1942 — Jun 28, US freight Raphael Semmes sunk by sub so. of Bermuda, ~875 E of Cape Canaveral FL-19

–19 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–19 Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database.
–19 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
–18 crew
— 1 passenger
–19 Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Raphael Semmes – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
— 1 Captain (Master) Harold Eaton)
— 6 officers
–11 crewmen
— 1 passenger
–19 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“06/27/42 Raphael Semmes Freighter Torpedo Sunk NAtlantic Crew 19.”

Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database:
“28 Jun 1942 German submarine U-332 sank US ship Raphael Semmes 1,000 miles east of Florida, United States at 1030 hours; 19 were killed, 18 survived. U-203 sank US ship Sam Houston 100 miles northeast of the Virgin Islands at 1538 hours; 8 were killed, 38 survived. U-701 sank US tanker William Rockefeller 50 miles off the coast of North Carolina, United States at 1816 hours; all 50 aboard survived. U-505 sank US ship Sea Thrush 300 miles northeast of the Virgin Islands at 1855 hours; all 66 aboard survived.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942:
“June 28, Sun. ….
“Atlantic
“Unarmed U.S. freighter Raphael Semmes is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-332 at
29°30’N, 64°30’W; 18 men from the 35-man crew, and one of the two passengers, perish. U-332
remains in the vicinity of the sinking, providing medical assistance and supplies to the survivors
before departing.”

Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Raphael Semmes – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net:
“Name Raphael Semmes
“Type Steam merchant
“Tonnage 6,027 tons
“Completed 1920 – G.M. Standifer Construction Corp., Vancouver WA
“Owner Isthmian SS Co., New York
“Homeport Mobile
“Date of attack 28 Jun 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-332 (Johannes Liebe)
“Position 29° 30’N, 64° 30’W – Grid DD 4786
“Complement 37 (19 dead and 18 survivors).
“Route Bombay, India – Trinidad – New York
“Cargo 7500 tons of manganese ore, tobacco, licorice, wool and rugs
“History Built as Argus 1923 renamed Sidney M. Hauptmann for McCormick SS Co,
San Francisco CA. 1940 transferred to Isthmian SS Co, New York and renamed Raphael Semmes.

“Notes on event At 10.30 hours on 28 June 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Raphael
Semmes (Master Harold Goron Eaton) was hit on the starboard side by two torpedoes from U-332 when steaming on a non-evasive course at 9 knots about 875 miles east of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The torpedoes struck at the #2 and #4 hatches and caused the ship to sink within two minutes. The nine officers, 26 crewmen and two passengers unsuccessfully tried to launch boats but had to jump overboard and swim away from the ship. 18 survivors clung to wreckage and eventually climbed onto two rafts, ten of them with the help of the U-boat that circled the wreck and picked them up. The Germans took care of their wounds and gave them tobacco, cigarettes, water and food before leaving the area.

The 18 survivors were picked up on 16 July by the American steam merchant Explorer and landed two days later at Jersey City, New Jersey. The master, six officers, eleven crewmen and one passenger were lost.”

Note: uboat.net has information on twenty-one of those onboard. Accessed 5-14-2021 at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1865.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Raphael Semmes…Torpedoed 6/28/42…Freighter…Crew 19 [Number Killed].”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged January to June 1942. Accessed 5-14-2021 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 5-14-2021 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 5-14-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Raphael Semmes – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
Accessed 5-14-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1865.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 5-14-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html