Fate: |
Sunk by U-502 (Jürgen
von Rosenstiel) |
Position: |
12.40N, 74.00W - Grid EC 8279
|
Complement: |
36 (33 dead and 3 survivors). |
Convoy: |
|
Route: |
Aruba (20 Feb) - Panama Canal |
Cargo: |
104.270 barrels of fuel oil |
History: |
|
Notes on loss: |
At 01.59 hours on 22 Feb, 1942, the
unescorted and unarmed J.N. Pew (Master Thomas Edelen Bush) was
hit by one of two torpedoes fired by U-502 about 225 miles west of
Aruba, while steaming completely blacked out on a zigzagging course at
11 knots. The torpedo struck on the port side between the main mast and
the midships pump room. The explosion sprayed oil over the entire length
and set the midships house afire. The burning tanker was sunk by four
coups de grāce fired at 02.35, 02.42, 02.54 and 03.04 hours.
The eight officers and 28 crewmen tried to abandon ship in the rough
seas, but two of the four lifeboats and two floats were destroyed by the
fire. One lifeboat cleared the ship with only two men in it and reached
shore about 35 miles east of Riohacha, Colombia on 25 February. Friendly
Indians helped them reach Riohacha, from where they were taken to
Barranquilla, Colombia. A second boat swamped when it hit the water and
ten survivors managed to right the boat the next morning, but had to set
sail without water, food and survival equipment. On 14 March, only one
man was alive when the boat was found by a patrol aircraft off Cristobal,
which directed the Panamanian motor merchant Annetta I to it. He
was taken to the Coco Naval Base, where he was hospitalized for several
weeks before he was able to be sent home. None of the officers survived
the sinking. |
|