| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Roger B. Taney |
| Namesake | Roger B. Taney |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
| Operator | Waterman Steamship Corp. |
| Ordered | as type (EC2-S-C1) hull,MCE hull 17 |
| Awarded | 14 March 1941 |
| Builder | Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, Maryland[1] |
| Cost | $1,421,123[2] |
| Yard number | 2004 |
| Way number | 4 |
| Laid down | 21 June 1941 |
| Launched | 6 December 1941 |
| Completed | 9 February 1942 |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Sunk, 8 February 1943 |
| 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 |
|
SSRoger B. Taney was aLiberty ship built in theUnited States duringWorld War II. She was named afterRoger B. Taney, who was the fifthChief Justice of the Supreme Court, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Taney served as theUnited States Attorney General andUnited States Secretary of the Treasury under PresidentAndrew Jackson.
Roger B. Taney was laid down on 21 June 1941, under aMaritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 17, by theBethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, Maryland; and was launched on 6 December 1941.[1][2]
She was allocated toWaterman Steamship Corp., on 29 January 1942.[4]
On 8 February 1943, she was attacked byGerman submarine U-160, at22°0′S7°45′W / 22.000°S 7.750°W /-22.000; -7.750. A torpedo wake had been spotted at midnight 20 yd (18 m) ahead of the bow of the unescortedRoger B. Taney. The ship made a 90° turn butU-160 was able to maneuver into position to fire another torpedo that struckRoger B. Taney in the starboard side at the engine room. Herarmed guards, while remaining onboard while the crew abandoned ship, fired five rounds in the direction the torpedo had come from. Around 02:30 another torpedo struck the #4 hold causing a tremendous explosion. The armed guard abandoned ship after this last attack.[5]
U-160 then surfaced, and after questioning the survivors, left the area.[5]
In total, eight officers, twenty-nine crewmen, one passenger, and nineteen armed guards had managed to abandon the ship in two lifeboats before it sunk.
One officer and two crewmen had been killed in the initial attack. While the two boats tried to stay together, after 36 hours they became separated. TheBritishMV Penrith Castle was able to rescue one of the boats on 1 March 1943, and dropped the crew off atBahia, 6 March 1943. On 22 March 1943, theBrazilian merchant shipBagé was able to rescue the other lifeboat 10 mi (16 km) off the coast of Brazil. The boat had traveled more than 2,000 mi (3,200 km) from the sinking location.[5]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in February 1943 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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