View source for SS Mary Luckenbach (1918)

{{Other ships|SS Mary Luckenbach}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2016}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= 14 ss mary luckenbach.jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''Sac City'' at Hog Island Shipyard 6 January 1919.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=USS ''Sac City''
|Ship namesake=[[Sac City, Iowa]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=American International Shipbuilding Corp., [[Hog Island, Pennsylvania]]
|Ship laid down=11 March 1918
|Ship launched=30 September 1918
|Ship acquired=6 January 1919
|Ship commissioned=6 January 1919
|Ship decommissioned=17 June 1919
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship renamed=*SS ''Black Falcon'' (1932)
*SS ''Mary Luckenbach'' (1941)
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sunk 13 September 1942
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Design 1022 ship|Design 1022]] [[cargo ship]]
|Ship displacement= {{convert|6629|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} light
|Ship length= {{convert|401|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|54|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|24|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=Geared [[steam turbine]], single [[Screw ship|screw]], {{convert|2500|shp|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|11.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=189 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=*2 × single [[5"/38 caliber gun]]s
*4 × single [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm AA guns]]
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''SS ''Mary Luckenbach''''', was a [[cargo ship]] of the [[United States Navy]]. She was launched in 1918 and completed the following year by the [[American International Shipbuilding]] Corp., [[Hog Island, Pennsylvania]] as '''USS ''Sac City'' (ID-3861)'''.

==Service history==
The U.S. Navy [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] '''USS ''Sac City''''' on 6 January 1919.  At the end of January 1919, the ship sailed from [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Virginia]], with a cargo destined for [[Montevideo]], [[Uruguay]].  The ship arrived at Montevideo at the beginning of March 1919. She moved to the nearby port of [[Rosario, Uruguay|Rosario]], and loaded a private commercial cargo, which she took to [[Gibraltar]]. She sailed to [[New York City]] from Gibraltar in June 1919.

''Sac City'' was decommissioned on 17 June 1919 and transferred to the [[United States Shipping Board]]. She then entered commercial service as '''SS ''Sac City'''''.

''Sac City'' ran aground in the [[Scheldt]] at [[Walsoorden]], [[Zeeland]], the [[Netherlands]], on 9 December 1926.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Casualty reports |date=17 December 1926 |page=25 |issue=44457 |column=B }}</ref> She was refloated on 16 December 1926.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

On 11 March 1927, ''Sac City'' was steaming in [[New York Harbor]] in dense [[fog]] when she collided with the Morgan Line cargo ship {{SS|El Sol||6}}. ''El Sol'', inbound to [[New York City|New York]] with a $1,000,000 cargo of [[pig iron]], copper, and bales of cotton,<ref name=NYT-a_salvage>{{cite news | title = A salvage job in New York | work = The New York Times | date = 31 July 1927 | page = XX3 }}</ref> was maneuvering into position to anchor to wait for the fog to lift when the collision occurred at about 07:45. ''Sac City'' hit a glancing blow to ''El Sol'', bounced off, and then struck ''El Sol'' a second time, ripping through ''El Sol's'' plating.<ref name=NYT-rammed_freighter>{{cite news | title = Rammed fighter founders in harbor | work = The New York Times | date = 12 March 1927 | page = 3 }}</ref> ''Sac City'''s bow had some slight damage, but ''El Sol'' sank quickly in about {{convert|60|ft|m}} of water about a half-mile (800 m) south of the [[Statue of Liberty]].<ref name=NYT-a_salvage /><ref name=NYT-rammed_freighter /> Out of ''El Sol''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s crew of 45 men, 44 were rescued;<ref name=NYT-rammed_freighter /> the ship's carpenter, who could not swim, was last seen clutching the ship's rail as it went below the surface.<ref>{{cite news | agency = Associated Press | title = Ship sinks, man lost, off Statue of Liberty | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = 12 March 1927 | page = 3 }}</ref> ''El Sol'' settled on the bottom at a 45° angle with only the tops of her masts protruding above the surface.<ref name=NYT-a_salvage /><ref>{{cite web | last = McMillan | first = Joe | url = http://flagspot.net/flags/us~hfmo.html#morgan | title = Morgan Steamship Co. | work = House Flags of U.S. Shipping Companies | publisher = FOTW: Flags Of The World website | date = 31 October 2001 | access-date = 2008-08-07 }}</ref><ref name=NYT-rammed_freighter /> In hearings before the United States [[Steamboat Inspection Service]], the [[Sea captain|captain]] of ''Sac City'' and Captain Charles H. Knowles of ''El Sol'' both were cleared of wrongdoing in the collision, and the blame was laid on the heavy fog.<ref>{{cite news | title = Collision caused by fog | work = The New York Times | date = 16 March 1927 | page = 30 }}</ref>

During her subsequent commercial service, the ship was sold to the [[Black Diamond Steamship Company]] and renamed '''SS ''Black Falcon''''' in 1932.  She was later sold to the Luckenbach Steamship Co. of New York and renamed '''SS ''Mary Luckenbach''''' in 1941.

In September 1942, ''Mary Luckenbach'' was part of [[Convoy PQ 18]], a [[convoy]] of 40 [[merchant ship]]s under heavy escort transiting the [[Barents Sea]] en route [[Murmansk]] in the [[Soviet Union]]. On 14 September 1942 (some sources list 13 September),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.petervogel.us/lastwave/chapters/LastWave_Ch8.pdf |access-date=20 April 2010|title=The Last Wave from Port Chicago - Ch.8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224052752/http://www.petervogel.us/lastwave/chapters/LastWave_Ch8.pdf |archive-date=24 February 2012 }}</ref> the convoy was west of [[North Cape, Norway|North Cape]], [[Norway]], when ''Mary Luckenbach'' was attacked by several German [[Junkers Ju 88]] torpedo bomber aircraft and was hit by an [[aerial torpedo]]. The impact of the torpedo detonated the ship's cargo of 1,000 tons of [[Trinitrotoluene|TNT]], vaporizing her along with her entire crew of 41 and the 24 personnel of the [[United States Navy Armed Guard]] assigned to her.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Pocock |url=http://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2008/09_sept/14_ss_mary_luckenbach.htm |title=Daily Event for September 14, 2008 SS Mary Luckenbach |publisher=MaritimeQuest |access-date=2016-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/id3861.htm |title=USS Sac City |access-date=20 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215100611/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/id3861.htm |archive-date=15 December 2009 }}</ref> Her sinking is described in the memoir of Robert Hughes, a gunnery officer on HMS ''Scylla''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hughes|first=Robert|title=Flagship To Murmansk|publisher=Futura Publications|year=1975|isbn=0-8600-7266-5|location=London|pages=41–3}}</ref> The last known location of the ship was at {{coord|75|N|10|E|name=SS ''Mary Luckenbach''}}.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/sac-city.html}}

{{Design 1022 ships}}
{{AIS Ships}}
{{1926 shipwrecks}}
{{1927 shipwrecks}}
{{September 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mary Luckenbach (Ak-15)}}
[[Category:Hog Islanders]]
[[Category:Design 1022 ships]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:Design 1022 ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1926]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1927]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German aircraft]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1942]]
[[Category:Ships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Merchant ships sunk by aircraft]]