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SUNK OF TRINIDAD
SS Beaconlight
WHen the Panama Transport Company tanker Beaconlight left Cape Town in ballast on June 21, 1942, bound for Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, she was on the last voyage of a circumnavigation of the globe. Within a few miles of the coast of Trinidad, she was torpedoed without warning at 3:16 a.m., July 16, 1942. The vessel sank rapidly by the stern, which came to rest on the bottom; her bow stood high out of the water.
In a calm sea the crew and armed guard took to the lifeboats. A few hours later they were picked up by the coastal passenger vessel SS Trinidad, which landed them at Port-of-Spain. The Beaconlight carried a total complement of 39 - a merchant crew of 37 officers and men, most of whom were American citizens, and two British naval gunners. One man was lost - Able Seaman Peter Dobish. No serious injuries were sustained. Most of the survivors were repatriated by plane to Miami, Florida, on July 23, 1942.
The vessel was soon afterward sunk by gunfire.
The SS Beaconlight was built in 1920 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Ltd., at their Union Plant, Alameda, California, Works. She was a sister-ship of the Beaconoil.
A single-screw vessel of 10,740 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 27 feet, 1 1/4 inches, the Beaconlight had an overall length of 453 feet, a length between perpendiculars of 435 feet, a moulded breadth of 56 feet, and a depth moulded of 33 feet, 6 inches. With a cargo carrying capacity of 74,722 barrels, she had an assigned pumping rate of 3,500 barrels an hour.
Her triple expansion engine, supplied with steam by three Scotch boilers, developed 2,800 indicated horsepower and gave her a classification certified speed of 10.2 knots.
The Beaconlight, then an Esso tanker, left the tied-up fleet in the Patuxent River, Maryland, on September 13, 1939. After extensive repairs, she loaded her first wartime cargo, 72,635 barrels of heating and range oils, at Baton Rouge and sailed on November 23, 1939 for Boston. Captain Philip H. Johnson was master and Chief Engineer Adolf Anderson had charge of her engineroom. Thereafter the Beacon-light made several coastwise voyages, followed by trips from Talara to Aruba, Aruba to Brazil, and Aruba to Southampton.
On February 5, 1940 the vessel was sold to the Panama Transport Company and transferred from American to Panamanian registry. On February 7 she was manned by a Canadian crew.
Far East Service
In July, 1940 the Beaconlight was scheduled for Pacific service. Under time charter to the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company, she made five consecutive voyages in Far Eastern waters with cargoes of gasoline, kerosene, and Diesel oil. The tanker visited Honolulu and Manila, Tandjong Oeban and Palembang in the Netherlands East Indies, Saigon and Haiphong in French Indo-China, Itosaki and Yokohama in Japan, and Auckland in New Zealand.
Returning to the Atlantic in March, 1941, the Beaconlight again ran coastwise, except for visits to South American ports.
On September 2, 1941, she was placed in charge of an American crew and she set out once more for the Pacific with a cargo of gasoline, which was loaded at Houston, Texas, and discharged at Manila and Singapore. The vessel carried her next cargo from Palembang to Adelaide, Australia, and was in Australian waters when she received word of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Then the Beaconlight went to Abadan, whence she transported four cargoes of gasoline, gas oil, and kerosene, discharging successively at Mombasa, East Africa; Marmugao, Portuguese India; Bombay, India; and Cape Town. On April 20, 1942, when the tanker was at Bombay, she was time chartered to the War Shipping Administration.
Had Been Around the World
The Beaconlight was returning homeward from Cape Town in June, 1942, when she was torpedoed. Her voyages during the past year had taken her around the world.
The American masters of the Beaconlight during the war years were Captains Lawrence J. Hasse, Philip H. Johnson, and Urban A. Haughn.
American officers in charge of her engineroom were Chief Engineers William C. Frenzel, Adolf Ander-son, and George H. Ulmer.
Captain Urban A. Haughn, in his report of July 27, 1942, described the circumstances of the attack on the Beaconlight:
"We sailed from Cape Town June 21, 1942, in ballast, with a merchant crew of 37 including myself, and two British Navy gunners. Bound for Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, we proceeded according to the routing instructions of the British naval authorities at Cape Town, following a zigzag course in daylight and on moonlight nights and blacking out the vessel during darkness. The Beaconlight was armed with one dual-purpose 12-pounder aft and two 30-caliber machine guns - one on each side of the bridge.
"On July 16 at 3:16 a.m. a torpedo struck the tanker, without warning, on the starboard side, in way of Nos. 8 and 9 tanks. Our position was Latitude 10°59' North, Longitude 61°07' West, or about 10 miles northwest of Galera Point, Trinidad.
"The sea was smooth, wind calm, and the night clear and dark, with no moon. Our speed was about 12 knots.
"Second Mate Victor G. Lee was on watch on the bridge, with Able Seaman Clinton Barclay at the wheel. Able Seaman Peter Dobish was on lookout duty at the foc'sle head and Ordinary Seaman Kaleb Olsen was lookout on top of the wheelhouse.
"I had jus£ gone down to my room and as soon as I heard the explosion 1 rushed up to the bridge. When I arrived there the engine had been stopped, in accordance with previous instructions, by Second Assistant Engineer Paul J. Kufalk, on watch in the engineroom. Second Mate Lee had immediately sounded the general alarm. The vessel had lost steer-ageway as a result of the explosion and was swinging off her course as she slowed down.
"Radio Operator Rosario S. Gauthier, by my orders, endeavored to send the usual submarine attack message with his emergency transmitter, as the aerial had broken down.
Ship Sank Stern First
"About five minutes after the first torpedo struck, a second hit the ship on the starboard side in the engineroom. The Beaconlight immediately began to settle by the stern. All hands then proceeded to the lifeboats and lowered Nos. 1, 2, and 3 boats. One life raft on the port side of the poop deck was released."
In the meantime Radio Operator Gauthier was still attempting to send an SOS. He stated in his report:
"As a result of the first explosion, the main power supply to the wireless was cut off. The emergency transmitter was in good working order, as were all the connections in the radio room. However, the meter on the emergency transmitter showed no radiation on either the main or emergency antenna circuits. The ship was rapidly sinking, but I nevertheless kept sending distress messages on both the main and emergency antennae, hoping that as we were so near a coast station, the messages would be heard. No acknowledgment was received and I do not know whether the messages were picked up."
To continue Captain Haughn's account:
"When it appeared that everyone had left the vessel I joined Chief Mate Bernard May in No. 1 boat, after gathering the ship's papers. I was unable to get into the chart room, where I had left the canvas bag containing the secret documents.
"Only one man was lost. Able Seaman Peter Dobish, who was on lookout duty when the first torpedo hit. He was seen heading aft, probably to get his personal effects, and I believe he went down with the ship.
"By this time only the bow of the Beaconlight was showing; it was standing nearly upright, about 50 feet above the surface. The ship's stern was apparently resting on the bottom. The vessel had sunk about 10 minutes after the first torpedo struck.
"At 3:40 a.m. we sighted a large submarine on the surface, coming toward us. We were afraid she would swamp us, but fortunately she passed about 50 feet away. I did not see any particular marking on the U-boat or any guns on deck. We heard several voices giving commands. An officer standing in the conning tower leaned over and asked us in good English if everything was all right.
"The men in the boat answered 'Yes' to this question and were then somewhat facetiously asked 'Where are you going?' - after which the submarine disappeared in the darkness."
Returning to Captain Haughn's report:
"About 9 a.m. a small coastwise passenger vessel, the SS Trinidad, picked us up. This ship had rescued the men in Nos. 2 and 3 boats shortly before.
We were landed at Port-of-Spain at 5 p.m.
"The Navy authorities at Port-of-Spain informed us that the Beaconlight was sunk by shellfire to prevent her becoming a menace to navigation and to make certain that the secret documents were destroyed.
The wartime record of the Beaconlight was in summary as follows:
Captain Urban A. PIaughn joined the Company as a third mate on December 19, 1928. He was promoted to master January 23, 1943.
Chief Engineer George H. Ulmer entered the Company's service as a third assistant engineer on August 9, 1927. He was promoted to chief engineer September 30, 1937.
Radio Operator Rosario S. Gauthier, who survived the sinking of the Beaconlight, later lost his life on the C. J. Barkdull, which disappeared without trace in December, 1942.
Merchant Crew Lost on the "Beaconlight" - July 16, 1942;
Merchant Crew Survivors of the "Beaconlight"
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