1942 — July 30, US freighter Cranford sunk by U-boat ~250 miles E-SE of Barbados — 11

–11 Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database.
–11 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Cranford – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
–1 Captain (Master) James Henry Donlon
–5 officers
–3 crewmen
–2 armed guards
–11 Lettens, Jan. “Cranford SS (1920 ~1933) Cranford SS (+1942).” wrecksite.eu
–11 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–10 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“07/30/42 Cranford Freighter Torpedo Sunk Caribbean Crew 9; AG 2.”

Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database:
“30 Jul 1942 At 1958 hours, German submarine U-155 sank US ship Cranford 250 miles east of Barbados; 11 were killed, 36 survived.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942:
“July 30, Thu. ….
“Atlantic
“U.S. freighter Cranford is sunk by German submarine U-155 about 250 miles east-southeast of Barbados, 12°17’N, 55°11’W. U-155 treats two injured American sailors and then provides the survivors with navigational information, matches, a line, and water. Running short of provisions, U-155 can spare none. Cranford’s surviving complement (including 6 of 8 Armed Guard sailors) are eventually picked up later the same day by Spanish tanker Castillo Alemenara.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Cranford – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
“Name Cranford
“Type Steam merchant
“Tonnage 6,096 tons
“Completed 1920 – The Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington NC
“Owner Lykes Bros SS Co. Inc., New Orleans LA
“Homeport Lake Charles
“Date of attack 30 Jul 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-155 (Adolf Cornelius Piening)
“Position 12° 17’N, 55° 11’W – Grid EE 8634
“Complement 47 (11 dead and 36 survivors).
“Route Cape Town – Trinidad – USA
“Cargo 6600 tons of chrome ore and 1600 tons of cotton
“History ….
“Notes on event At 19.58 hours on 30 Jul 1942 the unescorted Cranford (Master James
Henry Donlon) was hit by one torpedo from U-155 about 250 miles east-southeast of Barbados, as she was proceeding on a non-evasive course at 8.6 knots because of a lack of fuel and daylight conditions. The torpedo struck on the starboard side between #2 and #3 holds. Her cargo caused the ship to sink bow first within three minutes. The complement of nine officers, 27 men and 11 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 3in, four .50cal and two .30cal guns) left the ship in one lifeboat and two rafts, but the most men had to jump overboard. Six officers (among them the master), three crewmen and two armed guards died.

U-155 surfaced, questioned the survivors and asked them if they could do anything for them. Two injured survivors were treated on board the U-boat and water, supplies and directions to land were given before U-155 left. Several hours after the sinking the survivors were picked up by the Spanish steam tanker Castillo Alemenara and landed at Curaçao on 3 August.”

Note: uboat.net has information of eleven of those onboard. Accessed 5-15-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1982.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Cranford…Torpedoed 7/30/42…Freighter…Crew 9, AG 2 [Number Killed].”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged July to December 1942. Accessed 5-15-2021 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 5-15-2021 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 5-15-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Cranford – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-15-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1982.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 5-15-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html

Lettens, Jan. “Cranford SS (1920 ~1933) Cranford SS (+1942).” Accessed 5-15-2021 at: https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?201807