| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Pierce Butler |
| Namesake | Pierce Butler |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
| Operator | Calmar Steamship Corp. |
| Ordered | as type (EC2-S-C1) hull,MCE hull 306 |
| Awarded | 1 May 1941 |
| Builder | Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, Maryland[1] |
| Cost | $1,077,718[2] |
| Yard number | 2056 |
| Way number | 16 |
| Laid down | 27 June 1942 |
| Launched | 18 August 1942 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. P.D. Daly |
| Completed | 27 August 1942 |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Sunk, 20 November 1942 |
| General characteristics[3] | |
| Class & type |
|
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 57 feet (17 m) |
| Draft | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 11.5knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Complement | |
| Armament |
|
SSPierce Butler was aLiberty ship built in theUnited States duringWorld War II. She was named afterPierce Butler, aSouth Carolina, riceplanter, slaveholder, politician, an officer in theAmerican Revolutionary War, and one of theFounding Fathers of the United States. He served as a state legislator, a member of theCongress of the Confederation, a delegate to the 1787Constitutional Convention, and a member of theUnited States Senate.
Pierce Butler was laid down on 27 June 1942, under aMaritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 306, by theBethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, Maryland; she was sponsored by Mrs. P.D. Daly, the wife of a yard employee, and was launched on 18 August 1942.[1][2]
She was allocated toCalmar Steamship Corp., on 27 August 1942.[4]
Pierce Butler had set out fromNew York City forSuez, Egypt, with 8,900 LT (9,000 t) of general cargo. At 11:40, on the morning of 20 November 1942, while steaming unescorted in a nonevasive course at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph),Pierce Butler was struck by two torpedoes fired from theGerman submarine U-177, at29°40′S36°35′E / 29.667°S 36.583°E /-29.667; 36.583. Both torpedoes struckPierce Butler on the starboard side, one struck hold #5, while the other struck forward of the engine room. The crew sent out a distress signal, which was answered, and returned fire atU-177. Eight rounds were fired from the bow mounted3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gun and seven rounds from the stern mounted4-inch (100 mm)/50 caliber gun in an effort to keepU-177 submerged. It took ten minutes to secure the engines so that the crew of eight officers, 33 crewmen, and 21Armed guards could abandon the ship in the four lifeboats.Pierce Butler sank at the stern at 12:10. The crew ofU-177 questionedPierce Butler's third mate and offered to send out a distress signal. The entire crew of 62 were rescued after about 20 hours whenHMS Fortune picked them up and landed them atDurban, South Africa.[5]
