Atlas
Tanker · United States · Lost 1942 · The Outer Banks
Tanker Atlas burned after two torpedo strikes off Cape Lookout; 32 of the 34 people aboard survived.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in Philadelphia in 1916 as Sunoil, the tanker was sold to Socony-Vacuum and renamed Atlas in 1927. On April 9, 1942, she was sailing from Houston toward New Jersey with more than 84,000 barrels of gasoline. U-552 torpedoed the unescorted, unarmed ship twice off Cape Lookout, and the second strike ignited the cargo. Thirty-two of the 34 aboard survived; two drowned while escaping burning fuel.
Vessel
- 1916
- Hull no. 107
- William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Steel
- 430 ft
- 58.2 ft
- 7,137 gross tons
- Single screw; oil-fired steam engine
- Sun Company (1916–1927); Socony-Vacuum Oil Company
Loss
- April 9, 1942
- Enemy action
- Off Cape Lookout, North Carolina
- Atlantic Ocean
- Houston, Texas → Seawarren, New Jersey
- 84,239 barrels of gasoline
- 34
- 2
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 125 ft
- Mostly intact, high relief, large intact sections concentrated in approximately the original vessel footprint; stern section is most intact.
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 34.53° N 76.24° W
- Approximate position
- Cape Lookout, North Carolina
NOAA decimal wreck-site position retained as approximate.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (92/100)
Captain and discovery date are not established. NOAA conflicts on engine expansion configuration; ordinary unarmed wartime merchant carriage is not naval service.
NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary — Atlas
Complete statistics, historical narrative, completed loss and casualties, surveyed site position/condition and inspected historical photograph.
