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SUNK NEAR BARNEGAT
MS Persephone
On may 15, 1942, the Panama Transport Company tanker Persephone sailed from Aruba for New York. Carrying a cargo of fuel oil, she was manned by a Danish crew of thirty-seven officers and men. The vessel was unarmed.
Ten days later, on May 25, while running in Convoy up the New Jersey coast, the Persephone was struck by two torpedoes when she was approximately two and a half miles due east of Barnegat Light. One of the torpedoes hit the engineroom, causing the ship to sink by the stern within 25 minutes after the attack. Reports received by the Navy confirmed the master's statement that the po-sition of the vessel when torpedoed was about Latitude 39°44' North, Longitude 73°53' West. At that point the chart indicates a depth of 7 to 8 fathoms.
Nine Lives Lost
Of the ship's complement of thirty-seven, nine were lost and six injured. The twenty-eight survivors, picked up from two lifeboats and a raft by Navy and Coast Guard vessels, were put ashore at Barnegat Coast Guard Station.
The bow of the Persephone remained above water. During attempts at salvage, the torpedoed tanker broke in two. Salvage officers reported that there was no possibility of saving the stern section. When the forward part of the vessel was floated and towed to port, the owners tendered abandonment, which was accepted by the War Shipping Administration.
Was Last Ship of a Convoy
The following narrative is quoted from reports by Captain Helge Quistgaard, master of the Persephone at the time of the disaster:
"On May 25, when the attack occurred, we were about two and a half miles east of Barnegat Light. The weather was slightly hazy and the sea calm. Visibility was good. The wind was northeast, Force 2. We were the last ship in a convoy, with ample protection both in the air and on the surface.
"I was in my room. Second Mate Anton Andersen was on watch on the bridge, with Anders Sandvik, A.B., at the wheel. Kaj Mourit-sen, O.S., was lookout on top of the wheelhouse. On duty in the engineroom were Third Engineer Carl Nielsen, Fourth Engineer Gustav A. Sorensen, Junior Engineer Foike Hallberg, and Oiler Carl Christensen.
"At 2:58 p.m. a torpedo hit the Persephone on the starboard side in way of the engineroom. A thick, black smoke covered the entire ship.
Stern Settled on Bottom
"About 45 seconds after the first explosion, another torpedo struck the Persephone at No. 8 tank, starboard side, causing large quantities of oil to spout onto the ship. The stern of the tanker settled immediately and rested on the bottom, leaving the bow and midship house sticking out of the water.
"I went to the bridge and gave orders to abandon ship. No. 1 lifeboat had been partly lowered by officers and crew members who were amidships at the time of the torpedoing. It got safely away with seven men. I noticed that a large raft was already floating about 300 feet from the Persephone, with seventeen men on it. This raft was carried away by the backwash caused by the rapid settling of the ship's stern. A number of the crew, caught by the explosion as they were having coffee in the messroom, jumped onto this raft and were thus saved before it washed away.
"As I realized that the tanker's stern was resting on the bottom, I decided to collect all the navigation instruments I could carry and put them in lifeboat No. 2, which I lowered myself after making sure that all hands had left the ship. I was unable to row away alone, but was picked up by one of the escorting Coast Guard vessels. Other Coast Guard craft, which put out from shore in response to our distress signal, rescued the survivors in lifeboat No. 1, together with others who were in the water and those on the after port side life raft.
Coast Guard Chased Sub
"The Coast Guard vessel that picked us up gave chase to the submarine, as did other escort units. At no time did the submarine show itself.
"At my request, I was returned to the Persephone to salvage twenty-three bags of U. S. Mail. The Coast Guard crew assisted in this work.
"I was landed, about 7 p.m. on May 25, at the Barnegat Coast Guard Station, where 27 other survivors had already been put ashore. Six of the men were injured: Chief Engineer Valdemar Pedersen, John Van Gilson, A.B., Kaj Andersen, A.B., Steward Vermund Tendal, Chief Cook Karl A. Andersen, and Messman Joseph Pittoors. They were taken to the Royal Pines Hospital at Pinewald, N.J."
The men lost on the Persephone were Third Engineer Carl Nielsen, Fourth Engineer Gustav A. Sorensen. Junior Engineers Foike Hallberg and Martin Petersen, Electrician Karl Sundberg, Boatswain Thor-kild Pedersen, Pumpman Romain De Meyer, Ordinary Seaman Willy Johansen, and Oiler Manfred Sarapik.
Captain Quistgaard, his officers, and crew were generous in their expressions of gratitude for the good work done by Ensign L. Ho-well of the Coast Guard Station at Barnegat City and the personnel under his command. Appreciation was expressed by Mr. B. B. Howard, then General Manager of the Marine Department, in the following letter to the Commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard:
June 8, 1942 Commandant U. S. Coast Guard Washington, D. C.
Sir:
As you know, the Panamanian Motor Tanker Persephone, owned by the Panama Transport Company, was attacked by an enemy submarine on May 25 off the Coast near Barnegat, N.J., resulting in the partial sinking of the vessel and the loss of nine members of the crew.
Ensign L. Howell of the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Barnegat City, N. J., and the personnel under his command, rescued the sur-vivors from this vessel, made them comfortable, and rendered all necessary medical aid. Captain H. Quistgaard, master of the ves-sel, as well as the other officers and members of the crew who were rescued, are unanimous in praising this officer and his staff for their efficiency and kindness.
It is respectfully requested that you transmit our appreciation and thanks to Ensign Howell.
Respectfully,
B. B. Howard
On August 1, 1942, the forward part of the Persephone was brought into New York harbor, where it was beached in Gravesend Bay. About 21,000 barrels of oil in the forward section were eventually taken off by barges.
Useful to the End
Owing to an unusual circumstance, the Persephone's usefulness did not end' entirely on the beach of Gravesend Bay. On May 2, 194B, while tied up at Recife, Brazil, the Esso tanker Livingston Roe was severely damaged by fire which burned out her midship house. The vessel was brought to Baltimore for extensive repairs. To complete this job, the midship house of the Persephone, re-moved intact from her salvaged forward half, was taken to Baltimore and fitted to the Livingston Roe.
The MS Persephone was built in 1925 by the Fried. Krupp Germaniawerft A. G. at Kiel Gaarden, Germany. She was a sistership of the Motocarline, Den Haag, Rotterdam, and Ontariolite.
A twin-screw vessel of 12,445 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 27 feet, \y^ inches, the Persephone had an overall length of 489 feet, 7 inches, a length between perpendiculars of 469 feet, 7 inches, a moulded breadth of 63 feet, and a depth moulded of 35 feet, 6 inches. With a cargo carrying capacity of 104,431 barrels, she had an assigned pumping rate of 4,000 barrels an hour.
Her Diesel engines developed 3,200 brake horsepower and gave her a classification certified speed of 10.7 knots.
On September 3, 1939, the Persephone, with an American crew under the command of Captain Swen A. Malm and with Chief En-gineer Victor C. Gage in charge of her engineroom, was four days out of Baltimore on her way to Caripito. Arriving at that port Sep-tember 6, she loaded her first wartime cargo, 81,065 barrels of crude oil for delivery to Aruba. From there she sailed on September 17 with Colombian crude for Montreal. She then returned to Las Piedras, via New York and Aruba, and again loaded crude oil - 76,987 barrels consigned to Le Havre, France. Incidents of this voyage were related by Chief Mate Herman Kastberg.
Had Previously Escaped U-boat
"While the Persephone was in convoy approaching Le Havre, the enemy was laying magnetic mines and we maintained a sharp lookout. On November 30, leaving Le Havre, we were chased by a submarine; "Although this happened in the daytime, the weather; was foggy and we were able to get away. We finally came back to our course and proceeded to Aruba, arriving December 19. At Aruba we loaded a cargo of fuel oil and delivered it to Baltimore, where the vessel was turned over to a Danish crew on January 6, 1940."
The Persephone left Baltimore on January 7 for a period of overhaul at Newport News. After undergoing repairs until January 25, she departed for Cartagena to take on crude oil. Her next four cargoes, one from Puerto La Cruz and three from Aruba, were discharged at Le Havre, New York, Miami, and Balboa.
On January 9, 1941, the Persephone arrived at Talara for her first loading of the year, 85,938 barrels of fuel oil. She did not return to the United States until April 19, when she docked at New York after running between Caribbean and South American ports. This was her top wartime delivery year; she transported 1,241,189 barrels of cargo, consisting mainly of crude and fuel oils.
In 1942, when so many of our ships were lost through enemy action, the Persephone delivered five cargoes before she was sunk on May 25.
Captain Helge Quistgaard joined the Company on July 12, 1939 and has since had continuous service as a master. He was assign-ed to the Persephone on December 7, 1939 and was her only Scandinavian master during the war.
Chief Engineer Valdemar Pedersen entered the Company's employ on July 1, 1938, and has had continuous service as a chief en-gineer. He was assigned to the Persephone on August 8, 1940. Associated with Captain Quistgaard and in charge of the vessel's en-gineroom before the assignment of Mr. Pedersen were Scandinavian Chief Engineers Simon Munch Pedersen and Anton Braar-up.
The wartime transportation record of the Persephone was in summary as follows:
Lost on the "Persephone" - May 25, 1942:
Survivors of the "Persephone":
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