SS George Calvert (MC Hull 29)

"Note: The USAS "American Mariner", originally commissioned as the SS "George Calvert" (build number 2007/MC Hull 20) should not be confused with the "SS" George Calvert (build number 2016/MC Hull 29) which was constructed shortly thereafter."

SS "George Calvert", Maritime Commission hull number 29, was a Liberty ship serving as a freighter to carry goods during World War II. She was sunk in May 1942 by a torpedo launched from a German submarine near Cuba.

Two Liberty ships with the same name

The USAS "American Mariner", originally launched as the SS "George Calvert" (build number 2007/MC Hull 20), should not be confused with this SS "George Calvert" (build number 2016/MC Hull 29) which was constructed shortly thereafter.

Hull number 20 was reportedly set aside after launch due to structural problems during assembly. As a result, hull number 29 was given her name. Hull number 29 was sunk in May 1942, and, as a result, when hull number 20 was turned over as "ready-for-issue" to the War Shipping Administrtion in 1943, there was no reason to change her name since hull number 29 no longer existed.

Sinking of Hull Number 29

Numerous Internet lists incorrectly report that the MC Hull 29 was sunk in 1944 off the coast of Cuba by a torpedo from an airplane. Official Merchant Marine records and a survivor account indicate that MC Hull 29 with over 9,000 tons of cargo was actually sunk by a German submarine, using three torpedoes and killing ten crew members, off the coast of Cuba on May 20, 1942, on her maiden voyage from Baltimore, Maryland to Iran.

After being interrogated by the commander of the German submarine, the surviving crew members proceeded to Cuba in three lifeboats, arriving there the next morning.

Clay Blair, in "Hitler's U-Boat War" confirms that MC Hull 29, at 7,200 tons, was torpedoed by German Type VII submarine U-753, commanded by Alfred Manhardt von Manstein in May 1942.

References

* Blair, Clay, Hitler's U-Boat War, the hunters, 1939-1942. Random House, 1996. ISBN 0-394-58839-8.
* [http://www.usmm.org/sunk42a.html#anchor331462 Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged during January to June 1942]
* [http://www.usmm.org/lopez.html Jay G. Lopez, Radio Operator, Four Star Seaman (torpedoed 4 times)]