View source for SS Samuel Huntington

{{Short description|American liberty ship in WWII}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=SS John W Brown.jpg
|Ship caption=''Samuel Huntington'' was a standard [[liberty ship]], similar to {{SS|John W. Brown}}, seen here.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1944}}
|Ship name= ''Samuel Huntington''
|Ship namesake=[[Samuel Huntington (statesman)|Samuel Huntington]]
|Ship owner=[[United States Maritime Commission]]
|Ship operator=[[Oliver J. Olson & Company]]., [[San Francisco, California]]
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Permanente Metals|Permanente Metals Corp.]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=*[[Richmond Shipyards|No. 2]]
*[[Richmond, California]]
|Ship way number=4
|Ship laid down=20 January 1942
|Ship launched=26 April 1942
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship completed=18 May 1942
|Ship in service=
|Ship identification=[[United States Maritime Commission|MC]] Hull #248
|Ship fate=Bombed and sunk off [[Anzio]], 29 January 1944
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{Liberty ship class}}
|Ship tonnage={{GRT|7,181}}
|Ship length={{Liberty ship length}}
|Ship beam={{Liberty ship beam}}
|Ship draft={{Liberty ship draft}}
|Ship propulsion={{Liberty ship propulsion}}
|Ship speed={{Liberty ship speed}}
|Ship capacity={{Liberty ship cargo capacity}}
|Ship complement={{Liberty ship complement}}
|Ship troops=350; 504 [[prisoner of war|POWs]]
|Ship armament={{Liberty ship armament}}
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''SS ''Samuel Huntington''''' was an American [[liberty ship]] during [[World War II]]. She was the 248th liberty ship authorized by the [[United States Maritime Commission]] and was named in honor of [[Samuel Huntington (statesman)|Samuel Huntington]], a [[Founding Father of the United States|Founding Father]] and signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|American Declaration of Independence]]. SS ''Samuel Huntington'' was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] in 1942 and sailed to ports in the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]], [[South America]], [[Africa]], and the [[United Kingdom]]. She was one of a select group of liberty ships that were outfitted to carry a limited number of either troops or [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]. As part of a convoy to resupply the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] troops at [[Anzio]], she sank after a successful [[Nazi Germany|German]] bomb attack in January 1944.

== Construction ==
''Samuel Huntington'' was [[keel laying|laid down]] on 20 January 1942 by [[Permanente Metals|Permanente Metals Corp.]] on ship way number four at their
[[Richmond Shipyards|No. 2 Yard]] in [[Richmond, California]]. She was the 248th liberty ship authorized by the [[United States Maritime Commission]] and the 48th ship begun at the ship yard. The ''Huntington''—a type EC2-S-C1, or standard, liberty ship—was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 26 April, and delivered on 18 May. She was completed in 118 days, spending 96 on the [[:wikt:ways|ways]] and 22 on the water before delivery.<ref>{{cite web|first=Tim |last=Colton |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergency/wwtwo/kperm2.htm |title=Permanente Metals Corp., Richmond No. 2 Yard, Richmond CA |work=ShipbuildingHistory.com |access-date=5 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012220936/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergency/wwtwo/kperm2.htm |archive-date=12 October 2008 }}</ref> She was one of about 220 liberty ships, about one out of every 10 made, that were outfitted to carry a limited number of either troops or [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]. Sources are not clear when the passenger capability was added to ''Samuel Huntington'', but modifications of this sort were made after November 1942.<ref>Charles, "Appendix B", p. 358–360.</ref>

== Service history ==
Ten days after her delivery, ''Samuel Huntington'' departed [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] for [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]. Sailing from that port on 31 May 1942, she arrived at [[Suva]] in the [[Fiji|Fiji Islands]] on 19 June. After the ''Huntington'' made her way to [[Lautoka]], she departed there on 6 July for [[Chile]]. After arriving at [[Antofagasta]] on 29 July, the cargo ship worked her way up and down the South American coast, calling at [[Iquique]] on 30 July, [[Valparaiso]] on 7 August, and [[Punta Arenas, Chile|Punta Arenas]] on 13 August. Sailing from Punta Arenas the next day, she navigated the [[Straits of Magellan]], crossed the [[South Atlantic]], and arrived at [[Cape Town]], [[South Africa]], on 2 September.<ref name=CPDB>{{cite web|title=Port Arrivals/Departures: Samuel Huntington |url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ports/index.html?search.php?vessel=SAMUEL%20HUNTINGTON~armain |work=Arnold Hague's Ports Database |publisher=Convoy Web |access-date=5 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929182443/http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ports/index.html?search.php%3Fvessel=SAMUEL%20HUNTINGTON~armain |archive-date=29 September 2011 }}</ref>

Sailing from Cape Town on 6 September, ''Samuel Huntington'' sailed around the [[Africa]]n continent, calling at [[Durban]] on 10 September, and arriving at [[Aden]], on the [[Arabian Peninsula]], in mid September. Departing there on 24 September, the ''Huntington'' sailed up the [[Red Sea]], calling at [[Massaua]] on the [[Eritrea]]n coast on 26 September and [[Suez]] on 1 October. Departing Suez on 12 October, she retraced her track around Africa, calling at [[Port Sudan]] on 18 October, Durban on 2 November, Cape Town on 7 November. Leaving the same day, she crossed the South Atlantic and headed for [[Paramaribo]], [[Suriname]].<ref name=CPDB />

[[Image:Samuel Huntington - Charles Willson Peale.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Samuel Huntington (statesman)|Samuel Huntington]], the namesake of SS ''Samuel Huntington'']]
''Samuel Huntington'' arrived at Paramaribo on 27 November, and sailed three days later for [[Trinidad]].<ref name=CPDB /> After arriving at that [[Caribbean]] port on 1 December, the ''Huntington'' waited for a week before sailing in convoy TAG-27 to [[Guantánamo Bay|Guantanamo Bay]] with 12 other ships.<ref>{{cite AHCD | convoytype = tag | convoynumber = 27 | access-date = 5 July 2008 }} Another steamer, the American ''F. Q. Barstow'' joined the convoy from [[Curaçao]].</ref> After arriving at Guantanamo Bay on 12 December, the convoy, dropping four ships, reformed as convoy GN.27 headed for [[New York City]] and departed the same day. The ''Huntington'', calling at a U.S. port for the first time in seven months, arrived at New York on 19 December.<ref name=GN27>{{cite AHCD | convoytype = GN | convoynumber = 27 | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref>

The ''Huntington'' departed New York as a part of [[Convoy SC-118]] headed for [[Liverpool]] via [[City of Halifax|Halifax]] on 24 January. As the convoy, which consisted of 60 ships and 26 escorts, sailed near Iceland, a [[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|wolf pack]] of [[Kriegsmarine]] [[U-boats]] attacked the convoy repeatedly over a four-day period.<ref name=SC-118>{{cite AHCD | convoytype = SC | convoynumber = 118 | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref><ref name=UB-SC-118>{{cite web | last = Helgason | first = Guðmundur | title = U-Boat Operations: Convoy Battles: SC-118 | url = http://uboat.net/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=SC-118 | work = The U-Boat War 1939–1945 | publisher = uboat.net | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref> Some 20 U-boats participated, sinking 12 Allied ships, including {{SS|Henry R. Mallory||2}}, a troop transport that went down with 272 men—more than half of her passengers and crew;<ref>{{cite web | last = Helgason | first = Guðmundur | title = Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Henry R. Mallory | url = http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/2634.html | work = The U-Boat War 1939–1945 | publisher = uboat.net | access-date = 5 July 2008 }} {{SS|Henry R. Mallory}} had also served as a troop transport in [[World War I]] as USS ''Henry R. Mallory'' (ID-1280).</ref> three U-boats were lost.<ref name=UB-SC-118 /> ''Samuel Huntington'' departed the convoy and arrived at [[River Clyde|Clyde]] on 11 February.<ref name=SC-118 />

After calling at [[Belfast Lough]] in early April, ''Samuel Huntington'' made her way to Liverpool to join Convoy ON 181 to New York. Departing on 30 April as one of 48 merchant ships in the convoy, the liberty ship made port at New York on 17 May.<ref name="ON 181">{{cite AHCD | convoytype = ON | convoynumber = 181 | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref> The convoy reported no submarine activity, and about two-thirds of the convoy were able to take target practice on icebergs during the voyage.<ref>{{cite web | title = Convoy ON 181: Commodore Nicholson's Narrative | url = http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/on181narrative.html | publisher = WarSailors.com | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref>

''Samuel Huntington'' next departed New York on 13 June for [[Oran]] as a part of Convoy UGS-10. Joining 74 other merchant ships and their 28 escorts, the ''Huntington'' made it safely to Oran on 5 July; another ship in the convoy was sunk by a U-boat.<ref>{{cite AHCD | convoytype = UGS | convoynumber = 10 | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref> During her participation in [[Operation Husky]], the Allied invasion of Sicily, the ''Huntington'' and fellow liberty ships {{SS|William W. Gerhard||2}} and {{SS|William Mulholland||2}} all suffered casualties from an air attack on 1 August at [[Palermo]].<ref>Fellow ships, location: {{cite journal | last = Harrison | first = William B. "Buck" | title = Liberty ships: Those fabulous ugly ducklings of World War II | journal = Sea Classics | date = January 2006 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200601/ai_n16063401 | access-date = 2008-07-05 | location = [[Canoga Park, California]] | publisher = Challenge Publications | oclc = 60621086 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080924192435/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200601/ai_n16063401 | archive-date = 2008-09-24 | url-status = dead }} Date of attack: {{cite web | last = Horodysky | first = T. | title = Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1943 | url = http://www.usmm.org/sunk43.html | work = American Merchant Marine at War | publisher = USMM.org | date = 4 September 2006 | access-date = 5 July 2008 | archive-date = 8 April 2001 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010408031323/http://usmm.org/sunk43.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> Damage to the ship was apparently minor enough that she was ready to sail nine days later, when she joined Convoy GUS-12—which had originated in [[Alexandria]] and was destined for [[Hampton Roads, Virginia|Hampton Roads]], [[Virginia]]—to return to the United States. ''Samuel Huntington'' left the convoy as it neared the U.S. east coast, and headed for New York, arriving there on 5 September.<ref name=CPDB /><ref>{{cite AHCD | convoytype = GUS | convoynumber = 12 | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref>

After making her way to Hampton Roads, ''Samuel Huntington'' departed for [[Casablanca]] on 5 October as part of Convoy UGS-20, where she arrived on 21 October. Eight days later, she joined Convoy GUS-19—a 110-ship Alexandria–Hampton Roads convoy<ref>{{cite AHCD | convoytype = GUS | convoynumber = 19 | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref>—and headed for home. She arrived in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] on 16 November. Shifting to Hampton Roads in early December, ''Samuel Huntington'' prepared to depart on what would be her last sailing from the United States.<ref name=CPDB />

[[Image:Rocket Henschel Hs 293 A front.jpg|thumb|left|This [[Henschel Hs 293]] anti-ship [[guided missile]] on display at the [[Deutsches Museum]] in Munich is the type of weapon used in the attack on ''Samuel Huntington''.]]
The ''Huntington''—in Convoy UGS-27, a 115-ship convoy<ref>{{cite AHCD | convoytype = UGS | convoynumber = 27 | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}</ref>—sailed from Hampton Roads on 15 December for Oran, arriving there on 3 January 1944. She departed from Oran on 16 January and arrived at [[Naples]] five days later. One week later, ''Samuel Huntington'' sailed to [[Anzio]] where she anchored one-quarter mile (400 m) off the beach on 29 January with {{convert|7181|LT|t}} of cargo, including ammunition, canned gasoline and [[Trinitrotoluene|TNT]].<ref name=CPDB /><ref name=Anzio-SC>{{cite journal| last = Gault | first = Owen | title = If this be glory: Anzio, the invasion that nearly failed, part 2 | journal = Sea Classics |date=January 2005 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200501/ai_n16060086/ | access-date = 2008-07-05 | location = Canoga Park, California | publisher = Challenge Publications | oclc = 60621086}} {{Dead link|date=April 2012|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

=== Sinking ===
At sunset on 29 January, [[Luftwaffe]] bombers armed with [[Henschel Hs 293]] anti-shipping [[glide bomb]]s attacked the ships at anchor off Anzio. British [[cruiser]] {{HMS|Spartan|95|2}} was hit amidships and rolled over on her port side and sank with a loss of 65 men.<ref>Colledge p. 328. For number (and names) of casualties, see: {{cite web | last = Kindell | first = Don | url = http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1944-01JAN.htm#spartanlost | title = Royal Navy Casualties, killed and died, January 1944 | work = Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies, 1922-present | date = 21 April 2007 | publisher = Naval-History.Net | access-date = 16 July 2008 }}</ref> Soon after ''Spartan'' was hit, another Hs 293 slammed into ''Samuel Huntington'', penetrating to her boiler room before exploding and killing four men.<ref name=Anzio-SC /> The force of the explosion blew out two of her cargo hatches, launching a [[jeep]] into the stricken ship's [[flying bridge]] in the process.<ref name=WP>{{cite news | title = 3 killed, 1 missing in Anzio bombing of liberty ship | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | date = 4 August 1944 | page = 2 }}</ref> With no power, and, hence, no way of fighting the fire, ''Samuel Huntington''{{'}}s master ordered the ship abandoned, and the crew lowered her lifeboats and headed away from the ship.<ref name=Anzio-SC /> Fifteen minutes after the bomb's blast, another explosion rocked the ship, throwing a cloud of debris over {{convert|1000|ft|m}} in the air, and raining shrapnel on ships as far as {{convert|1+1/2|mi|m}} away.<ref name=LCT-221>{{cite web|last=Butenschoen |first=George W. |title=The Sailors Log |url=http://ww2lct.org/history/stories/the_sailors_log.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010528173357/http://ww2lct.org/history/stories/the_sailors_log.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 May 2001 |publisher=World War II Landing Craft Tanks |year=2000 |access-date=5 July 2008 }}</ref>

After the second explosion, ''Samuel Huntington'' settled to the bottom, but because the bottom had been only {{convert|3|ft|m}} below her keel, most of the ship remained above the water.<ref name=Anzio-SC /> [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] salvage ship {{USS|Weight|ARS-35|2}} came alongside the ''Huntington'' and trained two deck water guns and a {{convert|2.5|in|cm|adj=on}} water hose to douse the fires. When the task seemed accomplished, ''Weight'' pulled away. The fires flared up again four hours later and ''Weight'' returned to fight the conflagration again. After tending to other ships damaged during the raid, ''Weight'' returned a third time.<ref>{{cite DANFS| title = Weight | url = http://history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/weight.htm | short = yes}}</ref> By the early morning hours on 30 January, any hope of salvaging ''Samuel Huntington'' or her cargo ended when the fires reached her load of canned gasoline. The resulting explosion completely destroyed the ship and again rained shrapnel on nearby ships. When the smoke cleared, no trace of the ''Huntington'' remained.<ref name=Anzio-SC />

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Charles | first = Roland W. | title = Troopships of World War II | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = Army Transportation Association |date=April 1947 | oclc = 1871625 }}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite DANFS | author = Naval Historical Center | author-link = Naval Historical Center | title = Weight | url = http://history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/weight.htm | access-date = 5 July 2008 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://uboat.net/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=SC-118 Convoy Battles: SC-118], an account of the battle involving ''Samuel Huntington''′s January 1943 convoy]

{{Kaiser, Permanente Metals, Richmond Shipyards}}
{{January 1944 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Mediterranean}}

{{good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel Huntington}}
[[Category:Liberty ships]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German aircraft]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]
[[Category:Ships built in Richmond, California]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in January 1944]]
[[Category:Merchant ships sunk by aircraft]]