1942 — Sep 24, US freighter West Chetac sunk by sub ~100M no. of Georgetown, Brit. Guiana–31

–31 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–22 crew
— 9 armed guard
–31 Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database.
–31 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
–22 crew
— 9 armed guard
–31 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “West Chetac – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
— 6 officers
–16 crewmen
— 9 armed guards
–31 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–22 crew
— 9 armed guards

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“09/24/42 West Chetac Freighter Torpedo Sunk Caribbean Crew 22; AG 9.”

Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database:
“24 Sep 1942
“German submarine U-432 sank US ship Penmar 400 miles east of southern Greenland at 0144 hours; 2 were killed, 59 survived. In the same general area, U-617 sank Belgium ship Roumanie at 0158 hours; 42 were killed, 1 survived.

“At 0924 hours, U-175 sank US ship West Chetac 100 miles north of Georgetown, British Guyana; 31 were killed, 19 survived.

“At 1825 hours, U-512 sank US merchant ship Antinous (under tow by British rescue tug HMS Zwatre Zee) also north of British Guyana. At 1910 hours, U-619 sank US ship John Winthrop 450 miles southeast of Greenland; all 52 aboard were killed.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942:
“September 24, Thu. ….
“Atlantic ….
“U.S. freighter West Chetac is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-175 north of British Guiana, 08°06’N, 58°12’W; only 17 of the 39-man crew and two of the 11-man Armed Guard reach the rafts that float free of the ship as she sinks in heavy seas. U-175 conducts a brief interrogation of the survivors before departing…”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “West Chetac – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net:
“Name West Chetac
“Type Steam merchant
“Tonnage 5,627 tons
“Completed 1919 – South Western Shipbuilding Co., San Pedro CA
“Owner Seas Shipping Co. Inc., New York
“Homeport New York
“Date of attack 24 Sep 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-175 (Heinrich Bruns)
“Position 8° 45’N, 57° 00’W – Grid EO 1396
“Complement 50 (31 dead and 19 survivors).
“Route Norfolk, Virginia – Trinidad – Aruba – Table Bay – Basra, Iraq
“Cargo 6097 tons of general was supplies
“History ….
“Notes on event At 09.24 hours on 24 Sep 1942 the West Chetac (Master Frank Matthew
Jasper), dispersed about seven hours earlier from convoy TRIN-14, was hit on the port side at #2 hold by one torpedo from U-175 bout 100 miles north of Georgetown, British Guiana. The U-boat reported that the ship had an aircraft escort for some time, was zigzagging at various speeds and missed by a spread of three torpedoes at 06.45 hours. The explosion blew off the hatch covers and beams and caused the ship to sink by the bow within two minutes. The nine officers, 30 crewmen and eleven armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four 20mm and two .30cal guns) tried to abandon ship in four lifeboats but rough seas and the suction of the sinking ship capsized all boats, drowning many men. Three officers, 14 crewmen and two armed guards rescued themselves on three rafts and were questioned by the Germans. The survivors were picked up on 1 October by USS Roe (DD 418) about 20 miles off Trinidad and landed at Port of Spain, where six crewmen and the armed guards were hospitalized.

Note: uboat.net has information on thirty-three of those onboard. Accessed 5-17-2021 at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship2206.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. West Chetac…Torpedoed 9/24/42…Freighter…Crew 22, AG 9 [Number Killed].”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged July to December 1942. Accessed 5-17-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk42b.html#anchor340736

Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942 – 31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database. Accessed 5-17-2021 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 5-17-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “West Chetac – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-17-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2206.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 5-17-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html