1942 — Apr 26, US freighter Alcoa Partner sunk by U-boat, Caribbean, ~80M NNE of Bonaire-10

–10 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–10 Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database.
–10 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
–10 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Alcoa Partner American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
–10 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.
–10 Watson. Watson’s Really Big WWII Almanac (Vol. 1: January to June). 2007, p. 435.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“04/26/42 Alcoa Partner Freighter Torpedo & Shelled Sunk Caribbean Crew 10.”

Chen, C. Peter. “Second Happy Time: 14 Jan 1942–31 Aug 1942.” World War II Database:
“….Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns Timeline
“….26 Apr 1942 German submarine U-66 sank US ship Alcoa Partner 80 miles north of Bonaire in the Caribbean Sea at 0830 hours; 10 were killed, 25 survived.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942.
“April 26, Sun. ….
“Caribbean
“Unarmed U.S. freighter Alcoa Partner is torpedoed by German submarine U-66 approximately 80 miles northeast of Bonaire, N.W.I., at 13°32’N, 67°57’W; the ship’s bauxite ore cargo causes the ship to sink before the men on board have time to launch boats. One boat floats free, however, and 25 men gather in it. Nine crewmen and a workaway, however, drown in the wake of the ship’s loss. The survivors reach Bonaire the next day.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Alcoa Partner American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
“Name Alcoa Partner
“Type Steam merchant
“Tonnage 5,513 tons
“Completed 1919 – Merchant Shipbuilding Corp., Harriman PA
“Owner Alcoa SS Co., Inc., New York
“Homeport New York
“Date of attack 26 Apr 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-66 (Richard Zapp)
“Position 13° 32’N, 67° 57’W – Grid ED 4793
“Complement 35 (10 dead and 25 survivors).
“Route Trinidad – Mobile
“Cargo 8500 tons of bauxite ore
“History Completed in October 1919 as Bensalem for US Shipping Board (USSB) and later became a part of the reserve fleet. 1941 renamed Alcoa Partner for Alcoa SS Co Inc, New York.
“Notes on event At 08.30 hours on 26 April 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Alcoa Partner
(Master Ernest Henke) was hit by a torpedo from U-66 which struck the port side at the #2 hatch of the zigzagging freighter. Immediately after the impact, U-66 fired one shell with the gun, which hit the poop deck. Because of her cargo, the vessel sank in less than three minutes about 80 miles north-northeast of Bonaire. The crew of seven officers, 27 men and one workaway found themselves in the water, never having enough time to launch any of the four lifeboats. But one lifeboat with one man on board floated free and 24 men managed to reach this boat. The survivors searched the vicinity for the missing 10 men (the second engineer, the radio operator, seven others and the workaway) until after dawn. They made landfall in Bonaire 37 hours after the attack.

The master Ernest Henke survived also the sinking of his next ship, Alcoa Rambler, which was sunk by U-174 (Thilo) on 15 Dec 1942. His next ship, the Alcoa Prospector was also torpedoed but only damaged by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-27 in the Gulf of Oman on 5 July 1943 and returned to service.”

Note: uboat.net contains information on thirteen of those onboard accessible at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1569.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Alcoa Partner…Torpedoed & Shelled 4/26/42…Freighter…10 Crew {number Killed].”

Watson. Watson’s Really Big WWII Almanac (Vol. 1: January to June). 2007, p. 435:
“Atlantic….
“1942….The U66 sank the American freighter Alcoa Partner (5,513 tons-10 dead).”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged January to June 1942. Accessed 5-8-2021 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 5-8-2021 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 5-8-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Alcoa Partner American Steam merchant.” Accessed 5-8-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1569.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 5-8-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html