1942 — Sep 24, US freighter John Winthrop sunk by U-boat, No. Atlantic, bound NY–all 52

–54 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–39 crew
–15 armed guard
–52 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–39 crew
–13 armed guard
–52 Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database.
–52 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
–39 crew
–13 armed guard
–52 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “John Winthrop – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
–39 complement (7 officers and 32 crewmen)
–13 armed guard

Blanchard note on fatalities: In that four out of five sources we cite note 52 deaths, we choose to follow these sources.

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 John Winthrop Liberty Torpedo Sunk NAtlantic Crew 39; AG 13.”

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 John Winthrop, straggling from convoy ON 131, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-619 at 56°00’N, 31°00’W. There are no survivors from the 39-man merchant complement or the 13-man Armed Guard.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “John Winthrop – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
“Name John Winthrop
“Type Steam merchant (Liberty)
“Tonnage 7,176 tons
“Completed 1942 – New England Shipbuilding Corp., Portland ME
“Owner United Fruit SS Co., New York
“Homeport Portland
“Date of attack 24 Sep 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-619 (Kurt Makowski)
“Position 56° 00’N, 31° 00’W – Grid AK 6119
“Complement 52 (52 dead – no survivors)
“Route Glasgow [Scotland] – New York
“Cargo Ballast
“Notes on event On 24 Sep 1942 the John Winthrop (Master Charles Malcolm Robertson)
was torpedoed five times by U-169 and broke in two. The U- boat surfaced and sank both parts with gunfire until 19.10 hours. The ship had been in convoy ON-131, but straggled from convoy on the night of 21 September and was never seen again, all seven officers, 32 crewmen and 13 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, four 20mm and two .30cal guns) were lost.”

Note: uboat.net has information on all fifty-two men onboard; accessed 5-16-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship2209.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. John Winthrop…Torpedoed & Disappeared 9/24/42…Liberty Ship…Crew 39, AG 15.”

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. “John Winthrop – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-16-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2209.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