SS ''Pendleton'' was a Type T2-SE-A1 tanker built in 1944 in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, United States, for the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

. She was sold in 1948 to National Bulk Carriers, serving until February 1952 when she broke in two in a storm. The T2 tanker ships were prone to splitting in two in cold weather. The ship's sinking and crew rescue (along with the break-up and rescue of its

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

) is the topic of the 2009 book ''The Finest Hours: The True Story Behind the US Coast Guard's Most Daring Rescue'', by Michael J. Tougias. Tougias' book inspired the 2016

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

-produced film '' The Finest Hours'' with

Chris Pine Chris Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' reboot film series (2009–present), Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films '' Wonder Woman'' (2017) and ' ...

, which focuses on the ''Pendleton'' rescue.

Description

The ship was built as

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

49 by

Kaiser Shipyards The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kais ...

, Swan Island Yard,

. Measured at , , , she was long, with a beam of and a depth of . Her propulsion was "turbo-electric" (a steam turbine driving a generator that produced electricity to power a motor that drove the propeller shaft). The turbine was manufactured by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...

. It could propel her at a speed of .

History

''Pendleton'' was launched on January 21, 1944 and completed in February. She was built for the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

. She was owned by the

. Her port of registry was

. The United States Official Number 245142 and

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

KWAA were allocated. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, ''Pendleton'' was a member of convoy ON 249, which departed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, United Kingdom on August 18, 1944 and arrived at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on September 2. ''Pendleton'' was transferred to National Bulk Carriers of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christin ...

in 1948. In July 1951, ''Pendleton'' ran aground in the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

. She was refloated the next day. The damaged part of the hull would later play a key role in the sinking.

Loss

On February 18, 1952, while en route from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, ''Pendleton'' broke in two in a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mon ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. A

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

Consolidated PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wi ...

aircraft was diverted from searching for another T2 tanker, , to search for ''Pendleton'', and located both sections. At this point, the Coast Guard realized that they were dealing with two ships that had broken in two. The Coast Guard motor lifeboat captained by Boatswain's Mate, First Class Bernard Webber was dispatched by commanding officer Daniel Webster Cluff from the USCG station at

Chatham, Massachusetts Chatham () is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Chatham is located at the southeast tip of Cape Cod and has historically been a fishing community. First settled by the English in 1664, the township was originally called M ...

. ''CG 36500'' was pounded by waves going over the

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It o ...

out of the harbor, damaging the boat and leaving it without a compass. The crew pressed on and managed to find the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

section of ''Pendleton'' anyway, going on to perform a daring rescue of her crew. Webber carefully maneuvered ''CG 36500'' underneath the listing hull and motored the Coast Guard boat back and forth with the waves while ''Pendleton''s crew lowered themselves down the side with a

Jacob's ladder Jacob's Ladder ( he, סֻלָּם יַעֲקֹב ) is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of th ...

. The crew, timing their descent against the rise and fall of the ocean, jumped from the swaying ladder onto the moving deck of ''CG 36500'' while Webber carefully kept his boat under the ladder but clear of the towering metal wall of the broken-up ''Pendleton''. Nine of ''Pendleton''s 41 crew were lost: eight (including Captain John Fitzgerald) who were on the bow section (which hadn't been part of the rescue), and the ship's cook from the stern section, who had selflessly assisted the rest of the crew off the vessel before himself. He was lost when, as strong gale force winds began to force the ship off a sand bar (where she had temporarily grounded), he jumped from the Jacob's ladder, fell into the ocean, and was struck by ''Pendleton'' as it was hit by a wave, killing him instantly. One week later, after its grounding, ''Pendleton''s bow was boarded. Of the eight victims stranded on this section, only one frozen body was recovered. With the survivors on board ''CG 36500'', a disagreement developed over how they should be dealt with. Webber eventually decided against attempting to locate and transfer them to , heading for the shore instead. The survivors were safely landed at Chatham. The rescue of the survivors of the shipwrecked ''Pendleton'' is considered one of the most daring rescues of the United States Coast Guard. All four crew of ''CG-36500'' were awarded the Coast Guard's Gold Lifesaving Medal (rather than just the coxswain, the typical treatment). At the time of her loss, ''Pendleton'' was insured for $1,690,000. The stern ultimately grounded off

Monomoy Island Monomoy Island is an spit of sand extending southwest from Chatham, Cape Cod off the Massachusetts mainland. Because of shifting sands and water levels, it is often connected to the mainland, and at other times is separated from it. It is ho ...

, south of Chatham, at coordinates , where it now lies underwater, and the bow grounded on Pollock Rip Shoal. The bow section was sold in 1953 to North American Smelting Co. for recycling at

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 3,924.Delaware River and dismantled there circa 1978 by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

Description

History

Loss

References

Further reading