SS David H. Atwater
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Name: | SS David H. Atwater |
| Owner: | Atwacoal Transportation Co., Fall River, MA |
| Builder: | Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan |
| Yard number: | 505A |
| Launched: | June 1919 |
| Fate: | Sunk by German submarine U-552, 2 April 1942, between Cape Charles and Cape Henlopen |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Steam cargo ship |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 253.33 ft (77.21 m) |
| Beam: | 43.5 ft (13.3 m) |
| Depth: | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Crew: | 8 officers, 19 men |
The SS David H. Atwater was a small unarmed coastal steamer which was sunk on 2 April 1942 by gunfire from German submarine U-552 in one of the more controversial actions of the Kriegsmarine during World War II, primarily due to the manner of the sinking.
The ship began life as the Crabtree, constructed by the Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse, Michigan for the United States Shipping Board, and launched in June 1919. She was renamed W.J. Crosby in 1922, for the North Shore Transit Company of Port Huron, Michigan, and in 1929 was sold to the Canada Forwarding Company Ltd. of Port Arthur, Ontario. In 1935 she was renamed David H. Atwater for the Atwacoal Transportation Company of Fall River, Massachusetts, which became her home port.
On the night of 2 April 1942, at the height of the U-boat offensive against US shipping known as the Second Happy Time, the David H. Atwater was en route from Norfolk, Virginia to Fall River, Massachusetts, with a full load of 4,000 tons of coal. Her master, William K. Webster, had disregarded instructions and sailed from the Chesapeake in the afternoon, therefore could not make the run to the Delaware Capes before nightfall.
Around 21:00, between Cape Charles and Cape Henlopen, the ship was ambushed by U-552 , commanded by Erich Topp, which had followed her underwater. U-552 surfaced about 600 yd (550 m) from the freighter and opened fire with her 88mm deck gun and automatic weapons (possibly including the submarine's 20mm cannon) without warning, one of her first shells destroying the bridge and killing all of the officers. In all, 93 shots were fired from the deck gun, with 50 hits being recorded on the small freighter, which rapidly began to sink. Many of Atwater's crewmen were hit as they tried to man the lifeboats. When Captain Webster was shot, the crew abandoned attempts to launch the lifeboats and leapt into the sea.
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