AH-WR-1789

Norvana

Freighter · United States · Lost January 1942; NOAA’s statistics list January 22, but its narrative cites conflicting January 20/21 U-boat reports and an overdue vessel. · The Outer Banks

Norvana vanished with 29 people in January 1942; a bell bearing her former name later identified the wreck.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built at Saginaw in 1920 as Lake Gatun, the freighter later sailed as York and Norvana. In January 1942 she left Cuba for Philadelphia carrying sugar and 29 people. No distress signal was sent; NOAA discusses conflicting U-boat accounts and records all 29 as lost. Navy salvage in 1944 recovered a bell marked Lake Gatun, positively identifying the wreck.

Vessel

Built: 1920
Registry: Hull no. 146
Builder: Saginaw Ship Building Company
Yard: Saginaw, Michigan
Material: Steel
Length: 253.4 ft
Beam: 43.8 ft
Tonnage: 2,677 gross tons
Propulsion: Single screw; oil-fueled triple-expansion three-cylinder engine
Owners: U.S. Shipping Board (1920–1927); Merchants and Miners Transportation Company (1927–1941); North Atlantic and Gulf Steam Ship Company

Loss

Date: January 1942; NOAA’s statistics list January 22, but its narrative cites conflicting January 20/21 U-boat reports and an overdue vessel.
Cause: Enemy action
Location: Off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Cuba → Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cargo: Sugar
Aboard: 29
Lives lost: 29
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 110 ft
Condition: Bow broken off but intact with anchors in hawse pipes; machinery and deck plating remain amidships. Engine, boilers, steering quadrant and propeller are visible; stern twisted to port.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 36.07° N 75.23° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
Region: The Outer Banks

NOAA decimal wreck-site position retained as approximate; identity established by recovered bell, not an invented point from a textual locality.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)

NOAA does not resolve the responsible submarine or exact sinking day. Subsequent Navy salvage was not naval service by the merchant vessel.

NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary — Norvana
Construction and vessel statistics, service history, final loss narrative and casualties, surveyed site position and condition, identification evidence and source uncertainties.