SS Stephen Hopkins
{{short description|World War II Liberty ship of the United States}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = SS Stephen Hopkins.jpg | Ship caption = Picture of Stephen Hopkins at her launch. }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = | Ship flag = | Ship name = Stephen Hopkins | Ship namesake = Stephen Hopkins | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Permanente Metals Corporation | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = May 1942 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Sunk in battle September 27, 1942 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = Liberty ship | Ship tonnage = {{GRT|7,181}} | Ship length = {{convert|441.5|ft|0|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|57|ft|0|abbr=on}} | Ship draught = {{convert|27.75|ft|0|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = | Ship propulsion = triple expansion, {{convert|2,500|ihp|kW|abbr=on}} | Ship speed = {{convert|11|kn|0}} | Ship range = | Ship complement = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = 1 × 4 in (102 mm)/50 caliber gun (Mark 9)Campbell 1985 p.143 2 × 37 mm cannon; 6 machine guns | Ship armour = | Ship armor = | Ship aircraft = | Ship aircraft facilities = | Ship notes = }} |
SS Stephen Hopkins was a United States Merchant Marine Liberty ship that served in World War II. She was the only US merchant vessel to sink a German surface combatant during the war.
She was built at the Permanente Metals Corporation (Kaiser) shipyards in Richmond, California. Her namesake was Stephen Hopkins, a Founding Father and signer of the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island.Sawyer, L. A. and Mitchell, W. H. The Liberty Ships: The History of the "Emergency" Type Cargo Ships Constructed in the United States During the Second World War, Second Edition, pp. 13, 141-2, Lloyd's of London Press Ltd., London, England, 1985. {{ISBN|1-85044-049-2}}. She was operated by Luckenbach Steamship Company under charter with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.
Action of 27 September 1942
She completed her first cargo run, but never made it home. On September 27, 1942, en route from Cape Town to Surinam, she encountered the heavily armed German commerce raider {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Stier||2}} and her tender {{MS|Tannenfels|1938|2}}. Because of fog, the ships were only {{convert|2|mi}} apart when they sighted each other.
Ordered to stop, Stephen Hopkins refused to surrender, and Stier opened fire. Although greatly outgunned, the crew of Stephen Hopkins fought back, replacing the Armed Guard crew of the ship's lone 4-inch (102 mm) gun with volunteers as they fell. The fight was fierce and short, and by its end both ships were wrecks.
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Action of 27 September 1942
| image =
| caption =
| partof = World War II
| date = September 27, 1942
| place = off Surinam, Atlantic Ocean
| coordinates =
| result = Mutually destructive engagement
| combatant1 = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}
| commander1 = 23px Paul Buck {{KIA}}
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany|naval}} Horst Gerlach
| strength1 = Liberty ship Stephen Hopkins
| strength2 = Auxiliary cruiser {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Stier||2}}
Supply ship {{MS|Tannenfels|1938|2}}
| casualties1 = 42 killed
Stephen Hopkins sunk
| casualties2 = 2 killed
Stier scuttled
Tannenfels lightly damaged
| notes =
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Atlantic Campaign}}
}}
Stephen Hopkins sank at 10:00. Stier, too heavily damaged to continue her voyage, was scuttled by its crew less than two hours later. Most of the crew of Stephen Hopkins died, including Captain Paul Buck. The 15 survivors drifted on a lifeboat for a month before reaching shore in Brazil.
Captain Buck was posthumously awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for his actions.{{Cite web |url=http://www.usmm.org/duffyheroic.html |title=Tribute to Paul Buck |access-date=2004-05-04 |archive-date=2004-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040415032619/http://www.usmm.org/duffyheroic.html |url-status=dead }} So was US Merchant Marine Academy cadet Edwin Joseph O'Hara, who single-handedly fired the last shots from the ship's 4-inch gun.{{cite web | url=https://www.maritime.dot.gov/history/gallant-ship-award/ss-stephen-hopkins | title=Ss Stephen Hopkins | Marad }} Navy reservist Lt. (j.g.) Kenneth Martin Willett, commander of the Armed Guard detachment which manned the ship's 4-inch gun, was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.{{cite web | url=https://www.maritime.dot.gov/history/gallant-ship-award/ss-stephen-hopkins | title=Ss Stephen Hopkins | Marad }}
The Liberty ships {{SS|Paul Buck}}, {{SS|Edwin Joseph O'Hara}}, and {{SS|Richard Moczkowski}}, and the destroyer escort {{USS|Kenneth M. Willett|DE-354|6}} were named in honor of crew members of Stephen Hopkins, and {{SS|Stephen Hopkins II}} in honor of the ship itself.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
Recognition
- O'Hara Hall, the gymnasium facility at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, is named in honor of Midshipman O'Hara.[https://www.usmmasports.com/facilities/OHaraHall usmmasports.com Stephen Hopkins]
- Captain Paul Buck, master of SS Stephen Hopkins, was given the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal by The President of the United States. For determination to fight his ship and his perseverance in engaging the enemy to the utmost until his ship was rendered helpless. The award was given by Admiral Emory S. Land.[http://www.usmm.org/heroes.html usmm.org Heroes, Paul Buck]
- George S. Cronk, Second Engineer on the ship, sailed his lifeboat 2,200 miles for 31 days to save his shipmates. He was given the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal by the President of the United States. The award was given by Admiral Emory S. Land.[http://www.usmm.org/heroes.html usmm.org Heroes, George S. Cronk]
- SS Stephen Hopkins was awarded the Gallant Ship Award for outstanding courage against overpowering odds by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration.{{cite web | url=https://www.maritime.dot.gov/history/gallant-ship-award/ss-stephen-hopkins | title=Ss Stephen Hopkins | Marad }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book| title=Naval Weapons of World War Two |author=Campbell, John |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1985 |isbn=0-87021-459-4}}
{{refend}}
External links
- [http://www.usmm.org/hopkins.html The Gallant Liberty Ship SS Stephen Hopkins Sinks a German Raider] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081104112803/http://www.usmm.org/hopkins.html |date=2008-11-04 }} from American Merchant Marine at War – U.S. Maritime Service Veterans
- [https://www.maritime.dot.gov/history/gallant-ship-award/ss-stephen-hopkins Gallant Ship Award Citation] from U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration.
- [http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/ships/html/sh_087300_stephenhopki.htm Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia] from Houghton Mifflin.
- [http://www.usmm.org/duffyheroic.html Tribute to Paul Buck] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040415032619/http://www.usmm.org/duffyheroic.html |date=2004-04-15 }} and an account of the battle.
- [http://www.ssjeremiahobrien.org/visit.php Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802000702/http://www.ssjeremiahobrien.org/visit.php |date=2014-08-02 }} for Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien
- [http://www.ssjohnwbrown.org/ Website] for Liberty Ship SS John W. Brown
- [https://www.americanheritage.com/gallantry-ugly-duckling The Gallantry of An “Ugly Duckling”: Outgunned by the Nazi raider, the Stephen Hopkins could have struck her colors. Instead she elected to fight, Robert L. Vargas, American Heritage Magazine, December 1969]
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{{Maiden voyage sinkings}}
{{September 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen Hopkins}}
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Category:Ships built in Richmond, California