Aurora
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| Name | Aurora | ||
| Type: | Motor tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 7.050 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - Baltimore Dry Docks & Shipbuilding Co, Baltimore MD | ||
| Owner | Socony-Vacuum Oil Co Inc, New York | ||
| Homeport | New York | ||
| Date of attack | 10 May, 1942 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Damaged by U-506 (Erich Würdemann) | ||
| Position | 28.35N, 90.00W - Grid DA 9288 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 50 (1 dead and 49 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | New York - Beaumont, Texas | ||
| Cargo | Water ballast | ||
| History | Built as American steam merchant Miller County, 1923 converted to motor tanker, 1927 renamed Aurora 1942 transferred to US Maritime Commission, repaired and returned to service as Jamestown; 1945 taken over by US Navy and renamed USS Mariveles (IX 197) | ||
| Notes on loss | At 09.31 hours on 10 May 1942, the unescorted Aurora (Master William H. Sheldon) was struck by a torpedo from U-506 on the starboard side aft of the bridge in the #6 tank about 40 miles off Southwest Pass, Louisiana. She immediately took a list to starboard, but by shifting ballast returned to an even keel. The master proceeded and kept most of the men on deck near lifeboats. 90 minutes later a second torpedo hit just aft of the first, in tank #8 and a third torpedo struck at the #4 tank. U-506 surfaced and began shelling the tanker, causing a fire in the paint locker. The armed guards did not return fire with the 5in gun on the stern and the two .30cal guns. Shrapnel wounded the radio operator and the chief mate, who died later on one of the rafts. All hands (nine officers, 29 men and 12 armed guards) abandoned ship in two boats and three rafts. Würdemann thought that the tanker will sink and departed. Later the master reboarded the Aurora. At 17.00 hours, the diesel yacht USS Onyx (PYc 5) and the USS YP-157 picked up the survivors. The US coast guard tug USS Tuckahoe (WYT 89) arrived and sent a rescue party on board with fire hose and extinguishers. Together with the tug Robert W. Wilmot, the Aurora was towed to Algiers, Louisiana, where she was repaired. | ||
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