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THE PERILOUS GULF
SS Benjamin Brewster
In may of 1942, the Benjamin Brewster picked up the survivors of another American tanker, sunk by enemy action off the coast of Louisiana. Less than two months afterward, in July, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey vessel was lost near the scene of the rescue - in almost the same latitude and longitude.
On May 18, 1942, the Benjamin Brewster commanded by Captain Frank G. T. G. Bootz, with her engineroom in charge of Chief Engineer John F. Reites, was in the Gulf of Mexico en route from Port Tampa, Fla., to Baytown, Texas, in ballast. At 6 a.m. an object was sighted dead ahead and an hour and a half later the ship stopped along side three life rafts and took on board the 19 survivors of the torpedoed Gulf Oil Corporation tanker Gulfoil.
This incident occurred about 45 miles 214° from Southwest Pass - main western mouth of the Mississippi. As entered in the ship's log, the position of the rafts was Latitude 28° 17' North, Longitude 89° 55' West.
Between May 18 and July 9 a new master was promoted from chief mate and a new chief engineer took charge of the Benjamin Brewster's engineroom. Her former second and third mates, Allan Johnston and John E. Keeton - the latter assigned to the tanker after the rescue of the Gulfoil survivors - moved up to chief mate and second mate; the new third mate was Karl A. Bendrien. It was the first voyage in their new duties for Captain Peter G. J. Hammel, the three mates, and Chief Engineer Carl F. Eickhoff.
On July 9, 1942, the Benjamin Brewster was proceeding from Baytown to Port Tampa with a mixed cargo of 70,578 barrels, consisting of aviation gasoline and other grades of oil, when she anchored for the night near the coast of Louisiana, about 38 miles 286° from Southwest Pass. The vessel was in Latitude ,29° 05' North, Longitude 90° 07' West, about 21/2 miles off Grand Isle beach.
At 11:30 p.m., July 9, without warning, the Benjamin Brewster was struck by two torpedoes in rapid succession on the port side forward. She immediately burst into names and sank, within less than 3 minutes, in 37 feet of water. There was no time to launch lifeboats; the men who jumped overboard on the port side aft barely avoided a sea of flames. The sinking of the tanker floated the lifeboats, which drifted away when the falls burned through.
The Benjamin Brewster carried a merchant crew of 35 officers and men and 5 U. S. Navy gunners. Of her total complement of 40 there were 15 survivors'- 11 members of the ship's crew and 4 of the armed guard.
Heavy Loss
All but two of the licensed officers perished. The injured, given first aid treatment and taken to the Marine Hospital in New Orleans, were First Assistant Engineer John B. Stirling, Second Assistant Engineer Claus E. Bertels, Machinist Cecil M. Wamsley, and Oiler Ira C. Kenney.
Fire surrounded the burned out wreck of the Benjamin Brewster for nine days - the oil rising from the submerged vessel feeding the flames until the cargo was finally consumed. The intense heat reduced the entire structure above the water to a molten, twisted mass of metal. A survey made on July 18 by Captain William J. Ryan, the Company's agent at Baton Rouge, and Mr. Arthur A. Grant of New Orleans, marine surveyor, proved her to be a total loss.
The senior surviving officer of the Benjamin Brewster, First Assistant Engineer Stirling, submitted a report of the loss of the vessel and related his personal experience:
"About 8:30 a.m., July 5, 1942, the Benjamin Brewster left Baytown, Texas, for Port Tampa, Fla. On our arrival in Bolivar Roads, off Galveston, the vessel was anchored for security reasons. Leaving Bolivar Roads about 3 p.m., July 7, we went to Sabine Pass, Texas, where we dropped anchor for the night. At 1 p.m., July 8, the vessel left Sabine Pass and by approximately 8 p.m. of the same day we came to anchor again, off the Louisiana coast. Under way on July 9 at 6 a.m., the Benjamin Brewster proceeded until 8:30 p.m., when we anchored near the coast of Louisiana, west of Grand Isle.
In the Middle of the Night
"It was about 11:30 p.m., July 9, while off duty and asleep in the after room on the port side of the poop deck, that I was awakened when thrown from the berth to the deck by a heavy explosion. I fastened my lifebelt on and as I open-ed my door a second explosion occurred. My room was brilliantly illuminated by fire. When I ran out and jumped overboard, the surface of the water for a considerable distance was covered with burning oil or gasoline, almost sur-rounding the vessel.
"At the time of the torpedoing and sinking, the weather was clear with a light breeze from the southward. The sea was smooth with a slight swell from the same direction.
"Seven crew members, three Navy gunners, and myself, after swimming several hours in the open sea, boarded one of the lifeboats, which was afire. We extinguished the flames and the prevailing wind took us to the beach, where we landed about 4:30 a.m., July 10. The members of the ship's crew in this lifeboat, besides myself, were Second Assistant Engineer Claus E. Bertels, Chief Cook Ragnar A. Ericson, Able Seaman James T. Stafford, Ordinary Seamen Leon C. C. Brown, Albert B. Byrd, and Earl J. Heavner, and Fireman William T. Wells.
"Machinist Wamsley boarded another of the drifting lifeboats and was later picked up by a Coast Guard vessel, which also rescued Oiler Ira C. Kenney, Crew Messman David A. Caylor, and a U. S. Navy gunner.
"The bodies of Boatswain Orrin E. Small and Able Seaman Grover Spaulding were recovered."
Second Engineer's Experience
To quote the report of Second Assistant Engineer Bertels:
"I was sleeping in my room on the port side aft. The first torpedo hit forward of amidships, port side, and immediately the midship section was set afire. When the explosion awakened me, I grabbed my life jacket. Then the second torpedo hit - right under my room. I dropped the life jacket and staggered a few steps. The next thing I knew, I was swimming.
"I looked back and saw the burning ship. My left eye was closed and my right eyelid shut in a few minutes. My left arm hurt me and was practically useless. Some shipmates were in the water near me and one of them found a burned out lifeboat. The men got into it, but couldn't maneuver it to me. By calling back and forth I was guided to the boat and hauled aboard.
"We drifted ashore and spent a mosquito-bitten night on the beach. A fire was built. One of the men wrapped his shirt around my arm to stop the bleeding. I lay still.
"In the morning a fishing boat saw our fire, came in, and took us aboard. Half an hour later we were transferred to a Coast Guard cutter. The pharmacist's mate gave us first aid and the cutter put us ashore, about 10:30 a.m., near the mouth of the Mississippi River, at Burrwood, where we were given medical treatment. Then the Coast Guard vessel took us to Venice, La. An ambulance met us there and by 11:30 p.m., July 10, we were in the U. S. Marine Hospital at New Orleans."
The SS Benjamin Brewster was built in 1917 by the Harlan & Hollingsworth Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware. A single-screw vessel of 8,595 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 25 feet, 614 inches, the Benjamin Brewster had an overall length of 427 feet, a length between perpendiculars of 412 feet, a moulded breadth of 53 feet, 1 inch, and a depth moulded of 31 feet. With a cargo carrying capacity of 66,251 barrels, she had an assigned pumping rate of 2,500 barrels an hour. Her triple expansion engine, supplied with steam by two Scotch boilers, developed 2,500 indicated horsepower and gave her a classification certified speed of 10.2 knots.
On September 3, 1939, the Benjamin Brewster, commanded by Captain Carl Svenson, with her engineroom in charge of Chief Engineer John F. Reites, was at Baton Rouge, La., where she loaded a mixed cargo, 70,578 bar-rels of gasoline and other refined oils, consigned to Savannah, Ga. Leaving Baton Rouge September 4, .she arrived at Savannah on the 8th.
Throughout her wartime service, the tanker loaded mainly at Baton Rouge and Baytown and carried a variety of petroleum products coastwise to ports along the Gulf and the southern Atlantic seaboard. Her cargoes were used to a large extent to supply Army and Navy training planes, naval vessels, and military activities situated in the southeastern section of the United States. Her main delivery terminals were Port Tampa, Port Everglades, Panama City, Jacksonville, and Savannah.
The World War II transportation record of the Benjamin Brewster was in summary as follows:
The wartime masters of the vessel were Captains Carl Svenson, Harold G. McAvenia, Frank G. T. G. Bootz, and Peter G. J. Hammel. Associated with them were Chief Engineers John F. Reites, Emoor S. Bordelon, and Carl F. Eickhoff.
Captain Bootz, in recounting for this history the rescue of the Gulf oil survivors, made the following statement:
"On May 17, 1942, while we were going from Port Tampa to Baytown, Chief Mate Hammel saw a 'buoy' with a flashing red light. It was not where such a buoy ought to be and we knew that enemy submarines had tried this kind of trick to deceive ships. We kept on at full speed, zigzagging all night.
Used Barrel of Kerosene to Clean Survivors
"At daybreak we saw three life rafts ahead. I put on plenty of lookouts in case a U-boat was waiting to torpedo the first ship that stopped to rescue the men on the rafts. In about an hour and a half we picked up the 19 survivors of the Gulf oil; all the others members of the vessel's crew were lost when she was torpedoed on May 16. The surviving personnel included the master. Captain A. Henry Rowe, the chief mate, the second mate, and the radio operator.
"The 19 officers and men were so thickly covered with oil that it took an entire barrel of kerosene to get it off. We gave the survivors first aid treatment and took them to Galveston, anchoring in the harbor until the Navy sent out a launch."
The deck log of the Benjamin Brewster for May 18 and 19 contains the following entries:
Monday, May 18 From Pt. Tampa to Baytown:
6:00 a.m. Object sighted dead ahead. Informed master. All hands called and placed on lookout.
7:00 Life rafts were made out, with men. Thorough search was made of surrounding water. As every indication seemed safe, closed in on rafts and proceeded to rescue survivors.
8:30 Survivors of SS Gulf oil picked up. 19 men. Lat. 28° 17' N. Long. 89° 55' W.
8:35 Full ahead. Tuesday, May 19, 4:47 a.m. Arrival. (Galveston)
6:54 Starboard anchor down.
7:20 Navy doctor aboard.
7:45 Nineteen rescued men sent ashore with doctor.
7:55 Anchor aweigh. Proceeding to Bay-town.
Appreciation of this rescue at sea was expressed in the following letter from the owners of the Gulf oil:
GULF OIL CORPORATION
17 Battery Place New York
May 26, 1942
Standard Oil Company of New Jersey Marine
Department 30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York City
Attn: Mr. B. B. Howard, General Manager
Dear Sir:
Captain A. Henry Rowe of our SS Gulf oil has reported to me the picking up of his crew in the Gulf of Mexico by your SS Benjamin Brewster, after his vessel had been torpedoed close to Southwest Pass, and of the excellent treatment accorded him aboard your vessel.
Will you please accept our thanks and extend to the master of the SS Benjamin Brewster the thanks of Captain Rowe, his officers, and crew, for the kindness shown them.
Yours very truly,
GULF OIL CORPORATION
Willard F. Jones General Manager
Captain Peter G. J. Hammel joined the Company as an ordinary seaman on September 21, 1927. A licensed officer since July 26, 1931, he was promoted to chief mate December 18, 1939, and to master June 18, 1942. As he lived in New Orleans, he was frequently assigned to the Benjamin Brewster.
Chief Engineer Carl F. Eickhoff entered the Company's employ as a pumpman on May 16, 1923. A licensed officer since March 10, 1930, he was promoted to chief engineer May 27, 1934 and was assigned to the Benjamin Brewster June 15, 1942.
Two members of the Benjamin Brewster's crew on July 9, 1942, were survivors of other torpedoed tankers. Able Seaman James T. Stafford was on the E. M. Clark when she was sunk off Cape Hatteras March 18, 1942, and Ordinary Seaman Albert B. Byrd was on the Esso Nashville^ torpedoed and seriously damaged on March 21,
1942.Merchant Crew Lost on the "Benjamin Brewster" - July 9, 1942 :
Merchant Crew Survivors of the "Benjamin Brewster" ;
U. S. Navy Armed Guard Lost on the "Benjamin Brewster" - July 9, 1942 ;
U. S. Navy Armed Guard Survivors of the "Benjamin Brewster" ;
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