Java Arrow
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| Name | Java Arrow | ||
| Type: | Steam tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 8.327 tons | ||
| Completed | 1921 - Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Quincy MA | ||
| Owner | Socony-Vacuum Oil Co Inc, New York | ||
| Homeport | New York | ||
| Date of attack | 6 May, 1942 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Damaged by U-333 (Peter-Erich Cremer) | ||
| Position | 27.35N, 80.08W - Grid DB 9763 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 47 (2 dead and 45 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | New York (28 Apr) - Curaçao - Capetown | ||
| Cargo | Water ballast and 1300 drums of lube oil | ||
| History | | ||
| Notes on loss | At 05.43 hours on 6 May 1942, the unescorted Java Arrow (Master Sigvard J. Hennichen) was torpedoed twice by U-333 eight miles off Vero Beach, Florida. The first torpedo struck on the port side about 15 feet above the keel at the #5 tank, just aft of the bridge. The second struck on the port side about ten feet above the keel and demolished the engine room, killing two officers on watch below. Some of the surviving seven officers, 32 crewmen and six armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and four .30cal guns) abandoned ship after 20 minutes in a first lifeboat, the remaining men followed ten minutes later in a second boat. The survivors were picked up by the American submarine chaser USS PC-483 and a US Coast guard craft and landed at Miami and Fort Pierce, Florida. A US Coast guard officer boarded the tanker to ascertain the damage and concluded she could be saved, so the master and four men returned to the ship and dropped the starboard anchor to prevent the ship going aground on the beach. The master went to Fort Pierce to arrange the salvage tugs and returned later with 14 men. They cut through the anchor chain with an acetylene torch and remained on board. The tugs Ontario and Bafshe towed the tanker, escorted by US Coast guard vessels, to Port Everglades, Florida arriving after 90 hours. In June 1942, the Java Arrow was given to the US Maritime Commission, repaired and returned to service in 1943 as Kerry Patch. 1944 renamed Celtic, but changed name again to Kerry Patch in 1945. | ||
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