BOOKS "A Careless Word ... A Needless Sinkingi' by Capt. Arthur R. Moore (American Merchant Marine Museum , Kings Point NY 1983, 552pp, illus. Order from Granite Hill Corp, RFD 1, Box 210, Hallowell ME 04347, $45 + postage, $2 domestic, $3 foreign). This book documents and illustrates the losses of the American Merchant Marine in World War II. It catalogs the ships that were lost, and where and how they were sunk-and also what happened to the submarines and raiders that destroyed them . The names of the seamen killed are listed side by side with their ships. The accounts of survivors tell what a sinking was like. There were no survivors from some of the attacks and the story is told only by a notation in the logbook of the victor. It is my belief that the book is quite accurate. I have compared what it says with such events in the war which I saw for myself, and also with stories of sea engagements told to me by shipmates who had taken part in them. To a large number of these eyewitness statements, Captain Moore has added the official documents which tie the whole thing together. And that is about all there is to go by, for newspaper reporters and historians were not present at the sinkings. Surprisingly, even sailors' yarns may have truth in them. One that I remember hearing in 1942 was about a Luckenbacher that fought with two raiders and sunk one of them before she was sunk herself. There it is on page 269-the Stephen Hopkins. To me another charm is added by the pictures of the old Hog Islanders built at the end of the First World War. Beloved of seamen, they were called by them as "home''--and indeed the ships were designed to better working conditions on the ocean. Memories also cluster about the names and pictures of the old rust-pots of the period such as the ~st Uishaway, the Tachira, etc. They went down without much prodding. After studying the volume, the story becomes clear. The American Merchant Marine was all but exterminated in 1942 and was effectively rebuilt and defended by 1943. The war ended with landings and invasions which drove up the tonnage losses again . Now that the ships have been scrapped and their crews have been retired, and even the records themselves are being shredded by the operations of the maritime industry, this book testifies for future times that our victory in World War II was not a foregone conclusion. GEORGE F. HEUSTON Mr. Heuston , an artist who went to sea to earn a living, was aboard the Santa Rita when she was sunk by a U-boat in 1942 and told the story in SH23. SEA HISlDRY, FALL 1983
SS Stephen Hopkins Company: Luckenbach Steamship Co. New York, NY Master: Paul Buck (Lost) Gross Tons: 7176 Home Port: San Francisco, Calif. Built: May 1942 at Richmond, Calif. Dimensions: 441' x 57' x 37' The Liberty Ship, SS Stephen Hopkins was shelled and sunk by the German Raiders Stier (Gerlach) and Tannenfels (Haase) at 0935 September 27, 1942 in the South Atlantic (28-08 Southm-59 West) while en route from Capetown, S.A . to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana in ballast to load bauxite. Her complement was 40 merchant crew, 15 Naval Armed Guard, and 1 passenger. Thirty-two crew members and 9 Navy men were killed in the battle or perished from exposure on rafts and lifeboats, including the Master and Armed Guard officer. At 0935, the Hopkins was attacked by the Stier and her escort , the blockade runner Tannen/els. The first salvo slammed into the superstructure of the vessel. The Master kept the stern of the Hopkins towards the raiders. Intense fire was poured into the vessel by both raiders . The men of the Hopkins fought back with the 37 mm bow gun, machine guns, and the 4" stern gun . Shells from the Hopkins continued to strike the Stier. A salvo destroyed the lifeboats on the port side of the Hopkins and another shell struck in the engine room blowing up the starboard boiler. The ship lost headway and as she lay almost dead in the water, the raider's shells turned the Hopkins into a burning, twisted wreck . The men atthe4" stern gun continued to fire back but one by one the gunners were killed or wounded . A shell hit the afte r magazine, hurling the Navy ensign to the deck of the gun tub. An engine cadet loaded and fired the 4" gun five times by himself. After the shells were expended , he left the gun platform and was killed by flying shrapnel. The battle lasted
20 minutes. The Hopkins went down in flames but the Stier followed her to the bottom. The Tannenfels, although damaged , made Bordeaux, France safely with the survivors of the Stier. After surveying his blazing ship and with his command sinking beneath him , the Master reluctantly gave orders to abandon ship. He and the 2nd Engineer found #1 lifeboat still usable and together they lowered it into the water as shellfire continued to demolish the Hopkins. They then separated and the Master was not seen again except for a glimpse of him on a life raft . As the boat was being lowered , a shell burst around the boat killing two men . This lifeboat was safely launched and the remainder of the crew put over the life rafts. The 2nd Engineer jumped overboard and was picked up by the lifeboat. The men in this boat rowed around for 2 hours picking up survivors in the water. The sea anchor was put out and the boat drifted in the vicinity of the sinking until noon the next day but they found only floating wreckage. The Second Engineer and eighteen other survivors rigged and sail and headed northwest. The boat made the coast of Brazil, at the village of Barra do Itabopoana on October 27 at 0400. Four of the original 19 survivors died in the lifeboat.
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In the words of a spokesman for the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations : " The extraordinary heroism and outstanding devotion to duty of the officers and crew of the Armed Guard and the ship's company we re in keeping with the highest tradition of American seamanship. Their fearless determination to fight their ship and perseverance to engage the enemy to the utmost until their ship was rendered useless, aflame, and in a sinking condition , demonstrated conduct beyond the call of duty." - From "A Careless Word ... A Needless Sinking"
The 3 Masted Schooner
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