SS Alcoa Puritan
Cargo Ship · United States · Lost 1942 · The Gulf of Mexico
A bauxite freighter that outran a torpedo before being shelled and sunk by U-507, with every one of her crew surviving.
scott duane Roberts
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Alcoa Puritan was carrying bauxite from Trinidad to Mobile when U-507 attacked her off the Mississippi Delta. The freighter tried to outrun the submarine, which surfaced and shelled her for forty minutes before finishing her with a torpedo. Remarkably, all 54 aboard survived and reached shore safely.
Vessel
- 1941
- NRHP reference no. 100002560
- Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company
- San Francisco, California
- Steel
- 418 ft
- 60 ft
- 6795
- Steam turbine, single screw
- Alcoa Steamship Company
Loss
- May 6, 1942
- Enemy action
- About 15 miles off the entrance to the Mississippi River
- Gulf of Mexico
- Port of Spain, Trinidad → Mobile, Alabama
- 9,700 tons of bauxite
- 54
- 0
- Yngvar Adelstein Krantz
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 2018
Position
- 28.58° N 88.37° W
- Approximate position
- Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (90/100)
National Register of Historic Places
NRHP listing, vessel history.
uboat.net Allied Ships Hit by U-boats
Attack narrative, survivors.
