AH-WR-1767

HMS Senateur Duhamel

Antisubmarine Trawler · United Kingdom (Royal Navy) · Lost 1942 · The Outer Banks

A converted Royal Navy fishing trawler sank after colliding with USS Semmes near Beaufort Inlet in 1942; all thirty-seven survived.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Senateur Duhamel was built at Aberdeen in 1927 as a steel commercial fishing trawler for French ownership. Converted into a Royal Navy antisubmarine vessel, she later operated under U.S. Navy control on loan for East Coast patrol and convoy escort. Based at Morehead City in 1942, she worked alongside HMT Bedfordshire. On May 6, 1942, she collided with USS Semmes near Beaufort Inlet and sank. All thirty-seven aboard survived without reported injuries. The Navy subsequently blasted and wire dragged the wreck, which NOAA documents near Cape Lookout Shoals.

Vessel

Built: 1927
Registry: Builder hull number 691 (NOAA)
Builder: Hall, Russell and Company
Yard: Aberdeen, Scotland
Material: Steel
Length: 192.3 ft
Beam: 31.1 ft
Tonnage: 913 gross tons
Propulsion: Steam
Owners: French commercial fishing company; Royal Navy, on loan to United States Navy

Loss

Date: May 6, 1942
Cause: Collision
Location: Near Beaufort Inlet and Cape Lookout Shoals, North Carolina
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 37
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 65 ft
Condition: Largely broken up after collision sinking and subsequent Navy blasting and wire dragging.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina
Region: The Outer Banks

Evidence

Overall confidence: Well documented (90/100)

Numerical wreck coordinates and propulsion or construction details not stated here are not established in the reviewed source; whole-hull imagery is interpretive.

NOAA — Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
Builder, 1927 construction, steel hull, dimensions, builder number and machinery; French commercial and Royal Navy/U.S. Navy loan service; May 6, 1942 collision/completed sinking, all 37 survivors without injury; 65-foot depth, condition, blasting/wire dragging and NOAA multibeam survey. Exact acquisition date not relied upon.