SS ''Fort Mercer''

SS Fort Mercer was a Type T2-SE-A1 tanker built by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., at Chester, Pennsylvania in October 1945.[1]

Loss

Crew from USCGC Yakutat pull in a life-raft carrying survivors from the bow section, taken 20 minutes prior to its sinking

On February 18, 1952, Fort Mercer broke in two in a gale, 30 miles east of Chatham, Massachusetts.[1] On the same day SS Pendleton, also a T2 tanker, broke up about 20 miles away. Daring rescues by the United States Coast Guard were carried out for both the bow and stern sections of Fort Mercer as well as Pendleton's stern (33 survivors, 32 rescued). After grounding, Pendleton's bow was boarded a week later. Of the 8 victims stranded on this section only one frozen body was recovered. It was later towed away and scrapped. Only five members of Fort Mercer's 43 man crew were lost, all from the bow.[2][3]

The stern of Fort Mercer, which remained afloat, was towed to Newport, Rhode Island, outfitted with a new bow and rechristened San Jacinto. The ship again split in half in 1964 and again was rebuilt, renamed this time The Pasadena. The Pasadena was partially salvaged and mostly scrapped in 1983.[1]

Coordinates listed are for Chester, Pennsylvania. - where built.(not loss site).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Visser, Auke. "Fort Mercer". Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages. Auke Visser. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ The Finest Hours : The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue, Mike J. Tougias and Casey Sherman, 2009
  3. ↑ "Pendleton Rescue". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved September 30, 2014. (The story of Pendleton's loss and rescue of surviving crewmen is told in the 2016 film, The Finest Hours.)

Coordinates: 39°50′53″N 75°21′04″W / 39.84813°N 75.35104°W / 39.84813; -75.35104


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