SS Robert F. Hoke

SS Robert F. Hoke (MC contract 1968) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Robert Hoke, Confederate Army Major General, politician, and Director of the North Carolina Railroad.

History
United States
Name: Robert F. Hoke
Namesake: Robert Hoke
Builder: North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina
Yard number: 152
Way number: 2
Laid down: 10 April 1943
Launched: 4 May 1943
Fate: scrapped 1949
General characteristics
Type: Liberty ship
Tonnage: 7,000 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Length: 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam: 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft: 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Propulsion:
  • Two oil-fired boilers
  • Triple expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
  • 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed: 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Capacity: 9,140 tons cargo
Complement: 41
Armament:

The ship was laid down by North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in their Cape Fear River yard on April 10, 1943, then launched on May 4, 1943.[1]

On December 28, 1943 while operated by American Export Lines,[2] en route from Abadan, Iran, to Mombasa, Kenya, in the Arabian Sea the Robert F. Hoke was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-26.[3] A 700 foot hole was blown in the hull but she remained afloat.[4] The Naval Armed Guard detachment remained onboard, firing to keep I-26 down while the crew abandoned ship. After the submarine retreated, the crew reboarded the ship but are unable to get her underway. 68 crew (41 merchant sailors and 27 Naval Armed Guardsmen) were rescued by a Royal Air Force crash boat.[5]

The Robert F. Hoke was taken under tow by Royal Navy tug HMS Masterful and taken to Aden where she was written off as a loss. She was cut down into a self-propelled barge and used as a Royal Navy training vessel in Bombay, India until being sold in 1948. She was scrapped in Bombay in 1949.[6]

References
  1. "North Carolina Shipbuilding". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  2. "Liberty Ship Saved After Being Torpedoed". Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. Sydney, NSW. June 28, 1944. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  3. Cressman, Robert J. "Events of the Year 1943". The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in WWII. Naval Historical Center. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  4. "Liberty Ship Saved After Being Torpedoed". Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. Sydney, NSW. June 28, 1944. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  5. Cressman, Robert J. "Events of the Year 1943". The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in WWII. Naval Historical Center. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  6. "Robert F. Hoke". MARAD Vessel History Database. Retrieved 2018-01-05.


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