MVC. O. Stillman
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | C.O. Stillman |
| Namesake | James Stillman[1] |
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry | |
| Route | Aruba—New York(1940–42) |
| Builder | Bremer Vulkan,Bremen,Germany[2] |
| Yard number | 646[1] |
| Completed | February 1928[1] |
| In service | 1928 |
| Out of service | 5 June 1942[2] |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | sunk by torpedo byU-68 |
| Notes | World's largest oil tanker 1928–42 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | oil tanker |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 75.3 ft (23.0 m)[2] |
| Draft | 33 ft 10.75 in (10.3 m)[2] |
| Depth | 44.5 ft (13.6 m)[2] |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 10.7 knots (19.8 km/h)[2] |
| Boats & landing craft carried |
|
| Capacity | 163,145barrelsof oil[2] |
| Crew |
|
| Notes | could pump 4,000barrels of oilper hour[2] |
MVC.O. Stillmanwas anoil tankerthat was built by a German shipyard in 1928 for a Canadian-based shipping company. APanamaniansubsidiary ofEssobought her at the end of 1936 and she was sunk by the German submarineU-68in theCaribbeanon June 4, 1942 about 41 nautical miles (76 km) southwest ofIsla de Mona,Puerto Rico.
C.O. Stillmanis notable for having been the world's largest oil tanker,[2]a record that she held throughout her 14-year career.
International Petroleum Co
[edit]Bremer VulkanofBremen-Vegesackin northern Germany builtC.O. Stillman,completing her in February 1928.[2]Her layout was conventional for her era, having separate midships and aft accommodation blocks, herbridgebeing on the midships block and her single funnel rising from her after block.[4]
She was named afterJames Stillman,who was chairman ofNational City Bankand invested with partners includingWilliam RockefellerofStandard Oil.[1]She was built for the International Petroleum Company ofToronto,which owned her for her first eight years.[2]
Panama Transport Co
[edit]On 31 December 1936 International Oil soldC.O. StillmantoPanama Transport Co,[2]which was a subsidiary ofStandard Oil of New Jersey.She underwent repairs atRotterdamand then on 24 March 1937 her new owner transferred herregistrationfrom Britain to thePanamanianflag of convenience.[2]
C.O. Stillmanhad a German crew Until 20 August 1939, when it was replaced with a US crew.[2]When the Second World War broke out at the beginning of September 1939C.O. Stillmanwas loading oil inAruba,which she delivered toQuebecon 21 December.[2]On 30 October she sailed fromCartagena, Colombiawith a cargo of oil boundLe Havre,France.[2]En routeshe docked atNewport News, Virginiafor repairs.[2]On 4 November theNeutrality Act of 1939became US law and on 9 NovemberC.O. Stillman's US crew was replaced with a Danish one.[2]She sailed toHalifax, Nova Scotia,joined aneastbound transatlantic convoyand reached Le Havre on 22 December.[2]
C.O. Stillmanthen recrossed the North Atlantic and switched to carrying oil from Aruba toNew Yorkand fresh water on her return voyages to Aruba.[2]From 12 August 1940 she had a US crew again,[2]and after theUnited States declaration of war upon Japanon 8 December 1941 hercomplementwas supplemented with eightUnited States Navy Armed Guards.
Sinking
[edit]
At approximately 6 a.m. on 4 June 1942C.O. Stillmansailed from Aruba, unescorted but in company with another Standard Oil tanker,SSL.J. Drake.[5]As well as her 47 crew and eight guards,C.O. Stillmanwas carrying three workaway crewmen from other tankers.[2]
Stillmanmade 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h) butL.J. Drakemade only 9 knots (17 km/h) and fell behind.[5]C.O. Stillmanwasblacked outin accordance with wartime orders and at dusk the two ships lost visual contact.[5]On 5 June theType IXCGerman submarineU-68under the command ofKarl-Friedrich MertenhitL.J. Drakewith three torpedoes, sinking her with all hands in only 45 seconds.[6]At 1900 hrsC.O. Stillmanreceived coded messages warning her that enemy submarines were in the area, so at 2000 hrs she altered course to 95degrees.[5]
At about 2115 hrsC.O. Stillmanwas about 41 nautical miles (76 km) southwest ofIsla de Mona[5]betweenPuerto Ricoand theDominican RepublicwhenU-68[7]hit her with a torpedo on the ship's starboard side abaft her midships accommodation block.[5]Third OfficerJoseph Winters sounded the general alarm and theMaster,Daniel Larsen,telegraphedthe engine room to stop engines.[5]The explosion destroyed the No. 1lifeboatamidships and started a fire that rendered the ship impossible to manoeuvre, made the escape ladders abaft the bridge unusable and made it impossible to approach the No. 2 lifeboat.[5]The crew released the starboard forwardlife raftbut it drifted too close to the fire to be used.[5]They released the port forward life raft but it fouled and became stuck.[5]However, the crew at the after accommodation block managed to launch the No. 3 and No. 4 lifeboats and a liferaft.[5]
The three workaways and a US Navycoxswainwere trapped in the midships accommodation block but managed to escape by using an axe to break alouvrecovering aporthole.[5]The personnel trapped amidships eventually found an opening through the fire, through which they escaped to the after accommodation block.[5]At about 2135 hrsFirst OfficerHarry Bansen and Captain Larsen were trying to launch the work-boat whenU-68[7]hit the ship with a second torpedo, again on the starboard side but further aft.[5]It exploded between theengine roomand the crossbunker tank, showering the crew withbunker oil.[5]
The ship now sank more rapidly. Men jumped overboard or slid down ropes into the sea, while Captain Larsen remained until the water rose knee deep on the main deck until he had seen that everyone on deck had got clear.[5]C.O. Stillmansettled by the stern, her bow rose vertically and she sank within two or three minutes of the second torpedo hitting her.[8]
The C.O. Stillman sank with a cargo of 125,812 barrels fuel oil and 39 tons dry cargo destined to be delivered in New York.[1]
Survival and rescue
[edit]The survivors were distributed between two lifeboats and two life rafts, all separated from each other.[8]Three men had been lost:Second assistant engineerLaurence Finn, pumpman George Wickline andable seamanJohn Lane.[9]
There were 17 survivors aboard the No. 3 boat and 13 aboard the No. 4 boat.[8]The next morning both boats set sail for the Dominican Republic.[8]No. 3, whose most senior occupant was theChief engineer,Fred Lewis, landed atBoca de Yuma,[8]which is almost at the easternmost tip ofHispaniola.No. 4, whose most senior occupant was theFirst assistant engineer,Laurence Moore,[8]landed atLa Romana,[9]which is on the south coast slightly further west.
Larsen's raft contained 20 survivors.[8]They sighted an empty raft, paddled to it and redistributed themselves between the two rafts, then lashed the two together for the night.[8]At dawn on 6 June they sighted two more rafts: an empty one nearby and one further away with five survivors.[8]They paddled to the empty raft and lashed the three rafts together,[8]but the raft with the five survivors was too far to reach. The rafts then drifted throughout 6 June and into the morning of 7 June.[8]AUnited States Armyaircraft sighted the three linked rafts at about 1100 hrs and returned in the late afternoon to guideUnited States Coast Guard83-foot patrol boat83310(formerly CG460) fromSan Juan, Puerto Rico,which reached the rafts just before dusk.[8]The five survivors in the fourth raft had used up theirdistress flaresduring the day and were unable to signal their position, but the patrol boat searched for and eventually found them and their raft at about 2100 hrs.[8]The patrol boat had now rescued 25 survivors, which it then landed atPonce, Puerto Ricoat 0500 hrs on 8 June.[8]
Five of the survivors who sailed to the Dominican Republic were US Navy Armed Guards.[9]The 25 who were civilian crew were repatriated on aPan American World Airwaysflight fromCiudad Trujilloto Miami.[9]The 25 survivors rescued by the US Coast Guard sailed home from Puerto Rico on theClyde-Mallory Linespassenger ship[7]SSSeminole,which landed them atTampa,Florida on 26 June.[8]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^abcdefgVisser, Auke."C. O. Stillman - (1937-1942)".Auke Visser's International Esso Tankers site.Retrieved29 April2013.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafEsso 1946,p. 261
- ^abAllen, Tony; Vleggert, Nico (6 April 2009)."MV C. O. Stillman (+1942)".The Wreck Site.
- ^abcVisser, Auke (March 1928)."Drawing" C.O. Stillman "".Auke Visser's International Esso Tankers site.Retrieved29 April2013.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopEsso 1946,p. 262
- ^Visser, Auke."Lost without Trace".Auke Visser's International Esso Tankers site.Retrieved29 April2013.
- ^abcHelgason, Guðmundur (1995–2013)."C.O. Stillman Panamanian Motor Tanker".uboat.net.Guðmundur Helgason.Retrieved29 April2013.
- ^abcdefghijklmnoEsso 1946,p. 263
- ^abcdEsso 1946,p. 264
References
[edit]- Esso(1946).Ships of the Esso Fleet in World War II.Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.pp. 261–264.
17°30′N68°20′W/ 17.500°N 68.333°W
