SS ''Peter Silvester'', was an American merchant marine

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

built for the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

. She was operated by the

Pacific Far East Line Pacific Far East Line, also called PFEL in short, was a passenger and cargo shipping line founded in 1943 by Thomas E. Cuffe, in San Francisco, California. At the beginning he started by chartering foreign ships to run the lines in tramp trade. L ...

under

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

with the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

. ''Peter Silvester'' was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

ed and sunk by the off the coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

on February 6, 1945. 33 men aboard the ship died and 142 were eventually rescued, with some rescued weeks after the initial sinking.

History

The SS ''Peter Silvester'' was laid down on March 31, 1942 and built by the

California Shipbuilding Corp. __NOTOC__ California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty ship, Liberty and Victory ships during World War II, including Haskell-class attack transport, ''Haskell''-class attack transports. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often ref ...

The ship was named after Peter Silvester (1734–1808), an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician who was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, who backed the

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

cause during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. The ship launched nearly two months later, on May 27, 1942.

Sinking

1st attempt

On April 29, 1943, the ship, unescorted, was unsuccessfully attacked by while en route from

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Two torpedoes passed beneath the ship and exploded harmlessly some distance away.

2nd attempt

On February 6, 1945 the ''Peter Silvester'' was torpedoed by the in the

, (), about miles west of

Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders Ba ...

, Western Australia. Both torpedoes struck on the

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

side at the #3 hold. It was reported that one

went straight through the ship while the other detonated in the hold which ruptured the deck forward of the bridge and blew off the hatch cover. This led to flooding of the hold and the

engine room On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. To increase a vessel's safety and chances of surviving damage, the machinery necessary for the ship's operation may be segregated into vari ...

. The ship was then hit at 17.10 hours by two more torpedoes on the starboard side at the traverse bulkhead between holds #2 and #3. The eight

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

s, 34 crewmen, 26 armed guards and 107 US Army troops abandoned ship in four

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

s and six rafts. Soon after, the ship was hit by a

coup de grâce A coup de grâce (; 'blow of mercy') is a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded person or animal. It may be a mercy killing of mortally wounded civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent. ...

at the #1 hold. This caused the ship to break in two. The forward section sank immediately, while the after section stayed afloat and was last seen deep in the water in the evening of February 8th. At the time of its sinking, the ship was carrying 2,700 tons of US Army supplies, in addition to 317 mules bound for

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Searches were conducted by all available aircraft from the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF),

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

(USN), and ships of the USN,

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

navies. Within two days, 15 survivors in a lifeboat were picked up by the American steam merchant ''Cape Edmont'' and landed at

Fremantle, Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Austral ...

on February 12, 1945. The following day (February 13), 80 survivors on six rafts, and 12 survivors in a lifeboat, were picked up by and brought to Fremantle after five days. On February 16, a

Consolidated B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

L Liberator (''A72-124''), of 25 Sqn RAAF crashed at RAAF Cunderdin, while taking off to search, killing five of its 10 crew members. 20 survivors in a third boat were picked up on February 28, 1945 by HMS ''Activity'' (D 94) and landed at Fremantle on March 2, 1945. The last 15 survivors in another boat, adrift for 32 days, were rescued on March 9, 1945 by USS ''Rock'' (SS 274) and landed at

Exmouth Gulf Exmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north-west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the Pilbara Coast and Northwest Shelf, and the Carnarvon Basin geologi ...

. The last lifeboat carrying 1 crewmen, 7 armed guards and 25 troops was lost. The ''Peter Silvester'' was the last ship sunk by German

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

in the

Survivors

Some of the survivors from the ship, that a rescued sailor wrote down. *Harry Drosis ( Merchant Marine) from Tujunga, California *Ralph Eisman (Merchant Marine) from

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

*Angelo V Giudice (Merchant Marine) from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

*Gene M Poole (Merchant Marine) from

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

*Arthur Turner (Merchant Marine) from San Pedro, California *Bruce McClaire (Merchant Marine) from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

- 2nd engineer *Robert Weaver (Merchant Marine) from Los Angeles, California *Pvt Ray Laemen (

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

) from

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

*Pvt Joe Kamertz (US Army) from

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek (Schuylkill River tributary), French Creek and ...

*Pvt Tommy Movowski (US Army) from Detroit, Michigan *Pvt Henry Cieslak (US Army) from Detroit, Michigan *Pvt Walter Graham (US Army) from

Burton, Ohio Burton is a village in Geauga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,452 at the 2010 census. Burton is the location of Century Village, run by the Geauga Historical Society. The museum village is composed of 19th-century buildings mov ...

*Capt Charlie P Hatfield (US Army) from

Arlington, California Arlington is a community about seven miles southwest of Riverside, California that is part of the Inland Empire, which is east of the Los Angeles and Orange County metropolitan areas. With a population of about 12,300, the major commercial hub o ...

*GM3/c James A Saucier (US Army) from

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

*S1/c Richard Butler (US Army) from Cedar Ridge, California *S1/c M. D. Copeland (US Army) from

Pembroke, Georgia Pembroke is a city and county seat in Bryan County, Georgia, Bryan County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,513. It is located approximately 35 miles ...

*Jack Easley 2nd mate (Merchant Marine) from

*S1/c Jerry Poole (US Army) from

Horatio, Arkansas Horatio is a city in Sevier County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,044 at the 2010 census. History Horatio was founded in 1895. For several years until at least 1905, Horatio was a sundown town, where African Americans were not a ...

*Capt Bernard C. Dennis (Merchant Marine) from San Pedro, California *Larry Casselli (US Army) from

Grass Valley, California Grass Valley is a city in Nevada County, California, United States. Situated at roughly in elevation in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, this northern Gold Country city is by car from Sacramento, from Sacramento I ...

*Dick Sproul (US Army) from

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...

*T/4 Chester Lee Hixson (US Army Air Forces) from Charlotte, North Carolina *Pvt Tom Spicketts (US Army) *Pvt Tom Tschirhart (US Army) *Glenwood Skaggs from Mineral Point, Missouri *Frank Kolb (US ARMY) from East Orange, New Jersey *Cpl William S. Holmes (US Army Air Corp) from (Chicago, Illinois) *T/4 Mario Martinelli (US Army) from Conshohocken, Pennsylvania Other survivors *Clay Fultz from Minnesota *Don Tuthill from Michigan *Tom Morawski from Michigan *Ray Laenen from Michigan *John Sussex from Goodland, Kansas

References

External links

SS ''Peter Silvester''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter Silvester, SS 1942 ships Liberty ships Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in February 1945 World War II merchant ships of the United States World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean