1942 — June 4, US freighter Velma Lykes sunk by U-boat ~20M off Puerto Juarez, Mex.–15

–15 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–15 Haynes. “History of the T.S. Enterprise” (webpage). Accessed 5-11-2021.
–15 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Velma Lykes – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
–15 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.

Blanchard note on date of loss: Three of the four sources we cite note June 4 as the date of loss, including Professor Haynes, whose “History of the T.S. Enterprise” is on the history of that ship (which had at one time ben named the Velma Lykes). Only uboat.net notes the date of loss as June 5. We choose to follow the dating of the three other sources.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“06/04/42 Velma Lykes Freighter Torpedo Sunk Caribbean Crew 15.”

Haynes, Prof. William E. “History of the T.S. Enterprise” (webpage). Accessed 5-11-2021:
“….The Lykes Lines tradition of naming their ships after family members dates back to that time [Civil War], when the brothers named their first ship, a 110 foot long, 75 ton three-masted schooner Doctor Lykes after their father.

“…Velma Lykes, was the wife of the oldest of the Lykes brothers, Frederick Eugene Lykes…

“The first Velma Lykes was a 261 foot long, 2,637 gross ton freighter which was built in 1920 and bought by Lykes brothers in 1927. Sadly, this ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat 20 miles off Puerto Juarez, Mexico on June 4, 1942 with 15 crew members killed.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Velma Lykes – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net:
“Name Velma Lykes
“Type Steam merchant
“Tonnage 2,572 tons
“Completed 1920 – McDougall-Duluth Shipbuilding Co., Duluth MN
“Owner Lykes Bros. SS Co., Inc., New Orleans LA
“Homeport Houston
“Date of attack 5 Jun 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-158 (Erwin Rostin)
“Position 21° 21’N, 86° 36’W – Grid DL 6796
“Complement 32 (15 dead and 17 survivors).
“Route Galveston – Cristobal [Panama]
“Cargo 3629 tons of general cargo
“History Completed in May 1920 as Lake Flournoy for US Shipping Board (USSB).
1922 renamed Southseas for Lone Star SS Co, Galveston TX. 1929 renamed Velma Lykes for Lykes Bros SS Co Inc, New Orleans LA.

“Notes on event At 03.32 hours on 5 June 1942 the unescorted Velma Lykes (Master Hans
G. Beck) was hit on the starboard side by one torpedo from U-158 about 20 miles off Puerto Juarez in the Yucatan Channel. The wake of the torpedo had been spotted seconds before it struck at the #3 hatch and killed three men on watch below. The ship sank by the stern after one minute with a slight list to starboard after #3 and #4 holds were flooded. The eight officers, 20 crewmen and four armed guards (the ship was armed with one 3in and two .30cal guns) had no time to launch the lifeboats and rescued themselves on three rafts that floated free. The next day, four officers, nine crewmen and four armed guards were picked up by Ardenvohr after being spotted by a Catalina aircraft which escorted a convoy of 17 ships. On 10 June, this ship was torpedoed and sunk by U-68 (Merten) but all men from Velma Lykes survived the second sinking and eventually landed at Cristobal.”

Note: uboat.net has information on fifteen of those onboard accessible at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1751.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Velma Lykes…Torpedoed 6/4/42…Freighter…Crew 15 [Number Killed].”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged January to June 1942. Accessed 5-11-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk42a.html#anchor331462

Haynes, Professor William E. (Massachusetts Maritime Academy). “History of the T.S. Enterprise” (webpage). Accessed 5-11-2021 at: https://weh.maritime.edu/campus/tse/

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Velma Lykes – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-11-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1751.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 5-11-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html