Technical
tanker�-�steam�-�single screw
6,986 GRT� - 10,750 DWT
453'9" x 56' x 27'1"
Service speed 10.0 knots

The ship was proceeding on a rapidly changing zigzag course at 10.4 knots when hit by two torpedoes.� The first torpedo hit starboard under the bridge and completely destroyed this part of the vessel.� The second hit aft of the bridge forward of the engine room.� The second explosion broke the ship in two and ignited her cargo.� The tanker plunged bow first with her propeller still turning and she sank within three minutes.

23 men initially survive the loss of the ship.� They had to take to one raft since all four lifeboats and the three other rafts were destroyed by the explosions. The survivors huddled together throughout the night� clinging to wreckage in the water near the sunken ship.�� The oil on the surface burned for six hours.� Two men clung to a half burned raft and stayed on it for seven days without food or water.� Some of the other survivors died from exposure and injuries.

On the third day wreckage from the tanker rose to the surface and the seven remaining survivors tied boards together with strips of canvas torn from their life preservers.� Crude oil also floated free from the wreck and formed a layer on the surface four inches thick.� Five days after the sinking, on 25 May, the Mexican freighter Oaxaca rescued the three remaining survivors, one of these died at sea.�The two others arrived at a hospital in Tampico on May 28th� but one man died 30 minutes after arrival.�

On 27th May the British tanker Orina rescued the� 2 men from the half burned raft and took them to New Orleans.�In all only one officer and two crewmen survived the sinking of the tanker.�������

Thanks to Walter Janssens for the extra information on this page.

Unless otherwise stated, all dates and times are from the German perspective and are given in CET.
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