1942 — May 19, US freighter Ogontz sunk by U-boat, ~70M SE of Cozumel Isl., Gulf of MX-19

–19 American Merchant Marine at War. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S…
–17 Crew
— 2 Armed Guard
–19 Chen, Peter C. “19 May 1942.” World War II Database.
–19 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology…US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
–19 Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Ogontz – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net
–17 (16 crew and the Captain)
— 2 Armed Guard
–19 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
“05/19/42 Ogontz Freighter Torpedo Sunk GulfMexico Crew 17; AG 2.”

Chen, Peter C. “19 May 1942.” World War II Database. “U-103 sank US freighter Ogontz, killing 19 of 41 aboard. ww2dbase (Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns).”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology…the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV 1942:
“….May 19, Tue. ….Gulf of Mexico….U.S. freighter Ogontz is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-103 at 23°30’N, 86°37’W; 17 merchant seamen and two Armed Guard sailors perish in the attack, the majority of the casualties caused when a mast falls across a lifeboat when the ship is being abandoned. U-103 questions two survivors on board before returning them to their shipmates. The Germans provide medical assistance and cigarettes before leaving.”

Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Ogontz – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net
“Name Ogontz
“Type Steam merchant (Hog Island)
“Tonnage 5,037 tons
“Completed 1919 – American Internaional Shipbuilding Corp., Hog Island, PA
“Owner Intercoastal Packing Co., Juneau AK
“Homeport Juneau
“Date of attack 19 May 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-103 (Werner Winter)
“Position 23° 30’N, 86° 37’W – Grid DL 6271
“Complement 41 (19 dead and 22 survivors).
“Route Cruz Grande, Chile – Panama City, Florida
“Cargo 7660 tons of nitrate
“History ….
“Notes on event At 20.24 hours on 19 May 1942 the unescorted Ogontz (Master Adolph M.
Wennerlund) was hit by one torpedo from U-103 about 70 miles southeast of Cozumel Island off Yucatan. The ship maintained a zigzag course at 11.5 knots and was chased by the U-boat for four hours. The torpedo struck on the starboard side below the navigating bridge at the bulkhead separating the fireroom and engine room. The engines were secured and the crew of seven officers, 30 crewmen and four armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four .50cal and four .30cal guns) immediately began to abandon ship in two lifeboats and two rafts, because she sank by the bow within ten minutes. Two of the armed guards were lost because they refused to leave the ship and managed to fire one shot with the stern gun in the direction of the U-boat. When the ship sank a falling mast hit the lifeboat of the master causing most of the casualties. Altogether, the master, 16 crew members and two armed guards were lost. Two crew members swimming in the water were picked up by the U-boat and questioned before they were placed on a raft and given some cigarettes. All survivors were picked up the following day by the American steam tanker Esso Dover and landed at New Orleans on 22 May.”

Note: uboat.net has information on twenty of those aboard accessible at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1678.html

Moore: “S.S. Ogontz Torpedoed 5/19/42 Freighter Crew 17, AG 2 [killed].”

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 C. “19 May 1942.” World War II Database. Accessed 4-28-2021 at: https://ww2db.com/event/today/05/19/1942

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV: 1942. Accessed 4-28-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Ogontz – American Steam merchant.” Accessed 4-28-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1678.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 4-28-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html