W.E. Hutton
Photo courtesy of the Mariners Museum, Newport News VA
| Name | W.E. Hutton | ||
| Type: | Steam tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 7.076 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Alameda CA | ||
| Owner | Pure Oil Co, Nederland TX | ||
| Homeport | Baltimore | ||
| Date of attack | 19 Mar, 1942 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-124 (Johann Mohr) | ||
| Position | 34.25N, 76.50W - Grid DC 1183 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 36 (13 dead and 23 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Smiths Bluff, Texas (12 Mar) - Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania | ||
| Cargo | 65.000 barrels of #2 heating oil | ||
| History | Completed in April 1920 as Portola Plumas for US Shipping Board (USSB). 1922 renamed W.E. Hutton for Pure Oil Co, Nederland TX. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 05.38 hours on 19 Mar, 1942, the unescorted and unarmed W.E. Hutton (Master Carl A. Flaathan) was hit by one of two torpedoes fired by U-124 when steaming on a non-evasive course at 10 knots about 20 miles southeast of Cape Lookout. The torpedo was spotted by a lookout before it hit the starboard bow near the stem, buckling the bow, flooding the fore-peak tanks and carrying away both anchors. The master ordered the crew to prepare the lifeboats, sent distress signals and changed course towards the coast. At 05.48 hours, a coup de grāce hit on the port side amidships just aft of the bridge, destroying the pilot house, spraying oil over the ship and setting the midship section on fire. The tanker sank by the bow about one hour after the initial attack. One officer and twelve crew men were lost. The master, six officers and 16 crewmen abandoned ship in two lifeboats and two rafts, transferred into one boat at daybreak and were picked up after about 12 hours by the British motor merchant Port Halifax and transferred to the pilot boat at the Savannah Sea Buoy. | ||
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