SS Meriwether Lewis
{{short description|World War II Liberty ship of the United States}}
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{{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1940}} |Ship name= Meriwether Lewis |Ship namesake=Meriwether Lewis |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= |Ship laid down=19 May 1941 |Ship launched=19 October 1941 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Torpedoed by U-634 3 March 1943 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Cargo ship |Ship tonnage={{DWT|10,856|metric|disp=long}} |Ship displacement=14,245 tons{{cite web |url=http://ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf |title=Liberty Cargo Ships |first=James |last=Davies |work=ww2ships.com |year=2012 |page=23 |access-date=6 May 2012}} |Ship length=135 m (441 ft 6 in) |Ship beam=17.3 m (56 ft 10.75 in) |Ship height= |Ship draft=8.5 m (27 ft 9.25 in) |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=*Two oil-fired boilers,
|Ship sail plan= |Ship speed=11 to 11.5 knots (20 to 21 km/h) |Ship range=23,000 miles (37,000 km) |Ship endurance= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=41 men |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=Stern-mounted 4-in (102 mm) deck gun for use against surfaced submarines, variety of anti-aircraft guns |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
The SS Meriwether Lewis (Hull Number 170) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Meriwether Lewis, an American explorer who, along with William Clark, led the Corps of Discovery which explored the American West.
The ship was laid down on 19 May 1941, then launched on 19 October 1941.
She was operated by the American Mail Line under charter with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. On February 7, 1943, the ship left New York as part of convoy HX 227, "bound for the United Kingdom and then to Murmansk, Russia." According to the German Navy, in the early morning of March 2, she was identified as a straggler separated from her convoy; an initial attack by {{GS|U-759||2}} failed due to engine problems. U-759 then contacted {{GS|U-634||2}}, leading it to SS Meriwether Lewis. One of four initial torpedoes stopped her; the second of two more torpedoes detonated the ship's ammunition cargo. She sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 3 March 1943, southwest of Iceland at position {{Coord|62|10|N|28|25|W|display=inline,title|scale:15000000}}.
By the time {{USCGC|Ingham|WHEC-35|6}} arrived at the site of the attack, all that was found was a 30-mile line of floating tires. There were no survivors from her crew.
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite book |author=The American Maritime History Project |title= Braving the Wartime Seas|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aT34AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA559|publisher= Xlibris Corporation|page= 559 |date= 2014 |isbn= 978-1493186150 |access-date=2015-08-20}}{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}
}}
{{March 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meriwether Lewis}}
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Category:Maritime incidents in March 1943
Category:Ships lost with all hands
Category:Ships built in Portland, Oregon
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