by C.J. Christ
What do most people think about when the word Hamlet is
spoken? A play by William Shakespeare. The quote “To be or not to be”? A name
for Hagar the Horrible’s son in the Sunday comics? A small village of Germanic
origin? Or a ship sunk southeast of Morgan City during World War II?
It’s easy to guess by now where I stand.
Let me tell you the story with the help of the U.S. Naval
Intelligence report “Summaries of statements by Survivors.”
The Norwegian Motor Tanker Hamlet was chartered to the
Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission of New York City when it was torpedoed
without warning in the early morning of May 27, 1942. The attack occurred while
headed to United Kingdom Ports from Beaumont, Texas, via Key West, Fla.,
carrying 64,139 barrels of crude oil. She sank at 4:30 a.m. after receiving three
torpedoes.
Plunging bow first, she sank in the same position in about
20 fathoms, approximately 60 feet, of water.
The Hamlet was on a course zigzagging on a pattern designed
to lose 10 percent over the ground, wholly blacked out. The radio had not been
used previously. Three official watchmen were on duty, one on either wing of
the bridge and one at the wheel. Three unofficial lookouts also were on deck.
The weather was good; visibility, good; sea, calm; wind, southeast force at 4
miles per hour; no moonlight, no ships were in sight.
First torpedo struck starboard side forward, second
amidships, starboard side, and third, stern port side. Damage was unknown as
the ship began to sink. The motor was stopped after the first torpedo. No
distress signal could be sent due to the main antenna being wrecked. No
auxiliary was maintained. No counter offensive could be made due to rapid sinking.
Two codes, British No. 18 and Mersigs were sunk in a weighted canvas bag.
Ship abandoned in orderly manner in four boats. Three men
jumped in the water and were taken into boats. All hands were rescued, being
picked up by three fishing boats at about 9 a.m. and brought into Morgan City.
The fishing boats were The Lucille, Ramos Jr. and E.F. Marin.
The sub is described as being very small, about 250 tons,
90-150 feet in length. It had no deck guns visible. The conning tower was round
with a pulpit bridge. It was described by all as a coastal-type ship of small
size and shallow draft. It was last seen heading due east on the surface at
about 16 knots.
All survivors mentioned small size of sub and lack of deck
guns, unless they are hydraulically raised to firing position. All noticed the
difference between the three explosions. The first was very heavy; the second,
incendiary, scattering burning material; the third, a much lighter explosion.
Rockets were noticed to eastward while crews were in boats, being fired at
about 20-minute intervals. It was in this direction that the sub was last seen
heading at 16 knots on the surface.
That is just the beginning of the story of the Hamlet.
Years later, I was scheduled to meet Capt. Ira Pete from
Berwick, and later from Chauvin. He was the skipper on one of the fishing boats
mentioned.
After many hours which spanned many years of my association
with this gentleman and historian, I learned to take every fact that he gave me
for the absolute truth.
At first, we had problems. For instance, he told me that
this U-boat did not have a deck gun. I looked in all of the books I could find
and concluded that he must be mistaken. No German submarines went to sea
without a deck gun.
When I finally was able to get a microfilm copy of the
actual deck log of U-753, there it was. Off the coast of Florida, Korvette
Kapitan Alfred von Mannstein torpedoed a ship while it was in convoy and was
actually run over by another ship. The damages to the deck gun were irreparable.
The log states “the remains of the irreparable deck gun were placed in storage
under the deck grating.”
Pete was right, U-753 did not have a deck gun.
When I received the deck log of the U-753, I was able to
answer another question about the encounter. Pete had asked, “Do you think the
U-boat saw us?” There in the log was sketched several fische flotte or fishing
flotilla. They had indeed seen the fishing boats, but that was not their
mission, to sink fishing boats.
In early August my column had an accompanying photograph
showing nine fishing boats around the sinking Hamlet. For my Morgan
City/Berwick readers, I’ll name the ones which were positively identified by
“Butch” Falterman with the help of some of the captains. They were the Venture,
Pioneer, Albatross, Lucille, Ramos Jr., E.F. Marin and Depeneta. Boats not in
the photograph but did go to the ship before she sank completely, were, Papa Joe,
J. Edwin Treakle, Shearwater, Midshipman and Forty Fathoms No. 6.
Almost 45 years later, I went diving on the Hamlet and
recovered two big, brass port lights. That’s another story.
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| The Norwegian Motor Tanker Hamlet was chartered to the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission of New York City when it was torpedoed without warning in the early morning of 27 May 1942. The attack occurred while headed to United Kingdom ports from Beaumont, Texas, via Key West, Florida, carrying 64,139 barrels of crude oil. She sank at 4:30 a.m. after receiving three torpedoes. Photo taken 1 January 1942. |
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| Norwegian Motor Tanker Hamlet. |
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| Norwegian Motor Tanker Hamlet. |
