View source for SS Meriwether Lewis

{{short description|World War II Liberty ship of the United States}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1940}}
|Ship name= ''Meriwether Lewis''
|Ship namesake=[[Meriwether Lewis]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down=19 May 1941
|Ship launched=19 October 1941
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
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|Ship fate=Torpedoed by [[German submarine U-634|''U-634'']] 3 March 1943
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption= 
|Ship type=[[Cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage={{DWT|10,856|metric|disp=long}}<ref name="davies"/>
|Ship displacement=14,245 tons<ref name="davies">{{cite web |url=http://ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf |title=Liberty Cargo Ships |first=James |last=Davies |work=ww2ships.com |year=2012 |page=23 |access-date=6 May 2012}}</ref>
|Ship length=135&nbsp;m (441&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in)
|Ship beam=17.3&nbsp;m (56&nbsp;ft 10.75&nbsp;in)
|Ship height=
|Ship draft=8.5&nbsp;m (27&nbsp;ft 9.25&nbsp;in)
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|Ship propulsion=*Two oil-fired boilers,
*triple-expansion steam engine,
*single screw, 2,500&nbsp;[[horsepower]] (1,864&nbsp;kW)
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed=11 to 11.5&nbsp;[[knot (unit)|knots]] (20 to 21&nbsp;km/h)
|Ship range=23,000&nbsp;miles (37,000&nbsp;km)
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|Ship complement=41 men
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|Ship armament=Stern-mounted 4-in (102 mm) deck gun for use against surfaced submarines, variety of [[anti-aircraft guns]]
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The '''SS ''Meriwether Lewis''''' (Hull Number '''170''') was a [[Liberty ship]] built in the [[United States]] during [[World War II]]. She was named after [[Meriwether Lewis]], an American explorer who, along with [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]], led the [[Corps of Discovery]] which explored the [[American West]].

The ship was laid down on 19 May 1941, then launched on 19 October 1941.
She was operated by the [[American Mail Line]] under  [[Chartering (shipping)|charter]] with the [[Maritime Commission]] and [[War Shipping Administration]]. On February 7, 1943, the ship left New York as part of [[convoy]] [[HX convoys|HX 227]], "bound for the United Kingdom and then to [[Murmansk]], Russia."<ref name="Braving"/> According to  the [[German Navy]], in the early morning of March 2, she was identified as a straggler separated from her convoy; an initial attack by {{GS|U-759||2}} failed due to engine problems.<ref name="Braving"/> ''U-759'' then contacted {{GS|U-634||2}}, leading  it to SS ''Meriwether Lewis''.<ref name="Braving"/> One of four initial torpedoes stopped her; the second of two more torpedoes detonated the ship's ammunition cargo.<ref name="Braving"/>  She sank in the [[North Atlantic Ocean]] on 3 March 1943, southwest of Iceland at position {{Coord|62|10|N|28|25|W|display=inline,title|scale:15000000}}.

By the time {{USCGC|Ingham|WHEC-35|6}} arrived at the site of the attack, all that was found was a 30-mile line of floating tires.<ref name="Braving"/>  There were no survivors from her crew.

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Braving">{{cite book |author=The American Maritime History Project |title= Braving the Wartime Seas|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aT34AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA559|publisher= Xlibris Corporation|page= 559 |date= 2014 |isbn= 978-1493186150 |access-date=2015-08-20}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}
}}

{{March 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meriwether Lewis}}
[[Category:Liberty ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:1941 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1943]]
[[Category:Ships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portland, Oregon]]


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