SS Pan Massachusetts
Tanker · United States · Lost 1942 · Florida's Atlantic Coast
A blazing tanker torpedoed off Cape Canaveral in 1942, one of the first of a deadly string of U-boat sinkings along Florida's coast.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Pan Massachusetts was a steam tanker built in 1919 and later converted to motor propulsion for National Bulk Carriers. On 19 February 1942, while steaming from Texas to New York, she was struck by two torpedoes from U-128 about 20 miles off Cape Canaveral. The cargo sprayed over the deck and ignited, turning the ship into a burning wreck before all lifeboats could be launched. Survivors swam beneath the flames or escaped by mooring lines, and were rescued by a passing tanker and a Coast Guard cutter.
Vessel
- 1919
- Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp (Union Iron Works)
- Alameda, California
- Steel
- 456.1 ft
- 56 ft
- 8202
- Motor, single screw
- National Bulk Carriers Inc, New York
Loss
- February 19, 1942
- Enemy action
- About 20 miles off Cape Canaveral, Florida
- Atlantic Ocean
- Texas → New York
- Petroleum cargo
- 38
- 20
- Robert E. Christy
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 28.45° N 80.13° W
- Approximate position
- Cape Canaveral, Florida
Position reported by uboat.net as 28°27'N, 80°08'W.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Present depth and condition of the wreck are not established in the sources reviewed.
Attack details, position, casualties, tonnage, builder.
NOAA Office of Response and Restoration
Vessel background, casualty and wreck-location context.
Casualty log and rescue narrative.
