Auke Visser's International Esso Tankers site | home
DESTROYED BY GUNFIRE
S.S. E.J. Sadler
On june 21, 1942 - a week after the Esso Augusta was damaged near Chesapeake Bay - the E. J. Sadler left Aruba with a cargo of 117,771 barrel of kerosene, bound for New York. Unarmed and sailing without escort, she followed strictly the courses assigned by the British naval authorities at Aruba. Her routing instructions were based on estimates of the locations of enemy submarines obtainable at that time by the combined efforts of the American and British navies during an extremely critical and hazardous phase of the Battle of the Atlantic.
The E. J. Sadler had completed her first day's run and (.he officers and men who stood the 12 to 4 daylight- watch on Monday, June 22, were soon to be reUeyed when, at 3:57 p.m., there came from a distance (.he ominous sound of gunfire. A submarine on the surface, about - 4 miles off the starboard quarter, was rapidly shelling the E. J. Sadler. The U-boat was under way and closing in with superior speed.
The tanker's course was immediately changed to bring the submarine astern and the general alarm was sounded; the radio operator sent out the submarine attack signal, SSSS, giving the ship's position. The enemy submarine, firing continuously, made direct hits. Shells exploded on the tanker's starboard side in quick succession.
Overhauled by Sub
As the sub was gaining steadily and there was no hope of escape, the master of the E. J. Sadler ordered the engines stopped; when the vessel had lost her headway, the command was given to abandon ship.
By unusual good luck the bursting shells did not injure anyone in the crew of 36 officers and men. They launched the life-boats safely and watched the destruction of their vessel. First the midship house caught fire and later the whole ship was ablaze from stem to stern; the conflagration raged as the kerosene cargo fed the flames.
In fire-lighted darkness and silence - about three hours after the crew took to the boats - the huge floating torch was suddenly extinguished. The E. J. Sadler had gone down.
Her lifeboats set sail, heading toward Aruba, and were discovered by a Navy plane which signaled instructions to keep a light burning for the guidance of rescue vessels. The destroyer USS Biddle found the four lifeboats and picked up the crew of the E. J. Sadler on June 23.
All hands were landed the next morning at Maya-guez, Puerto Rico. From there they went to San Juan, later took passage on the storeship USS Merak to Norfolk, Va., and arrived at New York on July 14.
The SS E. J. Sadler, ex Vancolite, was built in 1921 by the Federal Shipbuilding Company at Kearny, N. J. Her sisterships were the E. M. Clark, ex Victolite (lost March 18, 1942), Walter Jennings, E. T. Bedford, and J. A. Moffett, Jr. (lost July 8, 1942).
A twin-screw vessel of 16,000 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 28 feet, 1014 inches, the E. J. Sadler had an overall length of 516 feet, 6 inches, a length between perpendiculars of 500 feet, a moulded breadth of 68 feet, and a depth moulded of 38 feet, 9 3/4 inches. With a cargo carrying capacity of 119,414 barrels, she had an assigned pumping rate of 5,000 barrels an hour.
Her triple expansion engines, supplied with steam -by three Scotch boilers, developed 3,700 indicated horsepower and gave her a classification certified speed of 10.2 knots.
When War Came
At the commencement of hostilities in Europe, the E. J. Sadler, which had left Boston in ballast on August 29, 1939, was on her way to Baytown, where she arrived September 6. She was commanded by Captain Frank E. Wirtanen and her engines were in charge of Chief Engineer John Willadsen. With her first wartime loading, a mixed cargo of 98,029 barrels, including fuel and lubricating oils, she left Baytown September 14 for Baltimore, where she arrived on the 21st. During the rest of the year 1939 she made 5 more voyages, remaining in the Atlantic coast service and carrying crude and refined petroleum products.
In 1940, the tanker made 19 voyages - including two from Cartagena to Montreal and one from Aruba to Baltimore; on 16 coastwise voyages she loaded 8 times at Baton Rouge, 4 at Texas City, and 2 each at Baytown and Corpus Christi. Her eastern seaboard deliveries were made at Baltimore, Boston, and New York.
Continuing on much the same schedule in 1941, the E. J. Sadler had transported 18 cargoes coastwise when she arrived at Norfolk on November 6 with 122,790 barrels of fuel and heating oils from Corpus Christi. Then she was diverted to South American ports. Leaving Norfolk on November 8, she went through the Panama Canal and loaded at Talara, Peru, a cargo of 119,548 barrels of Essolene. This was discharged at Rio de Janeiro on December 13. The next stop was Port-of-Spain, where the E. J, Sadler took on 118,688 barrels of gasoline, also for Rio, where she arrived January 13, 1942.
In 1942, from January 16 to June 16, the E. J. Sadler delivered 4 cargoes. Her loading and discharging ports were: Aruba - Rio de Janeiro; Trinidad - Santos; Trinidad - Recife and Santos; and Caripito - Aruba. On the first three of these voyages the vessel carried gasoline; on the last, naphtha and normal distillate.
The transportation record of the E. J. Sadler from September 3, 1939 to June 16, 1942 was in summary as follows:
THe wartime masters of the E. J. Sadler were Captains Frank E. Wirtanen, Hubert L. Hassell, and Leslie D. Cushman.
In charge of her engine department during the same period were Chief Engineers John Willadsen, John Pettigrew, Peter Olsen, John T. Anderson, and George A. Proctor. Chief Engineer Willadsen was regularly assigned to the E. J. Sadler; his last duty on the vessel began November 7, 1941.
The story of the submarine attack on the E. J. Sadler is told in the reports of Captain Cushman and Chief Engineer Willadsen.
Chased and Shelled
"On June 22," Captain Cushman stated, "the weather was fair; there was a moderate sea and an easterly wind. Force 4. We were steering by gyrocompass.
"At 3:57 p.m.. Steward Melbourne J. Doucette came down to the midship saloon, where I was working, and informed me that we were being shelled by an enemy submarine.
"I immediately rushed up to the bridge where Second Mate Charles R. Simpson was on watch. Able Seaman Thomas W. Mattocks was the lookout on deck and Ordinary Seaman Logan M. Alien was on the foc'sle head. Our position was Latitude 15° 36' North, Longitude 67° 53' West, or about 230 miles northeast of Aruba.
"As I arrived on the bridge a large submarine was well in sight, on the surface, about 4 miles off our starboard quarter and proceeding toward us.
"I gave the order to change the course, so that we would bring the submarine astern of our vessel, and had the general alarm sounded. In the meantime, Radio Operator Eugene G. Osborne sent a message giving our position. I believe this message was acknowledged shortly afterward.
"The U-boat was continuously firing at us and a shell first hit the vessel amidships on the starboard side, abreast of the pumproom. Several other shells struck the starboard side; the submarine was steadily gaining on us."
Radio Operator Osborne stated:
"I sent out the submarine attack signal - SSSS - followed by the ship's call letters - KGAC - and her position. However, when the first shell hit the E. J. Sadler, there was a tremendous impact which jolted everything and threw the transmitter off transmitting position. Electric impulses in the headphones gave off a clicking noise, but no true wave was coming in nor was the set oscillating. I could tell that there was an answer to my message, but it was indistinguishable."
Meanwhile, Chief Engineer Willadsen, who was on the after deck when he heard the first shell burst, had reacted promptly to the demands of the situation. He stated in his report:
Gave Ship All the Steam They Had
"As soon as I realized we were being attacked by a submarine I ran down to the engineroom. Mr. Raymond W. Wilson, second assistant, was on watch with Charles E. Hawley, oiler, Wallace R. Burleson, wiper, and Dorman S. Lofland, acting fireman, Mr. Ernest E. Floegel, first assistant engineer, was in the steering engine room preparing to take over the 4 to 8 watch. I told Second Assistant Engineer Wilson to open up the engines and get as much speed as possible. Our pressure was 205 pounds, corresponding to maximum speed, but due to wind and currents we could not exceed 8 1/2 to 9 knots.
"I then telephoned to the bridge, asking for instructions. Second Mate Simpson told me to give her all she had."
"At about 4:10 p.m.," Captain Cushman said, "seeing that the effort to escape was hopeless, I ordered Chief Engineer Willadsen to stop the engines. Second Assistant Engineer Wilson was on the noon to 4 p.m. watch and First Assistant Engineer Floegel was on the 4 p.m. watch; 1 assumed they were both in the engineroom. The engines were stopped at once."
"Finished with Engines"
Returning to Chief Engineer Willadsen's statement: "We heard the shells bursting about the ship. About 4:10 p.m. I received a bell signal: 'Finished with engines.' We closed the throttles and shut down the fuel pump, but left all the auxiliary machinery in operation to protect the boilers in case we could come back to the vessel. I then sent everybody up to the boats and went on deck myself at 4:20 p.m., getting into No. 1 lifeboat with the captain."
Captain Cushman's account described subsequent events:
"As soon as the E. J. Sadler had lost sufficient headway, I gave the command for all hands to abandon ship. I went to the chartroom, collected all the ship's secret documents and papers, and threw them overboard in a weighted container specially provided for that purpose.
"Chief Engineer Willadsen came up last from the engineroom. When I found that everybody had abandoned the ship I joined First Mate John B. Regan in No. 1 lifeboat and we pulled away at 4:25 p.m., following the other boats astern of the E. J. Sadler for about a mile. We then lay to in order to observe the submarine's further action.
"As we watched from the boats the submarine circled slowly around the E. J. Sadler from starboard to port, across her bow, shelling her at close range with both guns. It appeared that the enemy gunners were aiming mostly at the engineroom and fore hold; all the shells seemed to strike in these quarters. However, we were too far astern to witness accurately the effect of each shell.
"About 4:45 p.m. the wooden midship house was set afire, presumably by incendiary shells, and burned for nearly half an hour. Then the fire gradually subsided, but shortly thereafter the whole ship was ablaze, from bow to stern. She kept burning fiercely until after nightfall.
"Around 7:30 p.m. the fire went out all at once, indicating that the E. J. Sadler had gone down.
"By that time No. 1 boat was two miles astern. The submarine had disappeared; she never came near the lifeboats and no distinguishing mark could be seen on her. About 8 p.m. we set sail and headed toward Aruba, the nearest port. Between 9 and 10 p.m. an airplane flew overhead and signaled, to us, 'Keep a light burning. Help will arrive at dawn.'
"By 10 a.m. on June 23 our boat was sighted by a destroyer, the USS Biddle, which soon took us on board. The Biddle had already rescued the men in No. 4 lifeboat. It was difficult to locate the other two boats, as they had drifted a considerable distance during the night. A plane assisted the destroyer in finding Nos. 2 and 3 lifeboats and by 12:30 p.m. the entire crew had been saved."
Radio Operator Osborne, who sustained a severe foot injury, received treatment aboard the USS Biddle and at an Army clinic in San Juan.
"I consider it most fortunate," Captain Cushman concluded, "that the entire crew survived, considering the shelling we were subjected to for nearly half an hour before abandoning ship."
Captain Leslie D. Cushman entered the Company's service as a third mate on April 9, 1923, and was promoted to master April 9, 1937.
Chief Engineer John Willadsen joined the Company as a first assistant engineer on November 10, 1917, and has been a chief engineer since January 15, 1918.
Survivors of the "E. J. Sadier - June 22, 1942
|