Wichita
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| Name | Wichita | ||
| Type: | Motor merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 6,174 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - Doullut & Wiliams Shipbuilding Co Inc, New Orleans LA | ||
| Owner | US Lines Inc, New York | ||
| Homeport | New Orleans | ||
| Date of attack | 19 Sep 1942 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-516 (Gerhard Wiebe) | ||
| Position | 15N, 54W - Grid EE 7544 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 50 (50 dead - no survivors) | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Takoradi (1 Sep) - St.Thomas, Virgin Islands - New York | ||
| Cargo | General cargo | ||
| History | Built as steam merchant for US Maritime Commission, Washington DC. 1929 converted to a motor merchant. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 06.48 hours on 19 Sep, 1942, the unescorted Wichita (Master Herman Swain Chessman) was hit between the forward mast and the bridge by one torpedo from U-516 and sank in less than one minute about 300 miles northeast of Barbados. The ship was zigzagging at 11.5 knots and had been missed with a spread of two torpedoes at 06.05 hours. The Germans observed no lifeboats, the ten officers, 30 crewmen and ten armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and four .50cal guns) were lost. | ||
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