1944 — Feb 26, Panama freighter El Coston hits US tanker Murfreesboro/fire N.Atlantic–~60

–~60 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

— 60 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–17 Freighter El Coston
— 9 crew
— 8 US Navy Armed Guard
–43 Tanker Murfreesboro
–26 crew
–17 Armed Guard

Freighter El Coston:
–18 NYT. “Target-Towing Tug Saved Tanker In 24-Day Job Navy Calls War Epic.” 5-14-1944, p. 30.
–17 The United States Navy Memorial. Navy Log. “El Coston.”

Tanker Murfreesboro:
–45 Gleichauf. Unsung sailors: The Naval Armed Guard in World War II. In Auke Visser.
–29 crew members
–16 Navy gun crew
–43 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–26 crew
–17 Armed Guard
–26 The United States Navy Memorial. Navy Log. “El Coston.” [Just US Merchant Marine]

*Blanchard estimated death toll: We show one source which has the death toll at exactly sixty – 17 from the El Coston and 43 from the Murfreesboro. However, one source (the NYT) reports 18 deaths from the El Coston, instead of 17, and Gleichauf reports 45 deaths from the Murfreesboro, rather than the 43 reported by the American Merchant Marine at War website. If one adds the New York Times report of 18 deaths on the El Coston and the 45 deaths reported by Gleichauf for the Murfreesboro, then the total is 63. Thus there could possibly have been 60-63 deaths. Not having more sources to “nail down” a total number with some level of confidence, we adjust the sixty deaths reported by the American Merchant Marine at War website to approximately (~) sixty. Note: We have seen other sources which report fatalities on one or the other loss, but they all cite a source we use herein.

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“02/25/44…El Coston…Freighter (Panama)…Collision…Sunk…NAtlantic…Crew 9; AG 8.”
“02/26/44…Murfreesboro…Tanker… Collision/fire…Damaged…NAtlantic…Crew 26; AG 17.”

Auke Visser’s Famous T – Tankers Pages. Murfreesboro. Accessed 5-29-2021:
“T2-SE-A1
“Build September 1943 by Sun Shipbuilding Company, Chester, Pennsylvania, as Murfreesboro…

Gleichauf. Unsung sailors: The Naval Armed Guard in World War II. In Auke Visser:
“Another serious collision involving a freighter and a tanker occurred in Convoy CU-15 on 26 February 1944. The tanker SS Murfreesboro was rammed by the SS El Coston, whose steering mechanism broke down. The tanker was carrying 150,000 barrels of gasoline and burned for hours; twenty-nine crew members and sixteen members of the navy gun crew were lost. The El Coston flew the Panamanian flag and carried a navy gun crew, but no casualty figures were announced. Many of the dead from the tanker died in the flaming waters, but some survivors were able to swim under the oil until they were clear. Almost unbelievably, the Murfreesboro was salvaged and returned to serviced.”

The United States Navy Memorial. Navy Log. “El Coston”:
“El Coston.
“Saturday, February 26, 1944
Collision with SS Murfreesboro
“The Freighter El Coston rammed the tanker SS Murfreesboro while en convoy to Wales. The collision occurred in rough seas and the ship’s Master went missing shortly after the collision. El Coston’s Chief Mate ordered the ship easterly until a morning inspection could be made. Upon inspection the bow was found to be stove in. … Although an attempt was made to continue with an escort, recuring heavy seas caused a bulkhead to fail. The ship was abandoned. … Six crew members and eight Naval Armed Guard were lost in the collision, three more crew members were lost when the ship sank.”

The United States Navy Memorial. Navy Log. “Murfreesboro”:
“Saturday, February 26, 1944
“Collision with SS El Coston
“The Tanker SS Murfreesboro was rammed by the freighter El Coston while en convoy from New York to Wales. El Coston had lost steering control when she struck the tanker. Murfreesboro caught fire at once and burned for hours until the fires were eventually extinguished. … Due to the sudden nature of the event, the crew had to jump directly into the water. Survivors were picked up by USS Ricketts (DE-254) and USS Marchand (DE-249).”

Newspaper

NYT. “Target-Towing Tug Saved Tanker In 24-Day Job Navy Calls War Epic.” 5-14-1944, p30.
“Washington, May 13 – The ‘David and Goliath’ story of how the Choctaw, a 1,600-ton tug, raced out from Bermuda in February to tow into part the disabled 10, 200-ton tanker Murfreesboro, laden with 4,500,000 gallons of aviation gasoline, after a twenty-four-day struggle described as ‘the longest towing job of the war,’ was told today by the Navy.

“This ‘nautical odyssey,’ which the Navy also called ‘an epic in the salvage history of World War II,’ kept the tug at sea three times longer than she ever had stayed out before. The high seas and the weight of the wallowing, crippled tanker kept her average towing speed down to 1.67 knots, and, during one twenty-four-hour period, the Choctaw actually lost three miles.

“A United Nations convoy was rolling through heavy North Atlantic seas, bound for the European war theatre, when the accident occurred during the pitch blackness of a winter morning. The El Coston, a 7,000-ton Panamanian cargo ship, went out of control and tore into the Murfreesboro, then loaded with 5,500,000 gallons of high-test gasoline.

“A mighty explosion lit the sky, followed by a raging fire on the Murfreesboro. It spread to the Coston before she could back out of the vast hole she tore in the tanker’s side. The whole convoy was dangerously illuminated.

“The Panamanian ship tried to make Bermuda, 950 miles away, but sank. ‘Amazingly’ enough, as the Navy pointed out, the Murfreesboro stayed afloat, and a boarding party from the Ricketts, an escort, put out her fires. Some eighteen of the tanker’s crew were lost.

“Meanwhile, from Bermuda, Rear Admiral Ingram C. Sowell, commandant, dispatched the Choctaw under Lieut. John Dexter Garland… The Choctaw customarily is a target-towing ship, but the admiral told her to go out and bring back the Murfreesboro.

“Lieutenant Garland, who received his second Legion of Merit for this salvage job, figured it would take about ten days. It took three days at top-speed to find the tanker. ‘She presented a grim sight,’ the Navy related. ‘Her mainmast lay broken amidships, the topmost part in the water. The high seas were crashing into her opened side, creating geysers 100 feet high. She listed more than five degrees to port, and the twisted and charred pipes on her deck offered mute testimony to the fire.’

“….After twenty-four days of battling the sea, the Choctaw brought her in, with more than 80 per cent of her precious cargo still intact….”

Sources

American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1944. Accessed 5-29-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk44.html#anchor412649

Auke Visser’s Famous T – Tankers Pages. Murfreesboro. Accessed 5-29-2021 at: http://www.aukevisser.nl/t2tanker/id788.htm

New York Times. “Target-Towing Tug Saved Tanker In 24-Day Job Navy Calls War Epic.” 5-14-1944, p. 30. Accessed 5-29-2021 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/05/14/85155565.html?pageNumber=30

The United States Navy Memorial. Navy Log. “El Coston.” Accessed 5-29-2021 at: http://navylog.navymemorial.org/el-coston

The United States Navy Memorial. Navy Log. “Murfreesboro.” Accessed 5-29-2021 at: http://navylog.navymemorial.org/murfreesboro