SS Alexander Macomb
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | SS Alexander Macomb |
| Builder: | Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Baltimore, Maryland |
| Yard number: | 2023 |
| Laid down: | 18 February 1942 |
| Launched: | 6 May 1942 |
| In service: | 2 June 1942 |
| Fate: | Damaged by a torpedoed and scuttled, 3 July 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Liberty ship |
| Displacement: | 14,245 long tons (14,474 t)[1] |
| Length: | 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m) |
| Beam: | 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m) |
| Draft: | 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
| Range: | 23,000 mi (37,000 km) |
| Capacity: | 10,856 tonnes deadweight (DWT)[1] |
| Crew: | 41 crew, 25 Armed Guards[2] |
| Armament: |
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SS Alexander Macomb was a Liberty ship of the United States Merchant Marine during World War II. Construction began on Hull 2023 on 18 February 1942 at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in Baltimore, Maryland, under Maritime Commission contract 0036. See, List of Liberty ships: M-R.[3] The ship was launched on 6 May, and her sea trials were completed on 2 June. She was named for Alexander Macomb, an American General known chiefly for his leadership at the Battle of Plattsburgh in the War of 1812.[4]
Service history
Her first Captain was Carl Froisland, a sailor with long experience of the Atlantic. She steamed to New York and there loaded her cargo of Sherman tanks, P-38 aircraft and explosives for the Soviet Union, and then joined convoy BX 27 to Halifax.[5] On this maiden voyage across the Atlantic, she had 41 crew and 25 U.S. Navy gunners on board.[2]
Two hundred miles east of Orleans Massachusetts, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-215. Ten of the crew were lost. HMS Le Tigre and HMS Veteran pursued U-215 and succeeded in sinking it with depth charges. HMCS Regina (K234), a Canadian corvette that was not part of the convoy, assisted in the rescue of the crew of Alexander Macomb and picked up twenty-five survivors, while others in the convoy rescued the remainder.[2]
The wreck of the Alexander Macomb was rediscovered in October 1964 by the Risdon Beazley company salvage ship Droxford at position 41°48′N 66°35′W / 41.800°N 66.583°WCoordinates: 41°48′N 66°35′W / 41.800°N 66.583°W. The bulk of the metal cargo was removed in 1965 by the same ship. It is considered to be "dangerous to dive."[6]
The wreck of U-215 was discovered by Canadian divers and marine archaeologists in July 2004.[7]
References
- 1 2 Davies, 2004, page 23.
- 1 2 3 4 "Alexander Macomb (Steam merchant) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ↑ Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission.
- ↑ "Bethlehem Fairfield". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ↑ Hague, Arnold. "BX Convoy Series". Arnold Hage Convoy Database. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
- ↑ "SS Alexander Macomb wreck, 1942". www.wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ↑ "CBC News - Canada - First-ever U-boat found off Canadian coast". cbc.ca. 13 July 2004. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- Davies, James (2004). "Liberty Cargo Ship" (PDF). ww2ships.com. p. 23. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
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