The report of CAPTAIN ARTHUR MOORE (533-1990) in KTB #97 was indeed a great piece of detective work. The opinion that SS C. J. BARKDULL was a marine casualty may be correct. I also considered this as cause of the loss of BARKDULL. However, as CAPTAIN MOORE stated, many other questions remain unanswered.

Studies indicate, the ship was inserted into the Convoy UGS.3 then purposely diverted to carry her precious cargo to Great Britain as an independent runner, or 'ROMPER'!

Let us look at some interesting facts, some of which are included in CAPTAIN MOORE's report.

SS C. J. BARKDULL was built in 1917 by the Union Iron Works at San Francisco, California. Originally named WILHELM JEBSEN, it was later changed to the FREDERICK EWING. Finally, the vessel was renamed the CHARLES J. BARKDULL in honor of an Esso Oil Company vice president.

(HARRY'S NOTE - When I was a yacht bum living aboard my sailing yacht in the Caribbean, I learned that it was always bad luck to change the name of any ship or boat.)

A single screw vessel of 11,175 deadweight tons (6,773 GRT) she had an overall length of 435 feet and a cargo capacity of 78,268 barrels. Her turbine engine with steam from three Scotch boilers gave her a certified speed of 11.2 knots.

I interviewed a veteran of the US Navy Armed Guard who made several trips on the BARKDULL. He said: "The ship was an old rust bucket and had trouble maintaining 8 knots."

His gun crew was transferred from the tanker to a Liberty Ship prior to her final voyage. The BARKDULL was not the type of vessel to run alone across the Atlantic and certainly not able to outrun a much faster U-Boat.

Why was the BARKDULL selected for this duty? The success of the German Navy sinking tanker ships during 1942 is part of this answer. The merchant fleet and Esso was crippled from these losses, and replacement tankers were not available at this point of the war. Correspondence from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the fall of 1942 states: "England needs at least three tankers of oil per day to survive."

Admiral Dönitz' U-Boat offensive had almost cut off all commerce to the British Isles and fuel supplies were very low. The Royal Navy Home Fleet had lost its ability to maneuver, and English homes were cold from lack of heating oil. The tanker C. J. BARKDULL was available and expendable.

From 1940 through 1942, C. J. BARKDULL made thirty-four voyages under the flag of the PANAMA TRANSPORT Company (owned by Esso). 2,963,085 barrels of 'BLACK GOLD', the fuel of war machines, was transported through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

(HARRY'S NOTE - The U.S. 'NEUTRALITY ACT' forbade any U.S. Flag shipping companies from transporting cargo to any of the warring countries, but companies like Esso and Standard Oil of New Jersey re-flagged their ships under Panamanian registry - and kept right on selling oil to anyone who could pay for it. Standard Oil supplied oil to all sides during WorldWar II and there is evidence to suggest that Esso did the same.)

During January, 1942 the C. J. BARKDULL crossed the Pacific Ocean to Australia and New Zealand. In May, 1942 the ship was time chartered to the War Shipping Administration (under Government orders) delivering cargoes to Britain, discharging at Glasgow and Avonmouth.

In need of an overhaul and War-weary by this time, the C. J. BARKDULL arrived back at New York on December 6, 1942. The vessel was quickly reloaded, taking on 60,186 barrels of Admiralty fuel and pool gas oil. Here is another clue as to her mission and her destination. Admiralty fuel was for British ships; not U.S. Navy fuel or bunker fuel. Pool gas oil was a product to be refined later, after reaching destination, then into low octane gasoline or heating oil.

CAPTAIN MOORE mentioned that a cargo of aircraft was also aboard the C. J. BARKDULL. The Armed Guard vet confirmed that the ship had racks installed on the well deck and planes were carried to Britain on the two trips he made in 1942.

The Merchant crew was an experienced group of sailors. Master Chester S. Swanner joined Esso in 1921. He was licensed as an officer in 1928 and promoted to Master August 1940. Swanner was assigned to the C. J. BARKDULL September 15, 1942. Chief Engineer Antonio Zouli also joined the Company in 1921 and was promoted to Chief in 1935. Zouli had the 'savy' to get every ounce of speed from the ship's propulsion system and peak efficiency from the 'black gang'. The Chief was Master below decks.

Seven of the crew of thirty-eight men had survived the sinking of other Esso tankers in 1941 and 1942. Radio Operator Rosario Gauthier was aboard the BEACONLIGHT which was sunk on July 16, 1942 by U-160 (GEORG LASSEN 184-1986). Gauthier, with coolness and professionalism, sent a distress signal before abandoning ship. No such signal was ever reported from the BARKDULL.

The U.S. Navy Armed Guard crew was assigned from the Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn, New York. Nineteen enlisted men led by an Ensign were called out on December 10, 1942. Curiously, the Armed Guard vet interviewed asked: "Why all the extra men? Our crew was only half as large."

He explained that they had just enough men to man the armament with help from the merchant crew. In addition to the 16 gunners; 2 signalmen and a radioman were also including in this crew. The three ratings were another change from the previous compliment. Armed Guard Signalmen & Radio Operators were usually the best of their class after training & had to know both Navy & Merchant signals. My speculation is that communication by blinker and flag was imperative to completing this mission. The C. J. BARKDULL would be moving in and out of convoy lanes. She would also need to be able to identify before entering Allied defense zones. The Navy radio operator split the 24-hour radio watch with Gauthier. They were the ears of the ship, listening for any U-Boat radio traffic or Allied commands and weather reports. Radio receivers of that era radiated a signal from their oscillator circuits and could be detected for some distance over water. This may have been their undoing, even tho the ship's transmitter remained silent.

The armament of C. J. BARKDULL consisted of a 5 in. 51 caliber 'BAG GUN' mounted on the poop deck. Two 20mm cannon were set high on the boat deck aft of the stack. Initially, two .50 caliber water-cooled machine guns were on the bridge. These were either augmented or replaced by two additional 20mm guns for this trip. This may account for the extra gunners. The bow had a 3 inch 50 caliber 'quick firing' gun, placed high in a tub. Heavy seas made this station almost impossible to man.

The BARKDULL could have defended herself against a surface attack. A prudent U-Boat commander would have respected this and more than likely, attacked submerged as the 5-incher could 'reach out and touch someone'.

The ship was loaded, crewed - including the Naval Armed Guard - and ready for sea by December 11, 1942. The War Shipping Administration - actually Esso - called the shots for their own ships; detained the ship VELMA, substituting the BARKDULL in her place in Convoy UGS.3. This was the third convoy in support of the North African invasion. The tankers BAYWAY, BALTIMORE and CHARLESTON were also among the forty ships consigned to Casablanca, Morocco in this convoy. The three Standard Oil ships arrived safely on December 30, 1942. The Panamanian-flagged SS C. J. BARKDULL did not. The ship was never intended to go there from the start. This was a secret mission with the tanker placed in the convoy in order to get it from New York out to sea unnoticed in the pack. The planners at the War Shipping Administration and Esso feared spies, sabotage or a hunting U-Boat could stop the mission before leaving the harbor or send it burning to the bottom - - right on the coast! Records show this was almost the case as we look at some additional facts

Both the Convoy Commodore aboard the U.S. Navy 'oiler' MATTAPONI and the Navy Commander in charge of the escort, TASK FORCE 33, were unaware of the BARKDULL's presence on that cold foggy morning. They had other problems, as the entire convoy was delayed a full day in New York Harbor by the intense fog. But, on December 12, 1942 the ships moved through the Narrows and formed columns in the lower bay. The BARKDULL was the fourth ship in the seventh column, as per a report made by the ESSO BAYWAY after reaching Casablanca.

THEY KNEW WHO IT WAS!

This would be position 7-4. CAPTAIN MOORE has her at 8-4 in his report, but that may not matter. What does matter are the events that occurred at about 2am on December 13.

to be concluded in KTB #114