sunk by U-506 on 16 May, and transports them to Galveston, Texas.”

Helgason/uboat.net:
“Name Gulfoil
“Type Steam tanker
“Tonnage 5,189 tons
“Completed 1912 – New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden NJ
“Owner Gulf Oil Co., New York
“Homeport Philadelphia
“Date of attack 17 May 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-506 (Erich Wurdemann)
“Position 28° 08’N, 89° 46’W – Grid DA 9561
“Complement 40 (21 dead and 19 survivors).
“Route Port Arthur, Texas – Key West – New York
“Cargo 54,000 barrels of diesel oil, gas enrichment and bunker oil
“History ….
“Notes on event At 05.34 hours on 17 May 1942 the unescorted Gulfoil (Master A. Henry
Rowe) was torpedoed by U-506 about 75 miles southwest of the Mississippi River Delta. The ship had maintained a zigzagging course up to 05.00 hours that day at 9.5 knots. The mate on watch spotted the first torpedo before it hit the starboard side amidships at the #4 tank. The explosion blew the catwalk away from the mainmast to the midships house. 15 seconds later, a second torpedo struck the engine room, killing the three men on watch below. After the first torpedo the vessel listed about 40° to starboard, but partially righted herself after the second hit. The tanker sank within two minutes with a heavy starboard list. The crew had no time to launch the boats, only five officers and 14 crewmen out of eight officers, 28 crewmen and four armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and two .30cal guns) managed to leave the ship on two liferafts. After 35 hours, the survivors were picked up by the Benjamin Brewster and taken to Galveston, Texas.”

Note: uboat.net includes information on twenty-two of those onboard at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1665.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
“S.S. Gulfoil Torpedoed 5/16/42 Tanker Crew 17, AG 4.”

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 4-19-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Bertke, Donald A., Don Kindell and Gordon Smith. World War II Sea War. Volume 6: The Allies Halt the Axis Advance. Day-to-Day Naval Actions April 1942 through August 1942. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2013. Accessed 4-26-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/World_War_II_Sea_War_Vol_6_The_Allies_Ha/oOiwCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tanker+%22gulfoil%22+1942&pg=PA136&printsec=frontcover

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV: 1942. Accessed 4-19-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Gulfpenn – American Steam tanker.” Accessed 4-26-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1665.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 4-26-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html