BUENAVENTURA cargo vessel 1919

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aukepalmhof
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BUENAVENTURA cargo vessel 1919

Post by aukepalmhof » Thu Oct 17, 2019 7:56 pm

Built as a cargo vessel under yard No 1858 by McDougall-Duluth at Duluth for the U.S. Government.
Launched as the LAKE FLATTERY.
Tonnage 2,609 gross, 1,610 net, dim. 251 x 43.6 x 25.8ft, draught 28.2ft.
Powered by a triple expansion steam engine 352 nhp, speed 9.5 knots.
November 1919 completed, homeport Duluth.

1923 Sold to the Panama Railroad Co, New York and renamed BUENAVENTURA.
02 January 1940 Sold to Stockard SS Corp, New York and renamed CARIBSEA.

11 March 1942 lost by a torpedo from (U-158) in position 34.40N/76.10W 11.3.42 [Santiago de Cuba-Norfolk, manganese ore] 21 crewmembers lost there life in this tragedy.

See: https://monitor.noaa.gov/shipwrecks/caribsea.html
CARIBSEA was built in 1919 and classified as an ocean-going cargo ship, one of fifteen identical Laker-style steamships. On March 2, 1942, CARIBSEA departed from Santiago, Cuba bound for Norfolk, Va., with 3,600 tons of manganese ore. Under the darkness of night on March 10, CARIBSEA approached Cape Lookout as it traveled north with its heavy, combustible cargo. The ship slowed down in order to follow its directive to pass Diamond Shoals in the daylight, but at the same time, U-158 positioned itself south of Cape Lookout with the hopes of spotting merchant targets.
Shortly after 2:00 am, on the morning of March 11, 1942, CARIBSEA was suddenly struck by a torpedo, and the vessel began to sink. As seawater flooded the foredeck, the alarm sounded to abandon ship. There was no time to launch the lifeboats as the ship sank in under two minutes. The men had no time to do anything other than to get out of their bunks and jump into the ocean. Survivors clung to the oily wreckage surrounding them, and after drifting for approximately ten hours, the seven surviving crewmembers of CARIBSEA were spotted and picked up by the steamship NORLANDIA.
Following the sinking of CARIBSEA, Chris Gaskill, a native of the Outer Banks, was walking along the beach on the south end of Ocracoke Island on March 14 when he spotted something in the surf. Chris discovered it was a frame holding a certificate. When Chris read the document, he was surprised to find the license belonging to his cousin, Jim Gaskill, third mate on CARIBSEA, thus, confirming for the community CARIBSEA's tragic fate. The next day, the Gaskill family was met with yet another eerie occurrence. An out-of-town guest staying at the Gaskill family-owned Pamlico Inn came across a floating piece of wreckage bumping up against one of the pilings off the inn's pier. On the wreckage was the name CARIBSEA etched on the side.

Log Book http://www.miramarshipindex.nz
Canal Zone 1939 sg160, scott 131.
Attachments
caribsea1.jpg
1939 buenaventura.jpg

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