AH-WR-0691

SS Ario

Tanker · United States · Lost 1942 · The Outer Banks

An empty tanker torpedoed and then shelled by a surfaced U-boat off Cape Lookout, now a shallow, accessible wreck popular with newer divers.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in 1920, the tanker Ario was returning empty from New York to Corpus Christi when U-158 torpedoed and then shelled her on March 15, 1942, off Cape Lookout, killing eight of her 34 crew. The ship remained afloat for hours before finally sinking; survivors were rescued by the destroyer USS Du Pont. The wreck's identity was confused with the neighboring W.E. Hutton for decades before NOAA research sorted out the two sites.

Vessel

Built: 1920
Builder: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Yard: Sparrows Point, Maryland
Material: Steel
Length: 436 ft
Beam: 56 ft
Tonnage: 6952
Propulsion: Triple expansion steam, single screw
Owners: Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. Inc., New York

Loss

Date: March 15, 1942
Cause: Enemy action
Location: About 11-12 miles southwest of the Cape Lookout Light Buoy, North Carolina
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: New York, New York → Corpus Christi, Texas
Cargo: Water ballast
Aboard: 34
Lives lost: 8
Master: Thorolf R. Hannevig

The Wreck Today

Depth: 65-75
Condition: Heavily broken apart, partly from postwar wire-dragging and demolition of navigation hazards.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established