SS Gulfamerica
Tanker · United States · Lost 1942 · Florida's Atlantic Coast
A brand-new tanker torpedoed on her maiden voyage in full view of the crowded Jacksonville Beach shoreline.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Gulfamerica was a new steam tanker on her maiden voyage from Port Arthur, Texas, to New York with a full cargo of furnace oil. On the night of 10 April 1942, silhouetted by the lit-up Jacksonville Beach resort, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-123, which then shelled her with deck gunfire. The tanker burned and drifted for days before finally sinking on 16 April. Nineteen of her forty-eight crew and armed guards were killed; survivors were rescued by Coast Guard patrol boats.
Vessel
- 1942
- Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc.
- Sparrows Point, Maryland
- Steel
- 445 ft
- 64 ft
- 8081
- Steam turbine, single screw
- Gulf Oil Company, New York City
Loss
- April 11, 1942
- Enemy action
- About 5 miles off Jacksonville Beach, Florida
- Atlantic Ocean
- Port Arthur, Texas → New York
- 101,500 barrels of furnace oil
- 48
- 19
- Oscar Anderson
The Wreck Today
- 60 ft
- Broken remains on the seafloor, now an artificial reef
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 30.17° N 81.14° W
- Approximate position
- Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
Attack narrative, casualties, and rescue.
Local historical account of the sinking and its visibility from shore.
