1944 — Jan 6, USS St. Augustine run into by tanker/sinks, stormy night off Cape May, NJ–115
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-15-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 115 Balison. Newport News Ships: Their History in Two World Wars. 1954, p. 17.
— 115 NavyHistory.com. “St. Augustine PG-54.”
Narrative Information
NavyHistory.com: “St. Augustine got underway from New York on 6 January 1944, leading a convoy of ships bound for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Late that evening, when southeast of Cape May, N.J., she was rammed amidships by the merchant tanker, Camas Meadows. Her seams were split by the collision, and the gunboat sank in five minutes. The rough, wintry seas claimed 115 of her crew; only 30 survived.”[1] (NavyHistory.com. “St. Augustine PG-54.”)
Balison: “…the USS St. Augustine, gunboat…was sunk January 6, 1944, in a collision with a merchant vessel off Cape May, New Jersey. Thirty members of the ship’s company survived. After the war it was learned that nine officers and 106 men lost their lives in the accident, which occurred at 10:20 o’clock on a dark, stormy night.” (Balison. Newport News Ships. 1954, p. 17.)
Paul: “On the morning of 6 January 1944, St. Augustine steamed out of New York leading a small convoy, consisting of the tanker Tydol Gas, and the Coast Guard cutters Argo and Thetis, bound for Jacksonville, Fla. The tanker Camas Meadows had left the Delaware Capes bound for Trinidad. Both ships were running without navigation lights, but the St. Augustine had picked up the tanker on radar. As the ships closed to within 3 miles, St. Augustine signaled Camas Meadows by Aldis lamp; however, the crew of Camas Meadows feared a ploy by a marauding U-boat. Misjudging the speed of Camas Meadows, St. Augustine turned hard to port and went to full speed in an attempt to cross ahead of the tanker’s bow, but was struck hard amidships. St. Augustine sank 73 miles south- southwest of Cape May, New Jersey, 38°01’N, 74°05’W.]” (Paul, Larry “Additional Details.” Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, “USS St. Augustine (PG-54).”)
Shock: “With ZP-14 [Navy Airship], on 07 January 1944, K-81 located 21 bodies after the collision of USS St. Augustine with a tanker off Cape May, New Jersey.” (Shock. US Navy Airships 1915-1962: A History by Individual Airship. 1992, 2001, p. 125)
Association of Underwater Explorers: “Similar to the Moonstone in that both vessels started their lives as luxury yachts and both were sunk due to collisions, the Auggie was approximately 100 feet longer at 272 feet in length. The St. Augustine was formerly owned by the tycoon Norman Woolworth, but was sold to the U.S. Navy in 1941 to be outfitted for coastal patrol and anti-submarine duty. The Auggie led a successful depth-charging attack on the U-701 in 1942 that eventually led to the U-boat’s demise a few weeks later.
”On the night of 6 January 1944, the Auggie was leading a convoy south along the Atlantic coast. Off Ocean City, the tanker Camas Meadows, heading for the Caribbean, was spotted on radar. Due to confusion between the two ships who were both running blacked out due to wartime conditions, the Camas Meadows collided into the starboard side of the Auggie, tearing a fatal wound. The gash led to the sinking of the once elegant yacht in under five minutes.
”The wreck of the St. Augustine was not dove until late 1996, though she was long sought after. A group who had chartered the vessel Gekos out of Ocean City, Maryland, headed out with several likely suspect hang numbers in hopes of locating the Auggie. When none of the numbers panned out, Captain Larry Keen produced a number that was in the vicinity of their search site.
“In fact, this number turned out to be the wreck of the St. Augustine. The wreck was sitting intact and upright in 253 feet of water. Her stacks and masts were knocked off and laying in the sand, and her wheelhouse was absent, most likely due to the subsequent depth charging she received after sinking. Several artifacts were recovered from this trip, and claims of the “most scenic” East-Coast wreck were made by several veteran divers. The group returned to the site again, but requests for future charters met indifference from the Captain.
”In early 1997, a team of divers who had compiled more numbers from a variety of sources headed out to try and locate the Auggie…. Approximately 50 miles off Ocean City…the magnetometer went crazy. The boat quickly pulled up and was able to read a large spike on the bottom reader that proved to be the St. Augustine. The wreck was hooked near the stern, and one could see the vessel appear while still 80 feet off the bottom due to the incredible visibility. The graceful rounded fantail was still evident, though broken off from the wreck close to the stern gun tub, and by initial appearances the wreck appeared in extremely good shape. Upon further inspection however, the damage became clear. The main deck areas could be easily entered, green light trickling in through the many rust holes. The interior was largely a debris field with brass artifacts such as light fixtures and doorknobs lying in plain view. On the exterior, there was spotted debris in the sand at 250 feet with large sections of trawl net snagged amongst the wreckage. The wreck is mostly intact, contiguous, and rises high off the bottom, with the top deck at about 208 feet. The wreck numbers were made available to all that assisted in the new search, and divers quickly swarmed the new site. Many artifacts have been recovered from the Auggie during 1997 and 1998 including several portholes, a telegraph, and various artifacts from the interior, all with the promise of many more as yet to be recovered. The portholes that are scattered throughout the wreck site are unusual in the fact that they are brass and stainless steel. This is definitely one of the best wreck dives in the Mid-Atlantic.” (Association of Underwater Explorers. USS St. Augustine.)
Sources
Association of Underwater Explorers. USS St. Augustine. Accessed 8-13-2009 at: http://uwex.us/auggie.html
Balison, Howard James. Newport News Ships: Their History in Two World Wars. Mariners Museum Issue 25, 1954, 372 pages.
NavyHistory.com. “St. Augustine PG-54.” Accessed 8-13-2009 at: http://www.historycentral.com/navy/patrol/Staugustine.html
Paul, Larry. “Additional Details.” Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, “USS St. Augustine (PG-54).” 8-13-2009 at: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar////USN/ships/dafs/PG/pg54.html
Shock, James R. US Navy Airships 1915-1962: A History by Individual Airship. Edgewater, FL: Atlantis Productions, 1992, 2001.
[1] “Gunboat St. Augustine (PG-54), was built in 1929 as yacht, Viking, for George F. Baker by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., she was later sold to Norman B. Woolworth who renamed her Noparo. The ship was purchased by the Navy on 5 December 1940 at New London, Conn.; converted at Bethlehem Steel Corp., Boston, Mass.; was renamed St. Augustine on 9 January 1941, and commissioned on 16 January 1941.
She was assigned to the 1st Naval District and operated on patrol out of Boston until 1942 when she was transferred to the Eastern Sea Frontier, for which she escorted convoys between New York and various Caribbean ports.” (NavyHistory.com. “St. Augustine PG-54.”)