View source for SS Connecticut (1938)

{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
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|Ship image= SS_Connecticut(1938).jpg
|Ship caption= SS Connecticut
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=''Connecticut''
|Ship namesake= [[Connecticut]]
|Ship owner= [[Texaco]]
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|Ship builder= Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. Ltd. - Bethlehem Steel
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|Ship yard number= 4327
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|Ship launched=1 September 1938
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|Ship identification=237981 - WNZB
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|Ship fate=  Sank after surface raider attack, 22 April 1942
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=
|Ship tonnage= 8,684 grt
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length= 149.5 m
|Ship beam= 19.9 m
|Ship draught= 10.4 m
|Ship power= 880 n.h.p.
|Ship propulsion=  2 x Steam turbines DR geared to 1 screw shaft, one propeller
|Ship speed=  13 knots
|Ship boats=
|Ship complement=53 Merchant and US Navy armed guard
|Ship armament= Deck guns
}}
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{{Campaignbox Atlantic Campaign}}

'''SS ''Connecticut''''' was a 8684 ton [[tanker ship]] built in 1938 by [[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]] and used for a [[World War II]].  She operated her under the [[United States Merchant Marine]] act for the [[War Shipping Administration]], with [[United States Navy Armed Guard]]s to man her [[deck gun]]s. On 28 December 1941, the  ''Connecticut'' was [[torpedo]]ed near [[Cape Disappointment (Washington)|Cape Disappointment]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]] by {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-25||2}} of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. To stop from sinking the ''Connecticut'' ran aground and was later salvaged. The attack took place 10 nautical miles off the mouth of the [[Columbia River]] near [[Oregon]]. The Japanese attack on the ''Connecticut'' was under the command of Lieutenant Commander Akiji Tagami.

The ''Connecticut'' was later sunk on 22 April 1942 in the middle of the [[South Atlantic]], while in route from [[Port Arthur, Texas]], to [[Cape Town, South Africa]]. German [[torpedo boat]] ''Esau'' (LS-4) from [[Armed merchantman#Auxiliary cruisers|auxiliary cruiser]] [[German auxiliary cruiser Michel|SS ''Michel'']] torpedoed the  ''Connecticut'' at 2:10am. The first torpedo started a fire to her cargo of 84,299 barrels of gasoline and heating oil. The radio operator was able send out a SOS call before the second torpedo hit and blew the ship apart. The attack killed 35 men and one more died aboard the ''Michel''. All 11 of the Navy Armed Guards were killed. Only 18 survived, they were turned over to [[Japan]] at [[Yokohama]]. Two p[[Prisoner of war|risoners of war]] died under the barbaric conditions as POWs of the Japanese. ''Connecticut'' rest at 22.58 S - 16.05 W. After the war 16 of her POW made it back home.<ref>[https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?136783 wrecksite.eu SS Connecticut ]</ref><ref>[http://merchantships2.tripod.com/ian/ianfergusonshomepage1.html merchantships2.tripod.com]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=H9ikAwAAQBAJ&dq=connecticut+i-25+torpedo&pg=PA53 The Fujita Plan, by Mark Felton]</ref><ref>[http://www.sixtant.net/2011/artigos.php?cat=raider-michel&sub=michel&tag=9)connecticut sixtant.net, SS Connecticut]</ref>

The merchant raider ''Michel'' was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine [[USS Tarpon (SS-175)|USS ''Tarpon'']] on 17 October 1943, near [[Tokyo Bay]] 290 men went down with the ship, other 116 reached Japan in lifeboats.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Muggenthaler |first=August Karl |title=German Raiders of World War II. |publisher=R. Hale |year=1977 |isbn=0-7091-6683-4 |pages=287 |language=de}}</ref>

{{coord|22|58|S|16|05|W|display=title}}

==See also==
*[[California during World War II]]
*[[American Theater (1939–1945)]]
*[[United States home front during World War II]]
*[[Home front during World War II]]

==External links==
*[http://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck_class/hilfskreuzer/michel.html Hilfskreuzer Michel] on Bismarck & Tirpitz, with list of all captured ships.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{December 1941 shipwrecks}}
{{April 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{German auxiliary cruiser}}
{{WWII US ships}}
{{MARCOMships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connecticut (1938)}}
[[Category:1938 ships]]
[[Category:World War II tankers of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1941]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1942]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the South Atlantic]]