AH-WR-1057

SS Leslie

Freighter · United States · Lost 1942 · Florida's Atlantic Coast

A sugar-laden freighter sunk close inshore of Cape Canaveral by the last torpedo U-123 had aboard, later broken up in place in 1954.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Leslie was a 1919-built steam freighter carrying raw sugar from Cuba to New York when U-123 fired her final torpedo into the ship's #3 hold about three miles southeast of the Hetzel Shoals gas buoy on 13 April 1942. The explosion flooded the shaft alley and the ship settled by the stern in shallow water. Most of the crew reached shore near the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse in lifeboats; the wreck remained in place until it was broken up in 1954.

Vessel

Built: 1919
Builder: McDougall-Duluth Shipbuilding Co
Yard: Duluth, Minnesota
Material: Steel
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 2609
Propulsion: Steam, single screw
Owners: Worth Steamship Co, New York

Loss

Date: April 13, 1942
Cause: Enemy action
Location: About 3 miles southeast of the Hetzel Shoals gas buoy, near Cape Canaveral, Florida
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Antilla and Havana, Cuba → New York
Cargo: 3,225 tons of raw sugar
Aboard: 32
Lives lost: 4
Master: Albert Eriksson

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Sank in shallow water; not raised until August 1954, when the wreck was broken up.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established