1943 — Jan 20, US tanker Brilliant splits/sinks, Atlantic gale, east of north Newfoundland–11

–11 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–7 crew
–3 armed guard
–1 pilot
–11 Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Brilliant – American Motor tanker.” uboat.net.
–1 Master Andrew Lagan
–2 officers in forepart which sank immediately
–4 crewmen “
–3 armed guards “
–1 coast pilot “
–10 Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter V 1943.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“01/20/43 Brilliant Tanker Split Sunk NAtlantic Crew 7; AG 3; Pilot 1.”

Clancey. HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in [WW] II, Chapter V 1943.
“21 January, Thu. ….
“Atlantic
“U.S. tanker Brilliant departs St. John’s, Newfoundland, under tow, bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, but breaks up in storm (see 24 January)….

“24 January, Sun. ….
“Atlantic….
“Survivors of U.S. tanker Brilliant, which had broken in two on 20 January, are rescued by Canadian minesweeper from the after portion of the ship. Of the 54 men on board, 31 merchant seamen are saved; 13 of the Armed Guard survive.”

Helgason, G. Ships hit by U-boats. “Brilliant – American Motor tanker.” uboat.net.
“Name Brilliant
“Type Motor tanker
“Tonnage 9,131 tons
“Completed 1930 – Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Chester PA
“Owner Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., Inc., New York
“Homeport New York
“Date of attack 18 Nov 1942 [date of U-43 torpedo attack]
“Nationality American
“Fate A total loss [but not sunk]
“Position 50° 45’N, 45° 53’W – Grid BC 2241
“Complement 60 (0 dead and 60 survivors). [Read below for details on the Jan 43 loss.]
“Route ….
“Cargo [fuel oil]
“History ….
“Notes on event [After the attack and rescue of the Captain and several men from a swamped lifeboat]…The remaining men on the Brilliant, in charge of the junior third officer, who earned the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for this action, put out the flames and brought the tanker at three knots over 300 miles into Buena Vista Bay, Newfoundland on 24 November. The entire complement of nine officers, 33 men and 18 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in, four 20mm and two .30cal guns) survived.

On 18 Dec 1942 the Brilliant (Master Andrew Lagan) left St. Johns in
convoy WB-17 for Sydney because the tanker could not be repaired and
discharged in Newfoundland. Due to gale force winds and rough seas, the
master turned back to the port of departure the next day.

On 18 Jan 1943 the Brilliant departed again in tow of the tug HMS Frisky
(W 11) escorted by HMS Chelsea ( I 35). Two days later she broke in two
in heavy gales and rough seas in 46°13N/58°38W. The forepart sank immediately, taking all eleven men on this section with her. These men were the master, two officers, four crewmen, three armed guards and the coast pilot. The afterpart drifted for some days with 44 men aboard 150 miles to the southeast until a lifeboat from the tug and a boat from HMCS Goderich (J 260) took the survivors off and brought them to Argentia, Newfoundland on 24 January. The afterpart was taken in tow to Placentia, Newfoundland, but sank in 45°18N/55°12W the next day.”

Note: uboat.net had information on nine of the men onboard. Accessed 5-23-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship2446.html

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1943. Accessed 5-23-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk43.html#anchor406099

Clancey, Patrick (transcriber and formatter for HTML). HyperWar: The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II, Chapter V: 1943. Accessed 5-21-2021 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html

Helgason, Gudmundur. Ships hit by U-boats. “Brilliant – American Motor tanker.” uboat.net. Accessed 5-23-2021 at: https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2446.html