Another Interesting Story

Sailor Steve · 06-06-10, 12:52 PM

Those of you who have been around long enough know that from time to time my research for the Ship Names mod leads to some fascinating stories. Here's another one.

SS Pedernales,

a small (4317 tons) steam tanker built in Monfalcone, Italy in 1938 and owned by Lago Shipping Co Ltd, London, England (a subsidiary of Esso), was lying at anchor in San Nicholas harbor at Aruba, awaiting orders to start a voyage to Curaçao with a load of crude oil when U-156, under the command of Werner Hartenstein, attacked the harbor, torpedoing Pedernales and SS Oranjestad, another tanker owned by Lago Shipping.

Oranjestad sank after an hour, with the loss of 15 of her 25-man crew, but Pedernales burned all night and refused to sink. The next day she was pushed ashore by tugboats.

Meanwhile Hartenstein surfaced and commenced prepared to shell the refinery, but his gun crew made a fatal mistake:

Quote:

...the crew of the deck gun forgot to remove the water plug from the barrel, causing an explosion that seriously wounded two men.*

16 rounds from the 37mm AA gun were fired, but only two hits could be located by the Allies: a dent in an oil storage tank and a hole in a house. The U-boat then continued towards Oranjestad harbour and at 09.43 hours torpedoed the Arkansas lying at the pier of the Eagle Refinery, after missing with two torpedoes.

*Matrosengefreiter Heinrich Büssinger died of wounds within one hour and was buried at sea the next day. The gunnery officer (II WO) Leutnant zur See Dietrich von dem Borne lost his right foot and a lot of blood, so Hartenstein got permission from the BdU to put him ashore into French captivity at Fort de France, Martinique on 21 February. On 26 February, after using up all torpedoes, the commander decided to saw off the ruined portion of the gun barrel and used this shortened gun to sink two more ships.

http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1340.html

Pedernales

was later cut in half, had her center section removed and was welded back together

and sailed under her own power to Baltimore, Maryland, where she was rebuilt,

relaunched,

and returned to service.

In 1957 she was transferred to Cia de Petroleo Lago, Venezuela, and renamed Esso Pedernales. In 1958 she was sold to NV Phs. van Ommeren’s Scheepvaartbedrijf, Rotterdam, Netherlands, and renamed Katendrecht. In October 1959 she was broken up at Rotterdam.

RConch · 06-06-10, 01:03 PM

Great story and a good example why harbor attacks in shallow water aren't worth it. Ships can be raised.
Thanks Steve.

Kpt. Weyprecht · 06-06-10, 01:12 PM

I heard of many raised ships (and I knew that several of those sunk by Hartenstein in shallow water returned to service) but cutting the ship, welding it back and rebuilding it again on the other side of the ocean is another thing.

Really a great story, thanks, Sailor Steve!

PappyCain · 06-06-10, 01:50 PM

robbo180265 · 06-06-10, 05:01 PM

Truly amazing story - thanks for sharing it

ryanglavin · 06-06-10, 09:09 PM

Remembering something Clay Blair wrote as a little side note in his "Hitler's U-boat Wars" books, he said that if hartenstien actually destroyed the oil refinery, it would have damaged the allies alot more than any ship, because the refinery (on Aruba) was one of the largest.

Sailor Steve · 06-07-10, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanglavin

Remembering something Clay Blair wrote as a little side note in his "Hitler's U-boat Wars" books, he said that if hartenstien actually destroyed the oil refinery, it would have damaged the allies alot more than any ship, because the refinery (on Aruba) was one of the largest.

Well, if his crew hadn't forgotten to take the plug out of the gun he might have done just that!

I just reread the story myself, and I noticed something else that should make us smile: Note that at Oranjestad harbor Hartenstein torpedoed the tanker SS Arkansas. His first two shots missed a big ship that was tied up at a pier!

So don't complain about manual targetting any more!

robbo180265 · 06-07-10, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Well, if his crew hadn't forgotten to take the plug out of the gun he might have done just that!

I just reread the story myself, and I noticed something else that should make us smile: Note that at Oranjestad harbor Hartenstein torpedoed the tanker SS Arkansas. His first two shots missed a big ship that was tied up at a pier!

So don't complain about manual targetting any more!

Poor man - I can just see him stood on the bridge yelling

"FFS can't we get anything right!"

nemchenk · 06-07-10, 04:05 AM

Still, his crew did ingeniously cut down the damaged deck gun and actually sunk some ships with it! Way to go Damage Control party!

Jimbuna · 06-07-10, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robbo180265

Poor man - I can just see him stood on the bridge yelling

"FFS can't we get anything right!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemchenk

LOL

Still, his crew did ingeniously cut down the damaged deck gun and actually sunk some ships with it! Way to go Damage Control party!

Quite ingenious

Herr-Berbunch · 06-07-10, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I just reread the story myself, and I noticed something else that should make us smile: Note that at Oranjestad harbor Hartenstein torpedoed the tanker SS Arkansas. His first two shots missed a big ship that was tied up at a pier!

You don't know how happy that makes me feel, so my misses of moving targets CAN be forgiven!

Brag · 06-07-10, 01:23 PM

Great find, Steve!
Thanks for sharing. It made my day.

06-06-10, 01:03 PM	#2
RConch Captain Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: No. Virginia Posts: 619 Downloads: 518 Uploads: 0	Great story and a good example why harbor attacks in shallow water aren't worth it. Ships can be raised. Thanks Steve. __________________ "Noch und Noch" Prowling the Nord Atlantik with GWX 3.0.

06-06-10, 01:50 PM	#4
PappyCain Samurai Navy Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: on the Atlantic Ocean Posts: 559 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	__________________ DID, no cheats, no shortcuts, no non-historic equipment deviations. Boat and crew safety is integral with my immersion style! Follow the historic events during your patrol: http://www.uboat.net/today.html

06-06-10, 09:09 PM	#6
ryanglavin Samurai Navy Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Evading that Hunter/Killer Group on my Tail Posts: 584 Downloads: 35 Uploads: 0	Remembering something Clay Blair wrote as a little side note in his "Hitler's U-boat Wars" books, he said that if hartenstien actually destroyed the oil refinery, it would have damaged the allies alot more than any ship, because the refinery (on Aruba) was one of the largest. __________________

06-07-10, 01:23 PM	#12
Brag Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Docked on a Russian pond Posts: 7,072 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Great find, Steve! Thanks for sharing. It made my day. __________________ Espionage, adventure, suspense, are just a click away Click here to look inside Brag's book: Amazon.com: Kingmaker: Alexey Braguine: Books Order Kingmaker here: http://www.subsim.com/store.html For Tactics visit:http://www.freewebs.com/kielman/

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06-06-10, 01:12 PM	#3
Kpt. Weyprecht Gunner Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Paris, France Posts: 97 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 0	I heard of many raised ships (and I knew that several of those sunk by Hartenstein in shallow water returned to service) but cutting the ship, welding it back and rebuilding it again on the other side of the ocean is another thing. Really a great story, thanks, Sailor Steve!

06-06-10, 05:01 PM	#5
robbo180265 Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brighton, England.Party capital of the south Posts: 2,255 Downloads: 126 Uploads: 0	Truly amazing story - thanks for sharing it

06-07-10, 04:05 AM	#9
nemchenk Bosun Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 69 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	Still, his crew did ingeniously cut down the damaged deck gun and actually sunk some ships with it! Way to go Damage Control party!