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Atlas (2) - (1927-1942)
"Atlas (2)", ex "Sunoil" was built in 1916.( Photo John L. Lochhead )
"Atlas (2)", ex "Sunoil" was built in 1916.
Atlas
LOA 446 ', Beam 58 ', Depth 33 ' 4 ", 11,185 DWT, 82,440 bbls Triple expansion engine 51" stroke
Built 1916 at Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for original owners who named her Sunoil. She was purchased by Socony on 3 February 1927.
ATLAS ran from coast to coast on first joining our fleet, with only an occasional voyage to China and the Far East.
After 1930 she became mostly a homebody, with a few foreign cargoes out of Curacao in 1938.
She was operating along the east coast when the US entered WWII. Between midnight and dawn on 9 April 1942, following the nine-fathom curve down the coast and having just passed inside of Cape Lookout Outer Buoy, ATLAS was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. Two of her crew lost their lives.
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"Atlas (2)", ex "Sunoil" inbound on September 24th, 1941.( Photo US Coast Guard )
"Atlas (2)", ex "Sunoil" sunken April 9th, 1942.Additional Info by Starke & Schell Registers :
SUNOIL - 1916 USA 1T (aft) (11)
7,157 GRT for Sun Company, Inc., Philadelphia 430.0 x 58.2
Tanker build by Wm. Cramp & Sons Ship & Eng. Bldg. Co., Philadelphia (10) #431 214459
1927 - ATLAS Standard Transportation Co., Inc., New York
1931 - Standard-Vacuum Transportation Co., Inc., New York
1935 - Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., Inc., New York
Torpedoed and sunk by U 552, 9 April 1942, in 34.27 N - 76.16 W, voyage Houston - New York, gasoline
The Miramar Ship Index for "SUNOIL"
IDNo:
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2214459
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Year:
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1916
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Name:
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SUNOIL
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Keel:
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Type:
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Tanker
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Launch Date:
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31.08.1916
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Flag:
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USA
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Date of completion:
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10.1916
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Tons:
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7157
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Link:
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-
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DWT:
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Yard No:
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431
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Length overall:
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Ship Design:
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LPP:
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131.1
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Country of build:
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USA
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Beam:
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17.7
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Builder:
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Wm Cramp & Sons
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Material of build:
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Location of yard:
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Philadelphia
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Number of screws/Mchy/Speed(kn):
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1T-11
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Subsequent History:
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Disposal Data:
Torpedoed and lost by (U-552) 34.27 N / 76.16 W on 9.04.1942 (2 dead) [ Voyage Houston-New York, petrol ]
History:
ON
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LR/IMO
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ID
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Year
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Name
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Tons
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Change
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Registered Owner
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214459
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2214459
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1916
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SUNOIL
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7157
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Sun Co Inc.
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214459
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2214459
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1916
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ATLAS
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7157
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1927
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Standard Tptn Co Inc .
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214459
|
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2214459
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1916
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ATLAS
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7157
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1931
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Standard-Vacuum Tptn Co Inc.
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214459
|
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2214459
|
1916
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ATLAS
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7157
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1935
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Socony-Vacuum Oil Co Inc.
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Additional information from Uboat.net :
Name: Atlas
Type: Steam tanker
Tonnage: 7.137 tons
Completed: 1916 - Wm Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co, Philadelphia PA
Owner: Socony-Vacuum Oil Co Inc, New York
Homeport: New York
Date of attack: 9 Apr, 1942
Nationality: American
Fate: Sunk by U-552 (Erich Topp)
Position: 34.27N, 76.16W - Grid DC 1163
- See location on a map -
Complement: 34 (2 dead and 32 survivors).
Convoy: Route: Houston (1 Apr) - Seawarren, New Jersey
Cargo: 84.239 barrels of gasoline
History: Built as Sunoil, 1927 renamed Atlas
Notes on loss: On 9 Apr, 1942, the unescorted and unarmed Atlas (Master Hamilton Gray) steered a nonevasive course off Cape
Lookout, but after hearing a diesel engine swung her stern toward the sound. With the moon rising, U-552 fired a torpedo at 2000
metres that struck the starboard side amidships at the #6 tank. The explosion threw up a cloud of smoke and water but did not
ignite the cargo. The engines were stopped and the crew of eight officers and 26 men abandoned ship in three lifeboats.
The U-boat came closer and fired a second torpedo that created a fireball and caused the ship to burn from stem to stern. One lifeboat
drifted into the burning gasoline on the water and the master ordered the men overboard as the fire swept over them. The third mate
and an ordinary seaman drowned trying to escape the flames. The master was severily burned and the others from that boat all
suffered various degrees of burns. An aircraft sighted the lifeboats at daylight and directed a US Coast Guard cutter to them, which
picked up the survivors and took them to Morehead City, North Carolina.