SS Benjamin Harrison
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Short description|Liberty ship of WWII}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag= {{USN flag|1948}} |Ship name= Benjamin Harrison |Ship namesake=Benjamin Harrison |Ship owner = War Shipping Administration (WSA) |Ship operator = Calmar Steamship Corporation |Ship awarded = 14 March 1941 |Ship ordered = as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 25 |Ship builder= Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland{{sfn|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards|2008}} |Ship original cost= $1,277,991{{sfn|MARCOM}} |Ship yard number= 2012 |Ship way number= 1 |Ship laid down= 27 September 1941 |Ship launched= 24 January 1942 |Ship completed= 13 March 1942 |Ship sponsor= |Ship identification = |Ship motto= |Ship fate= Torpedoed on 16 March 1943 and scuttled |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = {{sfn|Davies|2004|p=23}} | Ship class ={{Liberty ship class}} | Ship type = | Ship tonnage = {{Liberty ship tonnage}} | Ship displacement = {{Liberty ship displacement}} | Ship length = {{Liberty ship length}} | Ship beam = {{Liberty ship beam}} | Ship draft = {{Liberty ship draft}} | Ship capacity = {{Liberty ship cargo capacity}} | Ship hold depth = | Ship power = {{Liberty ship power}} | Ship propulsion = {{Liberty ship propulsion|8}} | Ship complement = {{Liberty ship complement}} | Ship armament = {{Liberty ship armament}} | Ship speed = {{Liberty ship speed}} | Ship notes = }} |
SS Benjamin Harrison was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Benjamin Harrison, an American planter and merchant, a revolutionary leader, and a Founding Father of the United States. She served a year from March 1942 to March 1943, when she was attacked and scuttled.
Construction
Benjamin Harrison was laid down on 27 September 1941, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 26, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; and was launched on 24 January 1942.{{sfn|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards|2008}}{{sfn|MARCOM}}
History
She was allocated to Calmar Steamship Corporation, on 13 March 1942.{{sfn|MARAD}}
=Sinking=
She was loaded with stores for Allied forces in North Africa and sailed from Hampton Roads on 4 March 1943, with Convoy UGS 6. At 20:51, on 16 March 1943, she was struck by two torpedoes fired by the {{GS|U-172}}, part of Wolfpack Unverzagt, during the only successful wolfpack attack on the trans-Atlantic UG convoy. Benjamin Harrison was struck in the #5 hold on the starboard side and began to slowly settle, but did not sink quickly. As the crew began to abandon ship, confusion caused two of the lifeboats to be improperly launched, allowing the occupants to be dropped into the ocean. Only one lifeboat was launched successfully, due to the last boat being damaged in the torpedo attack. Two officers and an Armed guard perished. The escort ship {{USS|Rowan|DD-405|6}} scuttled Benjamin Harrison at 21:30, with gunfire, {{cvt|150|mi}} east northeast of Terceira, Azores, near {{coord|39|09|N|24|15|W|display=inline, title}}.{{sfn|Uboat}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite web
| url = http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/bethfairfield.htm
| title = Bethlehem-Fairfield, Baltimore MD
| publisher = www.ShipbuildingHistory.com
| date = 14 August 2008
| access-date = 18 February 2020
| ref = {{sfnRef|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards|2008}}
}}
- {{cite web
|url= https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/12316
|title=Benjamin Harrison
|author=Maritime Administration
|work=Ship History Database Vessel Status Card
|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration
|access-date= 18 February 2020
|ref={{sfnref|MARAD}}
}}
- {{cite web
|last= Davies
|first= James
|url= http://www.ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf
|title= Specifications (As-Built)
|page=23
|date= May 2004
|access-date= 18 February 2020
}}
- {{cite web
|url= http://usmaritimecommission.de/query.php?datalist=1&typeofquery=Name%20of%20Ship&valueofquery=Benjamin%20Harrison&code=B0025a
|title= SS Benjamin Harrison
|access-date= 18 February 2020
|ref= {{sfnRef|MARCOM}}
}}
- {{cite web
|url= https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2783.html
|title= Benjamin Harrison
|date=
|access-date= 17 February 2020
|ref= {{sfnRef|Uboat}}
}}
Further reading
- Rohwer, J. and Hummelchen, G. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945 Naval Institute Press 1992 {{ISBN|1-55750-105-X}}
- Hague, Arnold The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945 Naval Institute Press 2000 {{ISBN|1-55750-019-3}}
{{Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards}}
{{March 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin Harrison}}
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean