SS Lemuel Burrows
Collier · United States · Lost 1942 · The New Jersey Coast
A coal-carrying collier torpedoed by U-404 within sight of the lights of Atlantic City in March 1942, the day after the same U-boat sank the Tolten.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1917 as Deepwater and later renamed Lemuel Burrows, the collier was carrying coal along the U.S. East Coast when the German submarine U-404 torpedoed her off Atlantic City in March 1942, using the glow of the city's lights to spot her silhouette. Sixteen of her 34 crew were lost. The wreck, broken apart by the attack and later wire-dragged, is a well-known dive site off southern New Jersey.
Vessel
- 1917
- New York Shipbuilding Corporation
- Camden, New Jersey
- Steel
- 437 ft
- 63 ft
- 7610
- Steam, single screw
- Mystic Steamship Company, Boston
Loss
- March 14, 1942
- Enemy action
- About five miles south-southwest of the Brigantine Gas Buoy, off Atlantic City, New Jersey
- Atlantic Ocean
- Not established
- Coal
- 34
- 16
- Grover Dale Clark
The Wreck Today
- 80 ft
- Broken and scattered after being torn apart by three torpedoes and later wire-dragged twice as a navigation hazard
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 39.35° N 74.22° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Atlantic City, New Jersey
Attack/sinking position about five miles south-southwest of the Brigantine Gas Buoy off Atlantic City, given as 39°21'N 74°13'W in a German U-boat archival database and corroborated by uboat.net's account of the U-404 attack.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
Exact wreck coordinates are not established in the sources reviewed.
Attack details, casualties, and rescue account.
wreck position
