1942 — Mar 7, passenger freighter Barbara sunk by U-boat ~9M NNE, Tortuga Isl., Dominican Rep.-26

–27 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–26 Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Barbara – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
— 4 officers
–14 crewmen
— 8 passengers
–19 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.

Blanchard note on fatalities: It is possible that there were twenty-seven fatalities (as the American Merchant Marine at War website notes in a table). However, we choose to follow the detailed account found in uboat.net, which includes the names and positions of all eighty-five people onboard and writes that there were twenty-six deaths and names the fatalities.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“03/07/42 Barbara Freighter Torpedo Sunk Caribbean Crew 19; Passengers 8.”

Chen, C. Peter. World War II Database. “7 Mar 1942.” Accessed 5-5-2021:
“….Atlantic Ocean
“German submarine U-126 sank US freighters Barbara and Cardonia between Cuba and Haiti.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942:
“March 7, Sat.
….Atlantic
“Unarmed U.S. freighter Barbara is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-126 approximately nine miles north-northwest of West Tortuga Island, Dominican Republic, 20°00’N, 73°56’W; a PBY rescues one group of survivors while the remainder reach shore.”

Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Barbara – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net:
“Name Barbara
“Type Steam merchant
“Tonnage 4,637 tons
“Completed 1913 – Wm Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co., Philadelphia PA
“Owner A.H. Bull & Co., Inc., New York
“Homeport New York
“Date of attack 7 Mar 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-126 (Ernest Bauer)
“Position 20° 10’N, 73° 05’W – Grid DN 8423
“Complement 85 (26 dead and 59 survivors).
“Route Baltimore – San Juan, Puerto Rico
“Cargo 4015 tons of general cargo
“History Built as Santa Cruz 1930 renamed Barbara
“Notes on event At 08.35 hours on 7 March 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Barbara
(Master Walter Gwynn Hudgins) was hit by a torpedo amidships on the port side, despite sailing an approved zigzagging course in moonlight. The torpedo penetrated the hull deep and exploded on the starboard side, causing a fire which damaged the engines, killed the watch below and reached mast high amidships. The fire prevented the survivors from launching any lifeboats, so they had to jump or climb into the water and swim to the life rafts. The ship burned for two and a half hours and sank stern first about nine miles north-northeast of Tortuga Island, Dominican Republic.

On 9 March, the master, 15 men and a stewardess were picked up after three days at sea by a PBY Catalina flying boat of the US Navy several miles off Porta l´Ecu, Haiti. The pilot who risked two landings and overloaded his plane was cited for the act.

A group of 21 survivors landed on Tortuga Island after nearly three days at sea. The Able Seaman Maximo Murphy walked 18 hours across the island to get help from natives, who send a Haitian coast guard vessel to the survivors. Murphy earned the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for his actions. Two other rafts with 19 survivors made it to the shore safely.

Bosun Charles Rooney and AB John Taurin had released a portable gangway when the ship was sunk and clung to this gangway along with a passenger, who died on the second day. Both men were spotted by an aircraft on the fourth day and were picked up by a destroyer, which was directed to them by the aircraft. Of the eight officers, 50 crewmen and 27 passengers aboard, four officers, 14 crewmen and eight passengers lost their lives.

The master Walter Gwynn Hudgins later commanded the Elizabeth, which was sunk by U-103 (Winter) on 21 May 1942.”

Note: uboat.net contains information on all 85 people on board (84 men and 1 woman) at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1402.html

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Barbara Torpedoed 3/7/42 Freighter Crew 19 [no mention of passengers].”

Sources

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

Chen, C. Peter. World War II Database. “7 Mar 1942.” Accessed 5-5-2021 at: https://ww2db.com/event/today/03/07/1942

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV: 1942. Accessed 5-5-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Barbara – American Steam merchant.” Accessed 5-5-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1402.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 5-5-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html