Faja de Oro
Tanker · Lost 1942 · The Florida Keys
The Mexican tanker Faja de Oro was torpedoed off Key West by U-106 on May 21, 1942; ten crew died, and her loss helped bring Mexico into the war.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Built at Hebburn-on-Tyne in 1914 as Barneson, this tanker survived the First World War as Oyleric, sailed for Italian owners as Genoano, and was seized by Mexico at Tampico in December 1941 and renamed Faja de Oro for Pemex. Returning in ballast from Marcus Hook to Tampico, she was torpedoed off Key West by U-106 before dawn on May 21, 1942, despite Mexican neutrality. A second hit set her afire and she sank; ten crew died and 27 were rescued. Her loss helped bring Mexico into the war.
Vessel
- 1914
- R. W. Hawthorn Leslie & Company
- Hebburn-on-Tyne, England
- Steel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Steam (screw)
- Not established
Loss
- May 21, 1942
- Enemy action
- Off Key West, Florida Straits
- Straits of Florida
- Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania → Tampico, Mexico
- In ballast
- Not established
- 10
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Key West, Florida
No pin: no surveyed wreck position in the sources used.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (55/100)
Based on a published secondary account; original records were not independently inspected.
Article narrative of construction, voyage and loss.
Eric Wiberg — Hermann Rasch of U-106 … sank Mexican tanker
Maritime historian's account confirming U-106 sank the Mexican tanker Faja de Oro in May 1942.
