1942 — May 4, US tanker Munger T. Ball sunk by U-boat ~80M NW of Dry Tortugas Isl., FL–30

Blanchard note on dating of event: We choose to use May 4, 1942 in that four of five sources noting a date, state May 4. Only Helgason/uboat.net uses May 5.

–33 NOAA. Screening Level Risk Assessment Package Munger T. Ball. 2013, p. 4.
–30 American Merchant Marine at War. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S…
–30 Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Munger T. Ball – American Steam tanker.”
–30 Chen, Peter. “Second Happy Time – 14 Jan 1942 – 31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database.
–30 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV.
–30 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
“05/04/42 Munger T. Ball Tanker Torpedo & machine-gunned Sunk GulfMexico Crew 30.”

Browning: “Munger T. Ball (Date: 5-4-42) Time of attack. Position:25.17N/83.57W. Owner: Sabine Transportation Co. …Cargo: 65,000 bbls. Gasoline…” (Page 82)

Chen/World War II Database: “4 May 1942….
“In the late afternoon, German submarine U-507 sank US tankers Norlindo (killing 5 of 28 aboard), Munger T. Ball (killing 30 of 34 aboard), and Joseph M. Cudahy (killing 27 of 37 aboard) off the Florida Keys archipelago about 100 kilometers west of the tip of Florida, United States….”

Clancey: “May 4, Mon. ….
“Atlantic….
“Unarmed U.S. tanker Norlindo is torpedoed by German submarine U-507 approximately 200 miles northeast of Havana, Cuba, 24°57’N, 84°00’W, and sinks, taking five crewmen with her (see 6 May). Eight hours later, U-507 torpedoes and shells tanker Munger T. Ball at 25°17’N,83°57’W; flames, fed by the ship’s cargo of 65,000 barrels of gasoline, trap many crewmen. Only four sailors of the 34-man crew survive the inferno to be rescued by Norwegian motor vessel Katy later the same day….”

Helgason/uboat.net:
“Name Munger T. Ball
“Type Steam tanker
“Tonnage 5,104 tons
“Completed 1920 – Terry Shipbuilding Co., Savannah GA
“Owner Sabine Transportation Co., Inc., Port Arthur TX
“Homeport Baltimore
“Date of attack 5 May 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-507 (Harro Schacht)
“Position 25° 17’N, 83° 57’W – Grid DM 1467
“Complement 34 (30 dead and 4 survivors).
“Route Port Arthur, Texas (1 May) – Norfolk, Virginia
“Cargo 65,000 barrels of gasoline
“History ….
“Notes on event At 01.32 hours on 5 May 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Munger T. Ball (Master Karl Ragnar Olsen) was hit by one torpedo from U-507 while steaming at 10 knots on a non-evasive course about 80 miles northwest of Dry Tortugas Island. The torpedo struck on the port side amidships, followed by a second torpedo 30 seconds farther aft near the engine room. The tanker burst into flames after the first hit and prevented the launching of lifeboats. Only four crewmen of the eight officers and 26 crewmen on board managed to abandon the ship by jumping overboard and swimming away before burning gasoline spread on the water, trapping many men on the tanker. The burning tanker sank about 15 minutes after the second hit. The four survivors swam to a life raft, were picked up about four hours later by the Katy and landed at Key West, Florida.”

Note: uboat.net has information on thirty-one of those aboard accessed at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1603.html

Moore/armed-guard.com: “S.S. Munger T. Ball…Torpedoed & Machine-gunned 5/4/42… Tanker…Crew 30.”

NOAA: “The tanker Munger T. Ball, torpedoed and sunk during World War II about 80 miles northwest of Dry Tortugas Island in 1942, was identified as a potential pollution threat, thus a screening-level risk assessment was conducted….

“Date Lost: May 4, 1942….

Casualty Narrative
[The first of two narratives is from uboat.net, which we note above.]

“Under Captain Karl Ragnar Olsen, the Munger T Ball left Port Arthur, TX for Norfolk on May 1. U-507 (Schacht) launched a torpedo from appx 500 yards and struck the ship amidship on the port side. A second torpedo struck near the engine room. The first explosion caused the vessel to burst into flames. The U-507 surfaced and fired their machine guns at it. Only 4 escaped as burning gasoline covered the surface of the water. 33 died.”

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 4-25-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Browning, Robert M. Jr. United States Merchant Marine Casualties of World War II (Revised Edition). Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2011. Accessed 4-25-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/United_States_Merchant_Marine_Casualties/7ZcZDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1
Also Naval Institute Press, 1996.

Chen, Peter. “Second Happy Time – 14 Jan 1942 – 31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database. Accessed 4-25-2021 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 4-25-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Munger T. Ball – American Steam tanker.” Accessed 4-25-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1603.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 4-19-2021 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 Munger T. Ball. NOAA, March 2013. Accessed 4-25-2021 at: https://nmssanctuaries.blob.core.windows.net/sanctuaries-prod/media/archive/protect/ppw/pdfs/munger_t_ball.pdf