1943 — Nov 23, US tanker Elizabeth Kellogg sunk by U-boat ~150m NW of Cristobal, Panama-10

–10 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–8 crew
–2 armed guard
–10 Chen, C. Peter. “Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns 16 Feb 1942–1 Jan 1944.”
–10 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter V 1943.
–10 Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Elizabeth Kellogg – American Steam tanker.” uboat.net.
–1 Master (captain) Norman Thomson Henderson
–4 Elizabeth Kellogg officers
–3 Merchant Marine crewmen
–2 Naval Armed Guards
–10 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–8 crew
–2 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
“11/23/43 Elizabeth Kellogg Tanker Torpedo Sunk Caribbean Crew 8; AG 2.”

Chen, C. Peter. “Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns 16 Feb 1942–1 Jan 1944.”
“….23 Nov 1943 German submarine U-516 hit the unescorted American steam tanker Elizabeth Kellogg with a torpedo 150 miles north of Cristóbal, Panama in the Caribbean Sea at 0935 hours. 10 were killed; the 38 survivors were picked up by tanker USAT Y-10 and submarine chaser USS SC-1017.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter V 1943:
“22 November, Mon. ….
“U.S. tanker Elizabeth Kellogg, bound for Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, is torpedoed by German submarine U-516 at 11°10’N, 80°43’W, and abandoned (see 24 November 1943).
….Atlantic
“Survivors of U.S. tanker Elizabeth Kellogg, torpedoed by German submarine U-516 on 22 November 1943, are rescued by submarine chaser SC-1017 and Army tanker Y 10. Eight of the tanker’s 36-man merchant complement and two of the 12-man Armed Guard perish with the ship.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Elizabeth Kellogg – American Steam tanker.” uboat.net:
“Name Elizabeth Kellogg
“Type Steam tanker
“Tonnage 5,189 tons
“Completed 1920 – Terry Shipbuilding Co., Savannah GA
“Owner Spencer, Kellogg & Sons, New York
“Homeport New York
“Date of attack 23 Nov 1943
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-516 (Hans-Rutger Tillessen)
“Position 11° 10’N, 80° 42’W – Grid EB 8958
“Complement 48 (10 dead and 38 survivors).
“Route Curacao – Cristobal, Panama – Puerto Barrios, Guatemala
“Cargo 45,940 barrels of bunker C oil
“History ….
“Notes on event At 09.35 hours on 23 Nov 1943 the unescorted Elizabeth Kellogg (Master
Norman Thomson Henderson) was hit on the port side amidships at the #4 tank by one torpedo from U-516 150 miles north of Cristobal. The explosion ruptured the #2, #3 and #4 port tanks and threw burning oil all over the ship. The tanker caught fire from the bridge to the poop deck and killed all the deck officers. Flames shot through the ventilators into the engine room and prevented the watch below from throttling down the engines. The survivors of seven officers, 29 men and twelve armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, two .50cal and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in two lifeboats, two rafts and others jumped into the water. The burning tanker with engines full speed astern and her rudder hard aport made large circles around the survivors. The master, four other officers, three men and two armed guards died in the attack. The after magazine exploded after six hours, broke her back and the fire burned out after about twelve hours. An aircraft spotted the stopped tanker, took a picture and reported the position. The American tug USS Favorite (IX 45) and several escort vessels were sent to salvage the ship, but the vessel sank before they arrived. On 24 November, the Army tanker USAT Y-10 picked up six survivors and USS SC-1017 the remaining survivors. All were landed in Cristobal the same day.”

Note: uboat.net includes the names and positions of the ten fatalities at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship3136.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Elizabeth Kellogg…Torpedoed 11/23/43…Tanker…Crew 8, AG 2 [Number Killed].”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1943. Accessed 5-25-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk43.html#anchor406099

Chen, C. Peter. “Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns 16 Feb 1942 – 1 Jan 1944.” Accessed 5-25-2021 at: https://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=276

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter V: 1943. Accessed 5-25-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Elizabeth Kellogg – American Steam tanker.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-25-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/3136.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 5-25-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html