SS ''Robert E. Lee'' was a steam

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

built for the

Eastern Steamship Lines Eastern Steamship Lines was a shipping company in the United States that operated from 1901 to 1955. It was created through successive mergers by Wall Street financier and speculator Charles W. Morse.Robert F. Bruner and Sean D. Carr, ''The Panic ...

in 1924. It was sunk on 30 July 1942 after being torpedoed by the German submarine on its return to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Design and construction

SS ''Robert E. Lee'' was built in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

, and finished construction in 1924. The ship had a

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

length of , and a depth of . The ship was constructed to primarily transport passengers between

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

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

Service history

Prewar

Following completion, ''Robert E. Lee'' was placed in passenger-cargo service between

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In the winter months, she was employed in service between New York and

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. She would continue working these routes until after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939.

World War II

In February 1942, ''Robert E. Lee'' was chartered by the

Alcoa Steamship Company Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

to transport goods and personnel from New York to ports located in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. One month later, she was contracted by 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 ...

as a freight carrier and was subsequently armed with a stern gun and degaussed to prevent

magnetic mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are deposited and left ...

attacks.

Sinking

On 30 July 1942, ''Robert E. Lee'' left

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

with around 270 passengers bound for

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. She initially traveled with convoy TAW-7, but was soon diverted to

along with the

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a type of small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. They encompass designs that are now largely obsolete, but which played an important role in the wars of the first half of th ...

. At 22:37, a single

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

was fired at the ship by . The torpedo was spotted by lookouts away, but no evasive action was able to be taken. The torpedo struck just aft of the engine room and destroyed the #3

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (compartment), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...

. Further damage was also done to the radio compartment and the steering gear. The ship began to list to port, and then starboard, before finally sinking by the stern about 15 minutes after the torpedo hit. Of the 407 crewmen and passengers, 15 passengers and 10 crewmen died in the sinking. The survivors were rescued by the patrol boats and , and the

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Underwriter'', and they were transported without incident to

Venice, Louisiana Venice is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 162. It is south of New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River at . It is ...

Wreckage

In 1986, an oil and gas survey conducted by

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

Offshore discovered the shipwreck of ''Robert E. Lee'' in the

Mississippi Canyon The Mississippi Canyon is an Submarine canyon, undersea canyon, part of the Mississippi Submarine Valley in the North-central Gulf of Mexico, south of Louisiana. According to the United States Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey GLORIA Map ...

. It was located at a depth of . In January 2001, the wreckage was once again spotted, but this time it was located by C & C Technologies. Located away was the wreckage of German submarine ''U-166'' after it had been sunk with

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s by ''PC-566''.

References

External links

SS Robert E. Lee information at NOAA.

SS Robert E. Lee information at Nautilus Live.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert E. Lee (1924) 1924 ships Passenger ships of the United States Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in July 1942 1986 archaeological discoveries Ships built in Newport News, Virginia World War II shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico World War II on the National Register of Historic Places Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Transportation in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana