SS Louise Lykes (1941)
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Louise Lykes |
| Owner | Lykes Brothers Steamship Company[1] |
| Port of registry | New Orleans[1] |
| Builder |
|
| Yard number | 180[2] |
| Launched | 27 September 1941[2] |
| Completed | October 1941[2] |
| Fate | Sunk with all hands by U-384, 9 January 1943[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Type C2-F ship[2] |
| Tonnage | 6,155 GRT[1][3] |
| Length | 439 ft 0 in (133.81 m)[1] |
| Beam | 63 ft 1 in (19.23 m)[1] |
| Draft | 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)[1] |
| Decks | two plus shelter deck[1] |
| Propulsion | 2 screw propeller[1] |
| Speed | 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h)[2] |
| Crew | 10 officers, 41 sailors, 32 Naval Armed Guardsmen (83 total)[3] |
| Armament |
|
SS Louise Lykes was a
Career
Louise Lykes was
Information on most of Louise Lykes' wartime activities is also absent from secondary sources, but she is recorded as sailing in
Less than a month after her cruise to Casablanca and back, Louis Lykes departed from New York City for Belfast with a cargo of munitions.[6] Sailing independently on a zig-zag course, she was discovered at 20:25 GWT[Note 2] some 500 nautical miles (930 km) south-southeast of Iceland[Note 3] by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Achim von Rosenberg-Gruszcynski, in command of U-384.[6] Lookouts on Louise Lykes spotted the German vessel and opened fire, straddling the submarine with misses. In response, von Rosenberg-Gruszcynski launched a spread of four torpedoes at the American vessel from a distance of 2,000 yards (1,800 m). Although two of the torpedoes were wide of the mark, the other pair did their job and struck home on the cargo ship,[3] igniting her cargo and raining debris on the deck of U-384.[6] After a crash dive to avoid damage at the hands of the exploded American ship, von Rosenberg-Gruszcynski surfaced after five minutes to find no trace of the ship afloat.[6] Master Edwin J. Madden, 9 other officers, 41 crewmen, and 32 Naval Armed Guardsmen were killed in the attack on Louise Lykes,[3] the first of two ships sunk by U-384 during the war.[7]
Notes
- ^ The additional vessels for UGF 2 were: destroyers Butler, Charles F. Hughes, Earle, Gleaves, Hilary P. Jones, Lansdale, Madison, Mayo, Niblack, Nicholson, and Plunkett; oiler Chicopee; and minelayer Terror. The eight destroyers accompanying Arkansas and GUF 2 were Benson, Chevalier, Gleaves, La Vallette, Mayo, Plunkett, Strong, and Taylor.
- ^ GWT is German war time, the German name for Central European Time during World War II. See Browning, p. xi.
- ^ Louise Lykes' position is given as 58°55′N 23°40′W / 58.917°N 23.667°W by Browning (p. 262) and as 56°15′N 22°0′W / 56.250°N 22.000°W by Helgason.
References
- ^ Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Register of Ships (1941–42 ed.). London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Scan of page "L" (pdf) hosted at Plimsoll Ship Data Archived 2012-02-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Louise Lykes (2240113)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f Browning, p. 262.
- ^ a b "Convoy UGF.2". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ a b "Convoy GUF.2". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ a b c d Helgason, Guðmundur. "Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Louise Lykes". Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWII U-boat Successes: Ships hit by U-384". Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
References
- Browning, Robert M. (1996). U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II. OCLC 32310902.
56°15′N 22°0′W / 56.250°N 22.000°W
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in January 1943 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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