S.B. Hunt
| Name | S.B. Hunt | ||
| Type: | Steam tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 6.840 tons | ||
| Completed | 1919 - Sun Shipbuilding Co, Chester PA | ||
| Owner | Standard Oil Co of New Jersey, New York | ||
| Homeport | Wilmington | ||
| Date of attack | 7 Jul, 1943 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Damaged by U-185 (August Maus) | ||
| Position | 03.51S, 36.22W - Grid FB 9396 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 48 (0 dead and 48 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | BT-18 | ||
| Route | Recife, Brazil (5 Jul) - Trinidad - Caripito, Venezuela | ||
| Cargo | 24.000 barrels of water ballast | ||
| History | On 8 Jan, 1945, the S.B. Hunt was acquired by the US Navy from the US War Shipping Administration (WSA) in Pearl Harbor as fuel storage ship USS Flambeau (IX 192) and served in Saipan until July 1945 and then in Iwo Jima. On 30 December, she left Pearl Harbor for Norfolk, where she was decommissioned and returned to the WSA on 6 Apr, 1946. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 08.29 hours on 7 Jul, 1943, U-185 attacked the convoy BT-18 about 125 miles east of Fortaleza, Brazil for the second time and reported hits on a tanker and an ammunition ship that were sinking slowly. The ships hit were S.B. Hunt and Thomas Sinnickson. The S.B. Hunt (Master Henry S. Westmoreland) in station #51 was hit by one torpedo on the port side at the bulkhead between the pump room and #4 tank. The explosion opened a hole 45 feet by 35 feet in the side but the tanker was able to continue with the convoy. None of the eight officers, 29 crewmen and eleven armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and two .50cal guns) reported injuries. | ||
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