SS James Eagan Layne
{{short description| Liberty ship sunk off Cornwall, now a dive site }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=SS James Eagan Layne.jpg |Ship caption=Launching of the James Eagan Layne }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1944}} |Ship name= James Eagan Layne |Ship namesake= James Eagan Layne |Ship operator=US Navigation Company, New York City |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Delta Shipbuilding Corporation, New Orleans, Louisiana |Ship yard number=157 |Ship laid down=23 October 1944 |Ship launched=2 December 1944 |Ship completed=18 December 1944 |Ship acquired= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship fate=Sunk on 21 March 1945 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Liberty ship |Ship tonnage=7,176 tons |Ship displacement= |Ship length=422.8 ft |Ship beam=57 ft |Ship height= |Ship draft=27 ft 9.25 in |Ship propulsion=*Two oil-fired boilers,
|Ship speed=11 to 11.5 knots (20 to 21 km/h) |Ship capacity= |Ship crew=69 |Ship notes= }} |
SS James Eagan Layne was a liberty ship. She was beached and sunk during the Second World War off Whitsand Bay, Cornwall, United Kingdom.
History
=Voyages and sinking=
She was built by the Delta Shipbuilding Corporation, New Orleans, Louisiana in 1944 and was operated by the United States Navigation Company, of New York City. She was named after the second engineer of the Esso Baton Rouge, who was killed when Esso Baton Rouge was sunk by Reinhard Hardegen's U-123 on 23rd February 1943.
The final voyage of the James Eagan Layne was in convoy BTC-103[http://www.uboat.net/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=BTC-103] Convoy BTC-103 on uboat.net to carry 4,500 tons of US Army Engineers' equipment from Barry, Wales, to Ghent, in Belgium.The Liberty Ships, p83, L.A. Sawyer & W.H. Mitchell, {{ISBN|1-85044-049-2}} She also carried motorboats and lumber as deck cargo. She was sighted on 21 March 1945, sailing 12 miles off Plymouth by U-399Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel, p28, Innes McCartney, {{ISBN|1-904381-04-9}} and torpedoed on the starboard side between holds #4 and #5. She was badly damaged, but was taken in tow by tugs Flaunt and Atlas. She was beached in Whitsand Bay Cornwall, but subsequently settled on the bottom and was declared a total loss. There were no casualties amongst her crew of 69.Great British Wrecks, p47, Kendall McDonald, {{ISBN|0-946020-07-8}}
=As a wreck=
File:James Eagan Layne DUP (natural light) - 14698846069.jpg
Some salvage was done at the time of her loss before the forward holds flooded and much of the cargo in the stern section was salvaged by an Icelandic firm in 1953 with further salvage work completed in 1967.UKHO Wreck Report #17655, UK Hydrographic Office
The wreck has been a popular dive site for many years.[https://divernet.com/scuba-diving/wreck-tours/wreck-tour-62-the-james-eagan-layne/] DiverNet Wreck Tour: 62, The James Eagan LayneDive South Cornwall, p43, Richard Larn, {{ISBN|0-946020-25-6}} James Eagan Layne is situated {{convert|540|m}} east of the wreck of HMS Scylla - in 22m of water with her bows at {{coord|50|19.602|N|4|14.714|W|display=inline,title}}. In June 2011, three divers got into difficulty on the wreck, resulting in one death.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13741387|title=Diver dies after shipwreck rescue in Whitsand Bay|date=12 June 2011|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=12 June 2011}}
March 2015 is the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the James Eagan Layne. To celebrate this anniversary, the Liberty 70 Project was started with the aim of researching and documenting all aspects of the life of this vessel - wartime transport, shipwreck, commercial salvage, the classic UK wreck dive and artificial reef.[http://www.shipsproject.org/Liberty70/index.htm] The Liberty 70 Project
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.shipsproject.org/Liberty70/index.htm The Liberty 70 Project]
- [http://www.submerged.co.uk/jameseganlayne.php Submerged]
- [http://www.fourthelement.com/adventures/3d_james_eagan_layne_wreck_map.php FourthElement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827161452/http://www.fourthelement.com/adventures/3d_james_eagan_layne_wreck_map.php |date=27 August 2011 }}
{{March 1945 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:James Eagan Layne}}
Category:Wreck diving sites in England
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Category:Ships built in New Orleans
Category:Maritime incidents in March 1945