1942 — May 14, US tanker David McKelvey torpedoed, ~35M so. of MS Riv. mouth, LA– 17

Blanchard on dating of the attack and fatalities. Five of seven sources we cite date the attack as on May 14 (Helgason, Lonsdale/Kaplan, The McKelvey Journal, US Senate Hearings (1979), and Willoughby. Two sources (AAMW and Clancey) date the attack as on May 13. Given the blackout of news on shipping losses in place at the time, we have not been able to locate a newspaper article of the time concerning the attack on the David McKelvey. Given that the preponderance of dating has the attack on May 14, we choose to use this date, noting there is ambiguity.

All sources cited which mention fatalities, note seventeen, the exception being Moore in armed-guard.com, noting eighteen. We choose to follow the five other sources noting seventeen deaths.

–18 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–16 Crew
— 2 Armed Guard
–17 American Merchant Marine at War. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S…
–16 Crew
— 1 Armed Guard
–17 Christ. “New info surfaces on the sunken SS David McKelvy.” Houmatoday.com, 3-11-2007.
–17 Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “David McKelvy – American Steam tanker.”
–15 Crew (4 officers, 11 crewmen)
— 2 Armed Guard
–17 The McKelvey Journal (blog). “The sinking of the SS David McKelvey.” 6-6-2011.
–17 Willoughby, Malcolm F. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. 1957, p. 119.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“05/13/42 David McKelvey Tanker Torpedo Total loss GulfMexico Crew 16; AG 1.”

Helgason/uboat.net:
“Name David McKelvy
“Type Steam tanker
“Tonnage 6,821 tons
“Completed 1921 – Sun Shipbuilding Co., Chester PA
“Owner Tide Water Associated Oil Co., New York
“Homeport Wilmington
“Date of attack 14 May 1941
“Nationality American
“Fate A total loss by U-506 (Erich Wurdemann)
“Position 28° 30’N, 89° 55’W – Grid DA 9536
“Complement 42 (17 dead and 25 survivors).
“Route Corpus Christi, Texas (11 May) – Bayonne, New Jersey
“Cargo 81,000 barrels of crude oil
“History ….
“Notes on event At 05.47 hours on 14 May 1942 the unescorted David McKelvy (Master Carl
A. Zwicker) was hit by one torpedo from U-506 about 35 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, as she proceeded on a zigzag course at 10 knots. The torpedo struck amidships on the port side at about the #4 tank. A huge explosion set the ship on fire and the water around the tanker quickly became covered with burning oil. The U-boat surfaced, Würdemann examined the vessel and decided to leave without doing further damage. The master and the three deck officers perished as the bridge crumpled in the flames. 23 men among the eight officers, 28 men and six armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and two .50cal guns) abandoned ship 20 minutes after the hit in the #3 lifeboat. Some others jumped overboard and swam to two rafts. These survivors were picked up by USCGC Boutwell (WPC 130) and taken to the section base at Burwood, Louisiana. Four were badly burned and were taken to the Marine Hospital in New Orleans, where one crewman died. The Chief Engineer and the pumpman survived by standing in the fresh water tanks of the ship´s double bottom until the fire burned out. The two men were picked up by the Norwegian motor tanker Norsol the next day and taken to Key West, Florida. Four officers, 11 men and two armed guard died.

A salvage crew reboarded the burned out tanker on 29 May and prepared to tow her to the beach. After beaching on the coast of Louisiana, she was declared a total loss.

Note: uboat.net contains information of sixteen of those who were aboard at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1653.html

Clancey/HyperWar: “….May 13, Wed.
“….Gulf of Mexico… U-506 torpedoes U.S. freighter David McKelvy approximately 35 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi, 28°30’N, 89°55’W; explosion ignites the ship’s cargo of 81,000 barrels of crude oil and forces the crew to abandon ship. U-506 retires without expending further torpedoes, apparently thinking the freighter doomed. Coast Guard cutter Boutwell (WPC-130) rescues survivors.”

Lonsdale and Kaplan: “On May 14, the 6820-ton tanker David McKelvy, was torpedoed and sunk off the Mississippi River Delta.”

Moore/A Careless Word: “S.S. David McKelvey…Torpedoed 5/13/42…Tanker…Crew 16, AG 2.”

The McKelvey Journal (blog): “On the 14th May 1942 when on route from Corpus Christi for New York carrying a cargo of 80,000 barrels of crude oil she was torpedoed by German submarine U-506 and sunk. 17 crew lost from a total of 40.”

US Senate Hearings: “David McKelvey…Tanker…6,821 [Tonnage] 5-14-42 [Date attacked and/or sunk]…28.30 [Latitude]…89.55 [Longitude]…Torpedoed and sunk.” (p. 979.)

Willoughby: “The United States tanker David McKelvey, 6,821 tons, was torpedoed and sunk off the Mississippi River Delta on 14 May 1942. A Coast Guard plane from Biloxi Air Station proceeded to its reported position, located an oil slick 15 miles to the eastward, and discovered the tanker afloat but on fire. Tanker Norsol was approaching, and was told that some of the crew were still on the burning vessel. Twenty-five of the 42 crew members were saved. ” (1972, p. 119.)

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 4-26-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “David McKelvy – American Steam tanker.” Accessed 4-26-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1653.html

Christ, C. J. “New info surfaces on the sunken SS David McKelvy.” Houmatoday.com, 3-11-2007. Accessed 4-26-2021 at: https://www.houmatoday.com/article/DA/20070311/News/608089057/HC

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV: 1942. Accessed 4-26-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Lonsdale, Adrian L. and H. R. Kaplan. A Guide to Sunken Ships in American Waters. Compass Publications, 1964.

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

The McKelvey Journal (blog). “The sinking of the SS David McKelvey.” 6-6-2011. Accessed 4-26-2021 at: http://mckelveyjournal.blogspot.com/2011/06/sinking-of-ss-david-mckelvey.html

United States Senate. Outer Continental Shelf Policy Issues, Hearings before the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (Serial No. 92-27, Part 2). Washington DC: March 23-24 and April 11 and 18, 1972. Accessed 4-26-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/keIjAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA979&dq=when

Willoughby, Malcolm F. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1957. Revised printing, 1989. Accessed 4-26-2021 at:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_U_S_Coast_Guard_in_World_War_II/3GIgDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tanker+david+mckelvey+1942&pg=PA119&printsec=frontcover