View source for SS Robin Moor

{{Short description|American cargo steamship}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=SS Robin Moor.jpg
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= [[United States]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United States}}
|Ship name=*1919: ''Shetucket''
*1919–28: ''Nobles''
*1928–41: ''Exmoor''
*1941: ''Robin Moor''
|Ship owner= *1919: [[Federal government of the United States|US Government]]
*1919–28: [[United States Shipping Board|US Shipping Board]]
*1928–41: [[American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines|American Export Lines]]
*1941: Seas Shipping Co, Inc
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= American International Shipbuilding Corp., [[Hog Island, Philadelphia|Hog Island]]
|Ship yard number= 536
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=23 August 1919
|Ship completed= October 1919
|Ship acquired=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship registry= [[Port of New York and New Jersey|New York]]
|Ship identification= *US [[official number]] 218960
*[[Code letters]] LTBR (until 1933)
*{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Romeo}}
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] KJJU (1934 onward)
*{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Uniform}}
|Ship fate= Torpedoed and shelled 21 May 1941
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= [[Hog Islander|Design 1022]] [[cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|4999}}, {{NRT|3057}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length= {{cvt|390.0|ft}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|54.2|ft}}
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth= {{cvt|27.6|ft}}
|Ship decks= 2
|Ship power= 600 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
|Ship propulsion= [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbine]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|11.5|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship capacity=
|Ship crew= 46
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''SS ''Robin Moor''''' was a [[United States]] [[Cargo ship|cargo]] [[steamship]] that was built in 1919 and sunk by a German [[U-boat#World War II (1939–1945)|U-boat]] in May 1941, several months before the US entered [[World War II]].

The U-boat allowed the passengers and crew to launch her lifeboats and abandon ship with no loss of life. However, the sinking of a neutral ship in an area considered until then to be relatively safe from U-boats, and the plight of her crew and passengers, caused a political incident in the United States.

The attack caused many to question the motives of ''U-69''{{'}}s commander, [[Jost Metzler]] as Hitler himself, preparing for his June 1941 [[Operation Barbarossa|invasion of Russia]], had expressly ordered his Navy chief, Admiral [[Erich Raeder]]: "...in the next weeks all attacks on naval vessels in the closed area should cease..." Hitler did not wish to provoke America into joining with Britain in its fight against Germany.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

==Building, names, and details==
The ship was a Design 1022 [[Hog Islander]], built by the American International Shipbuilding Corporation at its emergency shipbuilding yard at [[Hog Island, Philadelphia|Hog Island]], just outside [[Philadelphia]]. She was yard number 536, laid down for the [[Federal government of the United States|US Government]] as ''Shetucket'', but completed in October 1919 for the [[United States Shipping Board]] as ''Nobles''. In 1928 [[American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines|American Export Lines]] bought her and renamed her ''Exmoor''. In 1940 the Seas Shipping Co. Inc., of New York, bought her and renamed her ''Robin Moor''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?58166 |last1=Claes |first1=Johnny |last2=Allen |first2=Tony |title=SS Robin Moor (+1941) |work=Wrecksite.eu |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>

The ship had a registered length of {{cvt|390.0|ft}}, [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{cvt|54.2|ft}} and depth of {{cvt|27.6|ft}}, and her [[tonnage]]s were {{GRT|4999}} and {{NRT|3057}}. She had a single [[propeller]], driven by a [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbine]] via [[Gear train|double reduction gearing]]. Her turbine was rated at 600 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]] and gave her a speed of {{convert|11.5|kn|km/h|0}}. Her US [[official number]] was 218960. Until 1933 her [[code letters]] were LTBR,<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b0400.pdf |year=1930 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |volume=II |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref> and from 1934 her [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless telegraph]] [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] was KJJU.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0293.pdf |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |volume=II |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>

==Sinking==
{{stack|[[File:Sinking of the SS Robin Moor, 1941.tif|thumb|Painting of ''Robin Moor'' being sunk]]}}
In May 1941 ''Robin Moor'', crewed by nine officers and 29 men, was sailing unescorted with eight passengers and a commercial cargo from New York to [[Portuguese Mozambique|Mozambique]] via [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]]. Her cargo included "items of every conceivable description that would go into a general cargo", including over 450 autos and trucks, steel rails, tools, agricultural chemicals, over {{convert|48000|usgal|liter}} of lubricant in drums, cases of shotgun shells, and a few .22 caliber rifles destined for sporting goods stores.<ref name="manifest">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1941/06/14/archives/robin-moor-cargo-analyzed-by-line-company-head-says-there-was-not.html |title=Robin Moor Cargo Analyzed By Line: Company Head Says There Was Not an Item to Which The Reich Could Rightfully Object |date=14 June 1941 |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=3 |accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref>

At 0525 hrs on 21 May, {{GS|U-69|1940|6}} stopped ''Robin Moor'' in the tropical Atlantic 750 miles west of [[Freetown]], [[Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate|Sierra Leone]].<ref name=Helgason>{{cite web |url= https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/940.html |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |title=Robin Moor |work=uboat.net |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref> Although ''Robin Moor'' was registered in a neutral country, the U-boat crew told her [[Chief mate|First Officer]] they had decided to "let us have it."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/Metzler-Jost-Sehrohr-Suedwaerts/page/n131/mode/2up?view=theater | title=Metzler-Jost-Sehrohr-Suedwaerts }}</ref>

After a brief period for the ship's crew and passengers to board and launch her four lifeboats, ''U-69'' fired a torpedo that hit ''Robin Moor'' amidships. She began to sink only slowly, so 40 minutes later ''U-69'' surfaced and fired 39 rounds from her [[8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun|88mm deck gun]]. After another 17 minutes ''Robin Moor'' sank. Wooden crates containing some of her deck cargo floated free, so ''U-69'' fired on them with her [[2 cm Flak 30, Flak 38 and Flakvierling 38|20mm anti-aircraft guns]].<ref name=Helgason/>
[[File:SS Robin Moor - Captain Edward Myers' lifeboat.jpg|thumb|Captain Edward Myers waving Goodbye to the German submarine after his ship sank and the crew had been released, photo taken from U-69 by her crew]]
After the ship sank, ''U-69''{{'}}s crew pulled up to [[Sea captain|Captain]] Edward Myers' lifeboat, and gave him four tins of pressed [[Rye bread|black bread]], two tins of butter, some [[Cognac]], and bandages,<ref name="Helgason" /> and claimed that had sunk ''Robin Moor'' because she was carrying supplies to Germany's enemy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/Metzler-Jost-Sehrohr-Suedwaerts/page/n133/mode/2up | title=Metzler-Jost-Sehrohr-Suedwaerts }}</ref> The lifeboat passengers found the black bread "too tough to eat".<ref name="cook" />

==Rescue==
When ''Robin Moor'' was stopped, ''U-69'' forbade her crew to touch their wireless, but after the sinking, ''U-69''{{'}}s captain, [[Jost Metzler]], reportedly promised the survivors he would radio their position.<ref name="cook">{{cite news |title=Armed German Seized Ship Radio, Robin Moor's Chief Cook Declares |agency=Associated Press |date=14 June 1941 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The captain kept the lifeboats near ''Robin Moor''{{'}}s position for 24 hours, then navigated towards [[Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago|St Paul's Rocks]] or the Brazilian coast with all four lifeboats bound together.<ref name="consul">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1941/06/13/archives/text-of-consuls-report-on-robin-moor.html |title=Text of Consul's Report on Robin Moor |date=13 June 1941 |work=The New York Times |page=6 |accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref> The captain separated the lifeboats on 26 May as his plan was not working.<ref name="undoubtedly"/>

After 18 days the Brazilian merchant ship ''[[:pt:Osório (navio)|Osório]]'' rescued the lifeboat containing the captain and 10 others <!-- at 0.46 N, 37.37 W, ref consul --> on 8 June. The news was relayed by radio from ''Osório'' to the Brazilian ship ''Lages'', then the US merchant ship ''Deer Lodge'', then [[RCA]] and finally [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="hunted">{{cite news |title=U.S. Ship Sunk in Atlantic, Reported Victim of U-Boat |date=10 June 1941 |work=The New York Times |pages=1, 7}}</ref> ''Osório'' then went to [[Pernambuco]] where Brazil allowed the US ambassador to interview the rescued survivors first. On 14 June, the [[United States Maritime Commission|US Maritime Commission]] asked ships in the area of ''Robin Moor''{{'}}s sinking to look out for survivors, though ''The New York Times'' stated "Little or no hope is held out" for the remainder of the survivors.<ref name="undoubtedly"/><ref name="violation">{{cite news |title=Robin Moor Raid is held violation |date=14 June 1941 |work=The New York Times |page=1,3}}</ref>

On 13 June, two [[Connecticut]] residents independently stated they heard [[short-wave]] broadcasts from Italy that a submarine had docked at an Italian port carrying eight survivors from ''Robin Moor''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Reports More Survivors |date=13 June 1941 |work=The New York Times |page=6}}</ref> This proved to be unfounded. The occupants of the rescued lifeboat presumed that the remaining crew and passengers were lost, but the British [[Ellerman Lines]] cargo ship ''City of Wellington'' found them on 2 June. She was sailing under [[radio silence]], but was able to receive the news that the captain's party was rescued and those aboard ''City of Wellington'' were presumed dead. On 18 June ''City of Wellington'' landed survivors at [[Port of Cape Town|Cape Town]] in South Africa, and their rescue immediately became news.<ref name="lostatsea"/>

All of the crew and passengers were rescued. The contingent that had been landed in Brazil returned to the US aboard ''Delargentino''.<ref name="cook"/>

==Aftermath==
[[File:Fbi leo waalen.jpg|thumb|[[Duquesne Spy Ring#Leo Waalen|Leo Waalen]], FBI file photo]]
Isolationist [[United States Senator]] [[Gerald Nye]], blaming Britain for sinking ''Robin Moor'', said he would be "very much surprised if a German submarine had done it because it would be to their disadvantage" to torpedo the ship.<ref name="lostatsea">{{cite magazine |url= http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/lost-at-sea-on-brink-second-world-war |title=Lost at Sea on the Brink of the Second World War |last=Schaffer |first=Amanda |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=28 May 2016 |accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref>{{Better source needed |reason=could not independently verify the Nye quote |date=June 2016}}<ref name="nye_study">{{cite news |title=Nye Would Study Sinking Evidence |date=13 June 1941 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

On 11 June, ''[[The New York Times]]'', reporting several different rumors pointing to German blame, also said there may have been Italian submarines in the area, and quoted a German source that said the reports were "confusing, unclear, and contradictory."<ref name="awaitfacts">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1941/06/11/archives/roosevelt-urges-delayed-judgment-on-sinking-of-ship-asks-country-to.html |title=Roosevelt Urges Delayed Judgment on Sinking of Ship |date=11 June 1941 |work=The New York Times |pages=1, 5 |accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref>

Nye withdrew his comment on 14 June 1941, stating "The evidence that the ''Robin Moor'' was sunk by a German submarine is too complete to permit my declaration of yesterday noon, to the effect that the boat might have been sunk by Britain, to stand", through the [[America First Committee]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Nye Withdraws Comment: Says Evidence now shows that Nazis sank Robin Moor |date=14 June 1941 |work=The New York Times |page=2}}</ref>

President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] later stated in a message to Congress regarding the sinking that the survivors were "accidentally discovered and rescued by friendly vessels. This chance rescue does not lessen the brutality of casting the boats adrift in mid-ocean."<ref name="speech66">John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project {{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=16132 |title=66 - Message to Congress on the Sinking of the Robin Moor. |date=20 June 1941 |accessdate=7 June 2016 |work=[[University of California]] |archive-date=7 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807124636/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=16132 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Senator [[Theodore F. Green]] (D-RI) stated "I don't think the sinking will have any more effect than the [[USS Panay incident|sinking of ''The Panay'' by Japan]]. An act of war is bilateral, not unilateral." Also speaking about the Panay incident, Representative [[Melvin Maas|Melvin J. Maas]] (R-MN) said "Japan... not only failed to rescue survivors but machine-gunned them afterward and we didn't go to war."

Senator [[Pat McCarran]] said "It is nothing to get excited about". Senator [[Ralph O. Brewster]] said "The effect of the sinking depends on the attitude of Germany {{emdash}} whether it is a determined policy or an accident". U.S. Representative [[John William McCormack]] said "It was very unfortunate but there is no reason now to get unnecessarily excited over this incident". Representative [[Andrew J. May]], chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Military Affairs|House Military Affairs Committee]], said "We ought to convoy with battleships and let the shooting start and see who shoots first and who can outshoot".<ref name="undoubtedly">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1941/06/13/archives/uboat-hailed-ship-captain-spoke-to-officer-and-gave-half-hour-for-a.html |title=Nazis 'Undoubtedly' Sank the Robin Moor, Aware She Was a U.S. Ship, Consul Says |date=13 June 1941 |work=The New York Times |page=6 |accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref>

While Roosevelt responded to the sinking with strong words, the strength of his administration's actions was disputed. His message to Congress described Germany's decision to sink the ship as "a disclosure of policy as well as an example of method." His message concluded:{{blockquote|In brief, we must take the sinking of the ''Robin Moor'' as a warning to the United States not to resist the Nazi movement of world conquest. It is a warning that the United States may use the high seas of the world only with Nazi consent. Were we to yield on this we would inevitably submit to world domination at the hands of the present leaders of the German Reich. We are not yielding and we do not propose to yield.|Franklin D. Roosevelt<ref name="speech66"/>}}

German assets were frozen on 12 June, then on 14 June<ref name="lostatsea"/> the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] required Germany and Italy to close all of their consulates in the United States except for their embassies, prompting Germany to issue the same directive to the United States in return. The US also demanded damages and reparations from Germany, without success.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

In Congress, isolationist Senator [[Burton K. Wheeler]] (D-MT) claimed that 70% of the ship's cargo constituted the kind of materials meeting both German and British standards for contraband, defended the legality of Germany's right to destroy her, and characterised Roosevelt's message as an effort to bring the United States into the war. Others, such as Senator [[Claude Pepper]], urged their colleagues to require the arming of merchant vessels.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

In October 1941, federal prosecutors in the espionage case against a group of 33 defendants known as the "[[Duquesne Spy Ring]]" adduced testimony that [[Duquesne Spy Ring#Leo Waalen|Leo Waalen]], one of the 14 accused men who had pled not guilty, had submitted the sailing date of the ''Robin Moor'' for radio transmission to Germany, five days before the ship began her final voyage. Waalen and the others were found guilty on 13 December 1941.

==In literature==
[[File:How To Abandon Ship - National World War II Museum - New Orleans US.jpg|thumb|left|200px|How To Abandon Ship: [[The_National_WWII_Museum|National World War II Museum]], New Orleans]]
John J. Banigan, [[Third mate|Third Officer]] of ''Robin Moor'', and New York writer Phil Richards went on to write ''How to Abandon Ship'' ({{ISBN|0870333887}}). The book articulates Naval experience and serves as a detailed survival guide for sailors in a wartime environment.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Associated Press, ''Alleged Spy Accused of Tip on Robin Moor'', Salamanca Republican Press, 1941-10-18, at 10, available at NewspaperArchive.com.
* Stewart Atkins, [http://www.armed-guard.com/lvc.html "Robin Moor Survivor, on Visit in County, tells a Vivid Story of Incident"], ''[[Gastonia, North Carolina|Gastonia]] Daily Gazette'', 1 August 1941, at page a-1
* George Haber, ''Outrageous and Indefensible: The Sinking of the SS Robin Moor, 1941'' Kings Point, NY: American Merchant Marine Museum, 2016; {{ISBN|978-0-9975687-0-7}}.
* Amanda Schaffer, [http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/lost-at-sea-on-brink-second-world-war "Lost At Sea On The Brink Of The Second World War"], ''The New Yorker''; accessed 12 December 2016.
* United Press, "Reparations held unlikely", ''Oakland Tribune'', 22 June 1941 at page 1, available at NewspaperArchive.com.
* United Press, "Roosevelt Supporters Urge Arming of US Merchant Vessels", ''Oakland Tribune'', 22 June 1941 at page 4.

{{Design 1022 ships}}
{{AIS Ships}}
{{May 1941 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|6|10|N|25|40|W|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robin Moor}}
[[Category:Design 1022 ships]]
[[Category:Hog Islanders]]
[[Category:1919 ships]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1941]]
[[Category:International maritime incidents]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Ships of American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines]]
[[Category:Ships sunk with no fatalities]]