SS Venore

SS ''Venore'' was an American freighter and ore carrier. She was originally built in 1921 under the name ''G. Harrison Smith'', and was renamed to ''Charles G. Black'' after being acquired by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in 1926. She was torpedoed and sunk by the on January 23, 1942.

Construction

''G. Harrison Smith'' was constructed at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's plant in Sparrow's Point, Maryland, and she was laid down in early 1921. She was one of four ships of her type built at the plant, though the other three were built for the Ore Steamship Corporation rather than the International Petroleum Company, which operated ''G. Harrison Smith''. The freighter was launched on July 12, 1921 as yard number 4210. She underwent her sea trials on August 30 and was delivered to the International Petroleum Company on September 12. She was assigned the official number 1141674.

Specifications

''G. Harrison Smith'' was long, wide, and deep. Her tonnage was 8,017 gross registered and 20,000 deadweight. Her ore hold was long and wide. She had a top speed of . She was equipped with three single-ended Scotch boilers that utilized the Bethlehem-Dahl mechanical oil burning system. ''G. Harrison Smith''s triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine had cylinders in diameter and had the Howden-type forced draft.

Service history

''G. Harrison Smith'' was operated by the International Petroleum Company between 1921 and 1926. She was acquired by the International Petroleum Company's parent—the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey—in 1926, and was renamed to ''Charles G. Black''. She was sold to the Ore Steamship Corporation of New York on September 26, 1940, where she was subsequently converted to an ore carrier and renamed ''Venore''.

The ship's regular route consisted of traveling from Cruz Grande, Chile, to Baltimore, Maryland, via the Panama Canal. She could carry a maximum of of oil if all of her holds were filled with the cargo.

On January 6, 1927, ''Charles G. Black'' ran aground off the South Pass Light in Louisiana. She was refloated on January 11, five days later."Casualty reports". ''The Times''. No. 44478. London. 13 January 1927. col D, p. 21.

Sinking

''Venore'' departed Cruz Grande, on January 4, 1942, laden with 8,000 tons of iron ore and crewed by 42 officers and crew. She briefly docked in Cristobal, Panama, for refueling, passing through the Panama Canal a week after she departed Chile. Before continuing on her voyage to Baltimore, the ship's mess boy and second cook were informed of four tankers sunk off Cape Hatteras by German U-boats.

During the night of January 23, ''Venore'' was passed by the British motor tanker , sailing back to England with kerosene for the war effort. ''Venore''s captain, Fritz Duurloo, ordered the ore carrier to be darkened save for her sidelights, which were only to be dimmed. Her radio operator was also informed of a U-boat operating east of Wimble Shoals, though he told no one of this.

The fired two torpedoes which struck ''Empire Gem'' at 19:25, causing fire to erupt from her stern, and ''Venore''s third mate was startled by ''Empire Gem''s "terrific explosion". He subsequently went to the bridge, informing Captain Duurloo of the incident. ''U-66'' surfaced while it rounded ''Empire Gem''s stern, chasing ''Venore'' for around five minutes. Captain Duurloo ordered the ship to move at full speed towards the shoals. The explosions caused by ''Empire Gem'' frightened ''Venore''s crew, and three boats were dropped from the deck while the ore freighter was still underway at her maximum speed. Two of them were destroyed by her propellers, but one managed to get away with two men aboard. Her radio operator sent out an emergency signal that read "SS ''Venore'' torpedoed off Diamond Shoals", which was received by the radio operator of the American merchant ship .

''U-66'' fired two more of its torpedoes at ''Venore''. One missed, however, the other struck amidships of the boiler room, setting the ore carrier's stern on fire. The crew in the engine and boiler rooms abandoned their posts after stopping the engines. Around an hour after the first torpedo struck ''Venore'', a third torpedo struck the #9 ballast tank on the port side, causing the ship to list sharply and submerging the main deck.

The third mate took the radio operator to the last lifeboat, only to find it had already been lowered with the remaining crew aboard it by the order of the chief mate. The lifeboat floated next to the davits, and the two men aboard leapt from the deck of ''Venore'' towards the lifeboat. The chief mate initially gave the order to row away before realizing neither man, nor the captain, was aboard. The ore freighter listed heavily to port by now, and the lifeboat gave up any attempt to return due to the conditions of the sea. ''Venore'' capsized at 4:05.

The 21 men in the lifeboat rowed all night and eventually raised a sail after dawn. An aircraft passed by shortly after but did not spot them, and they met up with the other remaining lifeboat around 10:00. It was swamped, and the chief mate ordered the sail to be taken down in order to recover them. However, the sea was too strong, and they were "left astern" around 10:45. In the morning of January 25 a ship was spotted on the horizon, which turned out to be the tanker ''Tennessee''. The crew in the lifeboat were rescued north of Diamond Shoals, and were subsequently taken to Norfolk. One survivor was plucked from debris by the motor tanker ''Australia'' later that day.

Wreck

While a shipwreck site has been located in the region where ''Venore'' went down, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has not definitely located the wreck of the ore carrier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venore
1921 ships
Freight transport
Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Shipwrecks of North America
Battle of the Atlantic