SS Samuel Huntington

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SS Samuel Huntington

BUILT: May, 1942 in Richmond, California
COMPANY: Oliver J. Olson & Co., San Francisco, California
MASTER: Richard Stenman
DIMENSIONS: 441' x 57' x 37'
GROSS TONS: 7181

The Liberty Ship, SS SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, was bombed by German aircraft at 1900 local time on January 29, 1944 while at anchor one half mile off South Beach, Anzio, Italy. The Ship had arrived from Naples, Italy with a cargo of ammunition, gasoline, and TNT, having sailed from Naples on January 28. She was at anchor waiting to be unloaded. Her complement was 45 merchant crew, 39 Naval Armed Guard, 13 Royal Navy personnel, and 5 U.S. Army personnel, making a total of 102 on board. Of this number, 4 crew members were killed in the attack and one died from his wounds on February 11.

At 1800 local time, German aircraft attacked. Although there were several near misses, no direct hits were reported. The planes attacked again at 1900 local time. A bomb struck on the port side behind the flying bridge, penetrated the decks and exploded in the engine room. Two more bombs struck on the port side below the waterline. The #3 and #4 hatches were blown out as well as the engine room skylight. Water rushed into the engine room and #3 – 4 cargo holds. The entire mid-ship structure was destroyed. Fire broke out in #3 between deck but was extinguished in an hour. A jeep stowed on top of #3 hatch was blown onto the flying bridge. Other vehicles on deck were blown overboard. At 2230, another bomb struck the ship starting a fire. The vessel exploded and sank at 0300 local time on January 30, 1944.

The injured men were placed in lifeboats and rafts, and later were taken aboard a landing craft for transportation to Anzio. The remainder of the personnel manned the guns, fought the fires, and helped with the wounded. They were forced to abandon ship at 2100 on January 29, 1944.

This ship sailed from Norfolk, Virginia on December 15 in Convoy UGS-27, arriving Oran, Algeria on January 3 and Naples on January 21.

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