1942 — Mar 6, US freighter Steel Age, sunk by sub, S. Atlantic, ~130M NE Paramaribo, Suriname– 34

–34 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–34 Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Steel Age – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net.
–34 Lewis, Skip. “S.S. Steel Age.” IsthmianLines.com. Accessed 5-4-2021.
–33 Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com.

Blanchard note on date of loss and fatalities: Two dates are noted in sources we cite: March 6 and March 7. Two fatality numbers are given: thirty-three and thirty-four. We choose to rely on the Skip Lewis account (historian for the Isthmian Lines) as to date of loss (March 6) and fatalities (thirty-four).

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“03/06/42 Steel Age Freighter Torpedo Sunk SAtlantic Crew 33 German POW 1.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter IV 1942:
“March 6, Fri.
“Atlantic
“German submarine U-129 torpedoes and sinks unarmed U.S. freighter Steel Age about 130 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, 06°45’N, 53°15’W, and takes the sole survivor captive.”

Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Steel Age – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net:
“Name Steel Age
“Type Steam merchant
“Tonnage 6,188 tons
“Completed 1920 – Federal Shipbuilding Co., Kearny NJ
“Owner Isthmian SS Co., New York
“Homeport New York
“Date of attack 7 Mar 1942
“Nationality American
“Fate Sunk by U-129 (Asmus Nicolai Clausen)
“Position 6° 45’N, 53° 15’W – Grid EO 6625
“Complement 35 (34 dead and 1 survivor)
“Route Calcutta (18 Jan) – Table Bay [South Africa] – Trinidad – New Orleans
“Cargo Manganese ore
“History ….
“Notes on event At 03.20 hours on 7 March 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Steel Age
(Master Ralph Jones) was hit on the starboard side by two G7a torpedoes from U-129 about 130 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana. The first torpedo hit amidships and the second between the #4 and #5 hatches, causing the ship to sink by the bow within two minutes. Eight officers and 25 crew members were lost. The sole survivor, an able seaman, jumped on a nearby life raft and was picked up by the U-boat after 20 minutes. He was landed at Lorient on 5 April and taken to the POW camp Marlag und Milag Nord near Bremen.”

Note: uboat.net has information on all thirty-five of those on board at:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1404.html

Lewis, Skip. “S.S. Steel Age.” IsthmianLines.com. Accessed 5-4-2021:
“1942…3/6 – On February 15th the vessel left Table Bay [Cape Town] on a voyage from Calcutta, India to New Orleans, La., Ralph Jones Master. Approximately 600 miles SE Trinidad, position 06.45 N, 53.15 W, at 10:05 PM the U-129 (Clausen) fired two torpedoes at the vessel steaming at 11 knots, that struck the starboard side; the first hitting amidships and the second between #4 and #5 hatches. Most of the crew never had time to leave the ship. The cargo of ore caused the vessel to sink in 2 minutes. The sole survivor ran from the messroom when the first torpedo struck. When he reached the deck, it was already awash and he jumped on a nearby life float. None of the other 8 officers or 26 crew members survived. The lone survivor, AB Jose Muniz, who was coming off watch just after midnight and hurtled overboard from the Boat Deck, was picked up by U-129 within 20 minutes and delivered to a POW camp, from which he was liberated in 1945.”

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com:
“S.S. Steel Age Torpedoed 3-6-42 Freighter Crew 33, Crew 1 taken prisoner.”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged January to June 1942. Accessed 5-4-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk42a.html#anchor331462

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter IV: 1942. Accessed 5-4-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1942.html

Helgason. Ships hit by U-boats. “Steel Age – American Steam merchant.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-4-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1404.html

Lewis, Skip. “S.S. Steel Age.” IsthmianLines.com. Accessed 5-4-2021 at: http://www.isthmianlines.com/ships/sa_steel_age.htm

Moore. A Careless Word, A Needless Sinking. 1983. Table extracted by armed-guard.com. Accessed 5-4-2021 at: https://www.armed-guard.com/sunk.html