The SS ''Winona'' was an American steam merchant vessel. She was built at the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, surviving to see action during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She had an eventful wartime career, sailing as part of a number of convoys and surviving being

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 by a

U-boat 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 role ...

on one occasion.

Early career

The ''Winona'' was built in 1918 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey and launched as ''The Lambs''. She was one of 30 ships built by the Federal Shipbuilding Co., Kearny, New Jersey, according to U.S. Emergency Fleet Corporation design #1037. She was renamed ''Exporter'' in 1928, and by 1937 she had been renamed ''Winona'' and was sailing with the

Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company was a was a and cargo Liner company founded in Tacoma, Washington. Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company was founded by Weyerhaeuser Company in 1933. Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest lumber and paper companies in the Un ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. She was homeported in the city of Everett.

Wartime career

On the outbreak of war, ''Winona'' continued to make voyages, joining a number of transatlantic convoys. She was to have been part of the ill-fated

convoy SC 7 SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, ...

, but suffered engine trouble shortly after leaving port and turned back. She therefore avoided the devastation of the convoy by a " wolfpack" attack. Later in the war she was sailing along the east coast of America, usually carrying coal and making voyages between cities like

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 ...

, and ports around the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. The extension of German U-boat activities into American waters at this stage in the war as part of Operation Drumbeat (also known as the

Second Happy Time The "Second Happy Time" (; officially Operation Paukenschlag ("Operation Drumbeat"), and also known among German submarine commanders as the "American Shooting Season") was a phase in the Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis submarines att ...

) meant that ''Winona'' continued to sail in convoys. She was part of convoy TRIN-19 in October 1942, and was sailing from

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

bound for

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

via

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. She was carrying a cargo of 8,000 tons of coal and was under the command of her master, John Beale Rynbergen. The convoy was sighted and attacked on 16 October by Georg Lassen's . At 21:20 hours he fired torpedoes at the starboard side of the convoy as it passed 50 miles east-northeast of Trinidad. One torpedo hit , blowing off her bow and causing her to sink in 20 seconds. 30 seconds later another torpedo hit the nearby ''Winona'' on the starboard side in the #2 hold. The impact and subsequent explosion blew the hatch covers off and opened a hole . The #2 hold immediately flooded, whilst leaks began in the #1 and #3 holds. The master secured the important confidential documents, stopped the engines and attempted to evade the other ships in the convoy. She suffered a slight collision when her bow grazed the stern of the Norwegian merchant ''Austvangen''. The crew remained on board, and after damage control measures stopped the flooding, were able to bring the ''Winona'' into Port of Spain the following day. There had been no casualties amongst her complement of 56. The ''Winona'' underwent temporary repairs in Port of Spain, departing on 3 February 1943 in convoy TAG-40. She arrived in Mobile on 15 February where she underwent more extensive repairs before returning to service on 14 April. She was in

convoy HX 300 Convoy HX 300 was the 300th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax to Liverpool. It started its journey on 17 July 1944 and was the largest convoy of the war, comprising 166 ships. Background These H ...

(the largest trade convoy of the war) before being transferred to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1945 and renamed ''Akademik Pavlov''. She was scrapped in the Soviet Union in 1974.

References

Winona at Uboat.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winona Design 1037 ships Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey 1918 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States World War II merchant ships of the Soviet Union Weyerhaeuser

Early career

Wartime career

See also

References