1942 — Sep 19, US freighter Wichita sunk by U-boat ~75 miles south of Barbados –all 50

–50 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–40 Crew
–10 Armed Guard
–50 Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database.
–50 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
–40 merchant complement
–10 Armed Guard (No survivors)
–50 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Wichita – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net.
–10 officers
–30 crew
–10 armed guards
–50 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–40 crew
–10 armed guard
Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“09/19/42 Wichita Freighter Torpedo Sunk Caribbean Crew 40; AG 10.”

Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database:
“19 Sep 1942 German submarine U-552 sank British anti-submarine trawler HMS Alouette 50 miles southwest of Lisbon, Portugal at 0300 hours; 17 were killed, 27 survived.

“At 0648 hours, U-516 sank US merchant ship Wichita 300 miles northeast of Barbados; all 50 aboard were killed.

“At 1546 hours, U-156 sank British ship Quebec City 500 miles southwest of Liberia; 5 were killed, 41 survived.

“At 1937 hours, U-512 sank Spanish merchant ship Monte Gorbea 60 miles east of Martinique; 52 were killed, 27 survived.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942:
“September 19, Sat. ….
“Atlantic
“U.S. freighter Wichita is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-516 about 300 miles northeast of Barbados, 15°00’N, 54°00’W. There are no survivors from either the 40-man merchant complement or 10-man Armed Guard unit.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Wichita – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net.
“Name Wichita
“Type Motor merchant
“Tonnage 6.174 tons
“Completed 1921 – Doullut & Williams Shipbuilding Co. Inc, New Orleans LA
“Owner US Lines Inc., New York
“Homeport New Orleans
“Date of attack 19 Sep 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-516 (Gerhard Wiebe)
“Position 11° 51’N, 59° 21’W – Grid EE 7545
“Complement 50 (50 dead – no survivors)
“Route Takoradi [Ghana] (1 Sep) – St. Thomas, Virgin Islands – New York
“Cargo General cargo
“History ….
“Notes on event At 06.48 hours on 19 September 1942 the unescorted Wichita (Master
Herman Swain Chessman) was hit on starboard side between the forward mast and the bridge by one G7e torpedo fired from a stern torpedo tube of U-516 and sank in less than one minute about 75 miles south of Barbados. The ship was zigzagging at 11.5 knots and had been missed with a spread of two torpedoes at 06.05 hours. The Germans searched the sinking position but sighted no lifeboats or survivors, the ten officers, 30 crewmen and ten armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and four .50cal guns) were lost.”

Note: uboat.net has information on all 50 onboard. Accessed 5-16-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship2187.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
“M/S Wichita…Torpedoed 9/19/42…Freighter…Crew 40, AG 10 [Number Killed].”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged July to December 1942. Accessed 5-16-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk42a.html#anchor331462

Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942 – 31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database. Accessed 5-16-2021 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 5-16-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Wichita – American Motor merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-16-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2187.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 5-16-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html