AH-WR-1793

Esso Nashville

Tanker · United States · Lost 1942 · The Outer Banks

Esso Nashville’s bow sank after a 1942 torpedo attack; all 38 survived and her salvaged stern returned to service.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in 1940 for Standard Oil, Esso Nashville carried fuel oil from Port Arthur toward New Haven. On March 21, 1942, U-124 torpedoed the unarmed tanker twice off North Carolina, breaking her in two. All 38 crew survived and were rescued by American naval and Coast Guard vessels. The bow sank, but the floating stern was salvaged, refitted and returned to service in March 1943. The wreck record concerns the lost bow, not a total loss of the entire vessel.

Vessel

Built: 1940
Registry: Hull no. 4349
Builder: Not established
Yard: Sparrow’s Point, Maryland
Material: Steel
Length: 445.4 ft
Beam: 64.2 ft
Tonnage: 7,943 gross tons
Propulsion: Not established
Owners: Standard Oil Company, New Jersey

Loss

Date: March 21, 1942
Cause: Enemy action
Location: Off the North Carolina coast
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Port Arthur, Texas → New Haven, Connecticut
Cargo: 106,718 barrels of fuel oil
Aboard: 38
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 120 ft
Condition: Bow section lies upside down with a slight starboard list; deck buried, hull beginning to break away. Collapsed hull plates, masts and pipes lie aft of the bow. The salvaged stern is not at this site.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 33.88° N 77.23° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: North Carolina coast
Region: The Outer Banks

NOAA published bow-wreck site position retained as approximate; not the attack position or a survey-error estimate.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Well documented (91/100)

This site contains the lost bow, not an intact whole vessel. Whole-vessel artwork is interpretive. Builder attribution and conflicting propulsion details are omitted; captain and discovery date are not established.

NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary — Esso Nashville
Full construction details, service history, final loss sequence and casualty outcomes; published site coordinates with accuracy qualified, conflicts and unknowns disclosed.