1942 — June 17, US freighter Millinocket sunk by U-boat off La Isabela no. coast Cuba– 11

–11 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–8 crew
–3 Armed Guard
–11 Chen, C. Peter. “17 Jun 1942 — Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns.”
–11 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
–9 crew
–2 Armed Guard
–11 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Millinocket – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
–1 Captain (Master) Lewis Wesley Callis
–3 officers
–5 crewmen
–2 armed guards
–11 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–8 crew
–3 armed guard

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“06/17/42 Millinocket Freighter Torpedo Sunk Caribbean Crew 8; AG 3.”

Chen, C. Peter. “17 Jun 1942 – Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns.”
“….German submarine U-161 stopped Dominican sailing boat Ciudad Trujillo in the Caribbean Sea, capturing her cargo of fruit, and released the boat along with 8 prisoners captured from sailing boat Nueva Altagracia on the previous day. In the Gulf of Mexico, 280 miles south of Galveston, Texas, United States, U-158 sank Panamanian ship San Blas at 0450 hours (30 were killed, 14 survived) and Norwegian tanker Moira at 1300 hours (1 was killed, 18 survived). At 2300 hours, U-129 sank US ship Millinocket 10 miles north of Cuba; 11 were killed, 24 survived.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942:
“June 17, Wed.
“Atlantic….
“U.S. freighter Millinocket is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-129 off the north coast of Cuba, 23°12’N, 79°58’W; nine of 29 merchant seamen perish, as do 2 of the 6-man Armed Guard. U-129’s captain briefly questions the survivors and then provides the Americans with a first aid kit for the wounded.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Millinocket – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net:
“Name Millinocket
“Type Steam merchant
“Tonnage 3,274 tons
“Completed 1910 – Maryland Steel Co., Sparrow’s Point MD
“Owner A.H. Bull & Co., Inc., New York
“Homeport New York
“Date of attack 17 Jun 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-129 (Hans-Ludwig Witt)
“Position 23° 12’N, 79° 58’W – Grid DM 5375
“Complement 35 (11 dead and 24 survivors).
“Route Georgetown, British Guiana – St. Thomas, Virgin Islands – Mobile
“Cargo 4300 tons of bauxite ore
“History ….
“Notes on event At 23.03 hours on 17 June 1942 the unescorted Millinocket (Master Lewis
Wesley Callis) was hit by one torpedo from U-129, while steaming on a non-evasive course at 9 knots off La Isabela, Cuba. The torpedo struck between the #4 and #5 holds above 12 feet below the waterline. The explosion opened a large hole in the hull, blew some men overboard and killed the chief gunner. The ship sank rapidly on even keel within three minutes. No distress signals were sent and the guns were never manned (the ship was armed with one 6pdr and two .30cal guns).

Only one lifeboat and two rafts were launched, while some men had to jump into the water to escape. Witt questioned the second assistant engineer about the name of the ship, tonnage, cargo, origin and destination. He also gave them a first aid kit for the wounded men when he was asked by the engineer for one.

The master, three officers, five crewmen and two armed guards of the seven officers, 22 crewmen and six armed guards on board were lost, most of them by drowning. The survivors were picked up by a Cuban motor boat and two Cuban fishing boats about 13 hours later and landed at La Isabela and taken to Sagua La Grande, where the eight injured were treated at the hospital.”

Note: uboat.net has information on ten of those onboard accessed 5-14-2021 at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1829.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Millinocket…Torpedoed 6/17/42…Freighter…Crew 8, AG 3 [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. “17 Jun 1942 — Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns.” Accessed 5-14-2021 at: https://ww2db.com/event/today/06/17/1942

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, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Millinocket – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-14-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1829.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