USS Atik (AK-101)
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USS ''Atik'' (AK-101) was a
Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open f ...
of the
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 ...
named for ''al-Atik'', a double star in the
constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...
Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...
. Her twin
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
was .


History

The steel-hulled, single-screw steamer ''Carolyn'' was laid down on 15 March 1912 at
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, by the
Newport News Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...
and Dry Dock Company, for the A. H. Bull Steamship Lines; launched on 3 July 1912, sponsored by Ms. Carolyn Bull (for whom the ship was probably named), a granddaughter of the shipping firm's owner, Archibald Hilton Bull (1847–1920), and delivered on 20 July 1912. For the next 30 years, ''Carolyn'' carried freight and passengers between the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
and ports on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. During
World War I 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 ...
, she received a main battery of one and one gun, and a Navy armed guard detachment served in the ship from 28 June 1917– 11 November 1918. During that time, too, the Navy gave her the identification Id. No. 1608, but did not take her over for naval service. ''Carolyn'' pursued her prosaic calling under the house flag of the Bull Line through the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A dispatch dated 31 January 1942 expressed the
Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...
' desire that ''Evelyn'' and ''Carolyn'' "be given a preliminary conversion to AK (cargo ship) in the shortest possible time." A letter from the Chief of the Bureau of Ships elaborated on the "shortest possible time," when it stated on 12 February that the conversion and outfitting of the vessels was desired "by 1 March 1942." Acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission, ''Carolyn'' steamed to
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, where she was turned over to the Navy under a bareboat charter at 15:30 on 12 February 1942. As could be expected, the process of converting two venerable tramp steamers into men-of-war was by no means complete, but over the next few weeks the two erstwhile "tramps" were given their main and secondary batteries as well as sound gear; nevertheless, they appeared to be mere cargo ships. ''Carolyn'' became ''Atik'', and was given a cargo ship hull number, AK-101; ''Evelyn'' became ''Asterion'' (AK-100). They were to use their old identities when communicating with friendly vessels and stations; if enemy ships should challenge, reply should be made in accordance with International Procedure, using the identification SS ''Vill Franca'', of Portuguese Registry, callsign CSBT. ''Atik'' (AK-101) was placed in commission at 16:45 on 5 March 1942, at the
Portsmouth Navy Yard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuou ...
. At the outset, all connected with the program apparently harbored the view that neither ship "was expected to last longer than a month after commencement of erassigned duty." ''Atik''s holds were packed with pulpwood, a somewhat mercurial material. If dry, "an explosive condition might well develop and, if wet, "rot, with resultant fire, might well take place." Despite these disadvantages, pulpwood was selected as the best obtainable material to assure "floatability." ''Atik''s mission was to lure some unsuspecting U-boat into making a
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 ...
attack. According to the projected scenario, the submarine, having deemed the tramp unworthy of the expenditure of more torpedoes, would surface to sink the crippled foe with gunfire. The plan presupposed that supporting forces would come to the rescue whenever a Q-ship ran into difficulties. In March 1942, though, there was no such reserve available. The
commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
s of the two ships were told that they could expect little help if they got into trouble. Every available combatant ship and plane was employed in convoy and patrol duties. Following fitting out and brief sea trials, she and ''Asterion'' got underway on 23 March 1942. Soon after leaving port, ''Atik'' and ''Asterion'' went their separate ways. On the night of 26–27 March, she was cruising about east of
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 ...
and ''Asterion'' was cruising some to the south of this area.


Action

At 19:45 Eastern War Time, UT-4 (note that some accounts use German Winter Time, UT+1), on the night of 26 March, the Duty Officer in the Joint Operations Control Room, Eastern Sea Frontier (ESF), was informed that an SOS had been picked up from an unidentified ship which had been torpedoed. Nothing further. ''Atik'' had attracted the attention of , on her second war patrol off the eastern seaboard. The U-boat, on the surface, began stalking ''Atik'' at 17:00, and at 19:37 fired one torpedo from away which struck the ship on her
port side A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
, under the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
. Fire broke out immediately, and the ship began to assume a slight
list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
. At 20:53, radio stations at
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, and at
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, intercepted the distress message: :SSS SOS Lat. 36-00 N, Long. 70-00 W, ''Carolyn'' burning forward, not bad. Two minutes later, a second distress message further amplified: :Torpedo attack, burning forward; require assistance. As ''U-123'' proceeded around under her victim's stern, her captain, ''Kapitänleutnant''
Reinhard Hardegen ''Korvettenkapitän'' Reinhard Hardegen (18 March 1913 – 9 June 2018) was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was credited with the sinking of 25 ships (2 were later refloated), at a total of 136,661 tons. After the war, he spent ...
, noted one boat being lowered on the starboard side and men abandoning ship. Because such attacks were a regular occurrences at this time and because all available surface craft were on patrol the dispatch from ''Carolyn'' produced no immediate action. The Duty Officer in the Control Room had not been informed as to the secret nature of ''Carolyn'', and consequently his only action was to forward the dispatch to Commander-in-Chief,
United States Fleet The United States Fleet was an organization in the United States Navy from 1922 until after World War II. The acronym CINCUS, pronounced "sink us", was used for Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. This was replaced by COMINCH in December 1941 ...
(COMINCH). ''Carolyn'' was not dead—yet. After ''U-123'' turned to starboard, ''Atik'' gathered steerage way, paralleling her course by turning to starboard as well, and dropped her concealment, commencing fire from her main and secondary batteries. The first shell dropped short of the U-boat, as she made off presenting a small target; the others were off in deflection. A veritable hail of .50-caliber machine gun fire, though, ricochetted around the U-boat's decks as she put on speed to escape the trap into which Hardegen had fallen. One bullet mortally wounded a midshipman standing watch on ''U-123s bridge. Gradually, the U-boat pulled out of range behind the cover of a smoke screen emitted by her straining diesels, and her captain assessed the damage. As he later recorded, "We had been incredibly lucky." ''U-123'' submerged and again approached her opponent. At 21:29, the U-boat shot a torpedo into ''Atik''s machinery spaces. Satisfied that this blow would be fatal, ''U-123'' stood off and watched as ''Atik'' settled by the bow, her single screw now out of the water. Once again, ''Atik''s crew could be seen embarking in her boats, as their ship clung stubbornly to the surface. ''U-123'' surfaced at 22:27, confident that ''Atik'' was no longer a threat, and continued to watch until 22:50, when a cataclysmic explosion blew her to pieces. Ten minutes later, ''U-123'' buried her only casualty, the midshipman killed by the Q-ship's machine gun fire. ''Atik''s entire crew perished, either in the blast or during the severe gale that blew up soon after the ship disintegrated. Several hours after receiving the report of the SOS, an officer in Cominch Operations room phoned the Duty Officer and asked if the Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier (CESF), or the Chief of Staff had been notified. They had not. The Duty Officer was informed that they should be, immediately. Because CESF and his Chief of Staff were both in Norfolk on that particular night, the Duty Officer notified the Operations Officer at his home. Early the next morning, an
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
was sent to search the area from which ''Carolyn'' had sent her distress message; the
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
and the tug were sent to assist. The Army bomber returned without having sighted anything. The tug and the destroyer encountered such heavy weather that ''Sagamore'' was recalled; ''Noa'' searched the area until fuel shortage compelled her to return to New York on 30 March. Other flights were unsuccessful until 30 March, when two Army planes and one
PBY-5A Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...
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out of Norfolk reported that they had sighted wreckage roughly ten miles south of the original reported position. ''Asterion'' had intercepted the distress messages from ''Atik'' and proceeded directly to the area, Lieutenant Commander Legwen deeming his orders "sufficiently broad to proceed immediately to her assistance," but ''Asterion'' encountered difficulties with her steering gear, and only continued the search for 24 hours before being forced to put into
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for repairs. The
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freighter was sighted in the vicinity, southbound for St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. On her arrival there, she was boarded and interrogation revealed that her crew had sighted no wreckage and had picked up no survivors. Twelve days later, CESF reported all known details to COMINCH on the "suspected sinking of the SS ''Carolyn''," and concluded: "...it is believed that there is very little chance that any of her officers and crew will be recovered. It is therefore recommended that if no further information is received by 27 April, they be considered lost and that next of kin be notified." On 9 April, Radio Berlin reported that a U-boat had sunk an adversary. The
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
distributed the announcement and it was printed in the ''
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'' the next day. :The High Command said today that a Q-boat – a heavily armed ship disguised as an unarmed vessel – was among 13 vessels sunk off the American Atlantic coast and that it was sent to the bottom by a submarine only after a "bitter battle." (In the last war, Q-ships accounted for many submarines which slipped up on them thinking they were easy prey. When the submarines came into range, false structures on the Q-boats were collapsed, revealing an array of guns.) :The Q-boat, the communiqué said, was of 3,000 tons and was sunk by a torpedo after a battle "fought partly on the surface with artillery and partly beneath the water with bombs and torpedoes." As of 2014, no other ships in the United States Navy have been named ''Atik''.


Bibliography

* * ''Q-Ships Versus U-Boats'', by Kenneth M. Beyer. U.S. Naval Institute Press, May 1999. Beyer, who served as an officer on ''Asterion'', recounts the story of ''Astarion'' and ''Atik''.


External links


The Naval Historical Center on USS Atik


{{DEFAULTSORT:Atik Q-ships of the United States Navy Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1912 ships Maritime incidents in March 1942 Ships built in Newport News, Virginia Ships lost with all hands