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FIRE AT SEA
SS R.W. Gallagher
IN the early morning hours of July 13, 1942, the R. W. Gallagher was about 80 miles from Southwest Pass, Missis-sippi River when she became the sixteenth Esso tanker to be lost as a result of enemy action. The vessel was com-manded by Captain Aage Petersen and her engineroom was in charge of Chief Engineer Reginald S. Patten. She had a merchant crew of 40 officers and men, and 12 U. S. Navy gunners.
Leaving Bay town, Texas on July 10 the R. W. Gallagher, with a cargo of 80,855 barrels of Esso bunker fuel consigned to Port Everglades, Florida, proceeded to Bolivar Roads in Galveston Bay to await Navy routing instructions, as she was to sail without escort. With orders received, the vessel left Bolivar Roads at daybreak July 12.
Captain Petersen, in his report, described the start of the voyage:
"We followed the regular coastal route until abeam of Trinity Shoal Buoy, where we changed course to 113° true in accordance with routing instructions. We continued on this course towards Ship Shoal Buoy, flashing white, which we were to pass close outside; afterwards we were to change course again to about 67° true."
The R. W. Gallagher, passing through very dangerous waters, was armed with a 5-inch stern gun, a 3-inch gun forward, two 30-caliber machine guns on the bridge, and two 50-caliber machine guns aft. The weather was fair and the sea moderate all the way; speed was maintained at approximately 12 knots.
Continuing Captain Petersen's account:
"We arrived where Ship Shoal Buoy, flashing white, ought to be, but failed to locate it because it was unlighted. To be absolutely sure we had passed it, however, we held our course, 113° true, until Ship Shoal Wreck Buoy, flashing green, was abeam. We were torpedoed when just abeam of and about two miles north of this latter buoy.
"It occurs to me that the submarine might have extinguished the light on Ship Shoal Buoy so as to bring vessels nearer to the submarine's position off Ship Shoal Wreck Buoy."
To quote the report of Second Assistant Engineer Tenant L. Fleming:
"At 1:40 a.m, July 13, a torpedo suddenly struck the vessel without warning in way of No. 3 starboard tank and was followed within five seconds by another torpedo which also struck on the starboard side, in the vicinity of the pumproom."
At the moment of the explosion Second Mate Frederick Austin was on the bridge, with Able Seaman Daniel C. MacPhee at the wheel. The foc'sle lookout was Able Seaman Francis M. Hefferman. On watch in the engineroom were Second Assistant Engineer Fleming, Oiler John ]. Willadsen, and Fire-man-Watertender Alien C. Hiott, Jr.
Midship Section Ablaze
Captain Petersen:
"I had just entered the chart room from the bridge. At the first explosion the chart table was splintered and came up and hit me in the face, knocking me down and stunning me momentarily. In what was said to be about five seconds another torpedo struck; as I learned afterward, it exploded between No. 8 starboard tank and the engineroom, in way of the pumproom. The vessel took an immediate list of about 30 degrees to starboard. I was in a dazed condition for one or two minutes. When I regained consciousness I got to my-feet and proceeded to sound the general alarm, after which I went 'to the port side, where I saw that the whole midship section was ablaze. Then I worked my way through the wheel-house to the starboard wing of the bridge. In going from the wheelhouse to the bridge I slip-ped in the oil that covered the vessel and, the oil being afire, I burned both hands."
What had occurred elsewhere was described by Second Assistant Engineer Fleming:
"All communication with the bridge was disrupted and within a minute a short circuit put out all the lights, stopped the lubricating pumps, and closed the throttle on the main engine. When the engine stopped, the ship rapidly lost headway. I soon realized that the vessel was in a sinking condition. I sent the » men up on deck to the boat stations and proceeded to my room, got my life preserver, and went above, where I observed that the midship house was ablaze and that oil was starting to burn an the water around the ship's starboard side. The fire was spreading rapidly from amidships to the after part of the vessel."
Captain Petersen:
"I realized there was no escape from the bridge to the after section because of the fire. Feeling badly shaken and injured, I retraced my steps back through the wheelhouse to the port wing, climbed over the railings, and eventually got to the forward well deck on the port side, where I crawled along the rail to the forecastle head. I could not see or hear any of my officers or crew. I wanted to remain with my ship until the last to see if the fire would subside and what could be done about helping injured members of the crew and bringing the vessel to port. On the forecastle head I continually flashed a distress signal with a flashlight. While doing so I saw the conning tower of a submarine which partly surfaced and then disappeared. As the submarine was only about 40 feet away, I could see the conning tower quite plainly in the glare of the fire. It appeared to be freshly painted a light grayish-blue. Within a few seconds the submarine submerged and I did not see it again. I remained on the forward well deck, port side, until it was apparent, about 2:20 a.m., that the ship was about to turn over on her starboard side. I then jumped into the water."
Swam Off the Ship
Meanwhile, in the words of Mr. Fleming:
"Lifeboat No. 3 had been destroyed by the explosion of the second torpedo and I proceeded to No. 4 boat, which had been swamped by the ship's starboard list during the attempt to launch it. (Later, however, some of the crew managed to clear this lifeboat from the tanker's side and pull away.) Nos. 1 and 2 boats were aflame and the bridge appeared to be a shambles. I went to the poop deck, where I tried to launch No. 3 starboard raft but was unable to do so because it
was jammed as a result of the explosion. The poop deck was now awash and I swam off as fast as I could to get away from the fire, which was spreading on the water along the ship's side. Within half an hour I sighted a life raft with 17 or 18 men on it, who helped me to get aboard. As we paddled away we watched the R. W. Gallagher lie over on her starboard' side as the oil around her continued to burn fiercely.
"At about 5:30 a.m. the Coast Guard cutter Bout-well took us aboard. She cruised around all day, rescued the men in No. 4 lifeboat, and picked up a considerable number of men from the water. The captain was the last survivor rescued."
Nine of Crew Died
About 7 a.m., July 13, Second Mate Frederick Austin, Able Seaman Daniel C. MacPhee, and U. S. Navy Gunner's Mate John Nibouar, all seriously burned, were taken by a Red Cross plane from the Bout-well to the Marine Hospital in New Orleans, where Austin died on July 14 and MacPhee succumbed on July 21. Seven crew members were unaccounted for and presumed lost.
At 7:15 p.m. on July 13, 31 merchant crew survivors and 11 Navy gunners were landed at a nearby naval base. The 31 members of the ship's crew were subsequently taken to New Orleans, where 9 were left in the Marine Hospital to recover from burns and injuries. The remaining 22 arrived in New York on July 17 and the last of the injured men to be discharged from the hospital. Third Mate Roy V. Den-ton, arrived in New York on August 17.
The 9 men who recovered from their injuries in the hospital were Captain Aage Petersen, Third Mate Roy V. Denton, Chief Engineer Reginald S. Patten, Third Assistant Engineer Louis A. Gardner, Steward August Camp, Chief Cook Manuel L. Vicente, Able Seaman John Coumou, Officers' Messman John A. Soderstrom, and Crew Messman Thomas Rickman.
For hours the R. W. Gallagher stayed afloat. Listing farther and farther to starboard, the blazing vessel capsized at about 3 a.m. but still did not sink. Finally, at 5:30 a.m. July 13 she went to the bottom.
The SS R. W. Gallagher was built in 1938 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Ltd., at Sparrows Point, Maryland. She was a sistership of the Esso Baltimore, the Esso Baton Rouge (lost February 23, 1943), the Esso Charleston, and the Esso Nashville.
A single-screw vessel of 12,950 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 28 feet, 6 1/4 inches, the R. W. Gallagher had an overall length of 463 feet, 1 1/4 inches, a length between perpendiculars of 442 feet, a moulded breadth of 64 feet, and a depth moulded of 34 feet, 10 inches. With a cargo carrying capacity of 106,718 barrels, she had an assigned pumping rate of 6,000 barrels an hour.
Her turbine engine, supplied with steam by two water-tube boilers, developed 4,000 shaft horsepower and gave her a classification certified speed of 13 knots.
Her transportation record during the war years was in summary as follows:
At the outbreak of war in Europe, September 3, 1939, the R. W. Gallagher was bound from New York to Aransas Pass, where she loaded 86,735 barrels of crude for New York. Captain John Tweed was master of the vessel and Chief Engineer Robert E. O'Neil was in charge of her engineroom. Except for a voyage from Curacao to Rio de Janeiro in December of 1941, the R. W. Gallagher remained in coastwise service until her sinking. She was time chartered to the United States War Shipping Administration at Newport News, Virginia, on April 20, 1942.
The wartime masters of the R. W. Gallagher were Captains John Tweed, Guy A. Campbell, Ben M. Koerner, Robert W. Overbeck, Felix W. Kretchmer, and Aage Petersen.
Serving with them were Chief Engineers Robert E. O'Neil, Curtis G. Laney, George B. Calundann, Alvah B. Strout, Roy A. Anderson, and Reginald S. Patten.
Captain Aage Petersen was first employed by the Company as a third mate on July 22, 1922. He was promoted to master on April J5, 1932.
Chief Engineer Reginald S. Patten joined the Company as a third assistant engineer on December 30, 1924. He was promoted to chief engineer on February 10, 1936.
Two crew members lost on the R. W. Gallagher were survivors of other Esso tankers previously sunk or damaged by enemy action: Oiler Leonard E. Mills was on the Esso Nashville, damaged by enemy action March 21, 1942, and Wiper Henry P. Miller had survived the sinking of the Esso Houston on May 12, 1942.
Two survivors of the R. W. Gallagher subsequently lost their lives on other tankers: Second Assistant Engineer Tenant L. Fleming (Esso Gettysburg, June 10, 1943) and Officers' Messman John A. Soderstrom (C. J. BarkduU, December, 1942).
Three of the R. W. Gallagher's crew on July 13, 1942 survived other sinkings: Chief Engineer Reginald S. Patten (Esso Harrisburg, July 6, 1944), Third Mate Roy V. Denton (Esso Baton Rouge, February 23, 1943), and Pumpman Charles Peregrin (Esso Houston, May 12, 1942). Pumpman Peregrin was also on the Esso Providence when she was damaged in August, 1943.
The Liberty ship SS Frederick Austin, named in honor of the second mate of the R. W. Gallagher and sponsored by his widow, Mrs. Austin, was launched with impressive ceremonies at South Portland, Maine, on May 2, 1945.
A letter of condolence written to Mrs. Austin by Admiral Emory S. Land, Administrator of the War Shipping Administration, included a tribute which is quoted here because it may well be applied to all the officers and men of the American Merchant Marine who lost their lives in World War II:
"We want you to know that we share your pride in the memory of his heroic spirit. That spirit did not die with him. It will live as long as the history of our country lives, because by his death he has left our people with a nobler heritage of self-sacrifice."
Merchant Crew Lost on the "R. W. Gallagher" - July 13, 1942;
Merchant Crew Survivors of the "R. W. Gallagher";
U. S. Navy Armed Guard Survivors of the "R. W. Gallagher";
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