American Liberty Ship William L. Marcy -7 August, 1944

[Arkansan]

Hello,

I've been looking into the damaged caused to the liberty William L. Marcy on 7 August, 1944 off Juno Beach, and there seems to be as many theories as to what caused the explosion as there are accounts.

Most specify torpedo, but a mine could still be an option.

The torpedo attack is attributed to everything from a U-Boat, to midget submarine, to manned torpedo, to S-Boat to E-Boat.

U-Boats seemed to be ruled out (unless one laid a mine) as there were no known operations or claims for this location/Date.
Midget Submarines (Seehund, Biber) seemed to be ruled out because this occurred before they began operations.
Manned torpedoes (Neger, Marder) were operating against the allies at Normandy around this time period, but I've found no evidence of action on this particular date.
The same holds true from S-Boat and E-Boat actions off Normandy.

The damage from the explosion is described as fairly extensive. Almost too extensive for a single torpedo.

Does anyone here have anything more definitive on what damaged the Marcy?

Thank you,

Eric
www.ssarkansan.com

[peter.r]

According to Sawyer & Mitchell she was torpedo'd and damaged by an
E-Boat off Juno beach on 7.8.44,she was towed to the Isle of Wight and later to South Wales where she was declared a CTL. She was later towed to Bremerhaven and loaded with surplus ammunition and scuttled in the North Sea ,this was done in 1948.Hope this is of some help.  peter.

[Urs Heßling]

moin,

Ein Auszug aus der Chronik des Seekriegs, August 1944, bestätigt das:
Die restlichen Boote der 2. und 6. S-Flottille, S 174, S 176, S 177 sowie S 97, S 132 und S 135 führen in den folgenden Nächten von Le Havre aus Angriffe mit den neuen Langstrecken-Torpedos T3D »Dackel« durch. Am 4./5.8 werden 24, am 5./6.8. 12, am 6./7.8. 12, am 8./9.8. 10, am 9./10.8. 11 und am 14./15.8. 8 »Dackel« in alliierte Schiffsansammlungen in der Seine-Bucht geschossen. Dabei führen jeweils 3 S-Boote Angriffe mit »Dackeln« und 2 bis 3 Boote fungieren als Torpedoträger. Am 5./6.8. werden die S-Boote vor Le Havre durch MTB 475, MTB 476 und MTB 474 angegriffen, S 91 wird durch eine Torpedodetonation beschädigt. Am 7.8. werden der Frachter William L. Marcy (7176 BRT) und das Lazarettschiff Amsterdam (4220 BRT, möglicherweise auch durch Minentreffer) versenkt.

Gruß, Urs

[Arkansan]

Urs,

Thank you very much! This is exactly what I was searching for.

If my translation is accurate, it appears one of the 12 long range TIIId "Dackel" torpedoes launched that evening from those S-Boats is the culprit.

Reminds me somewhat of the Luftwaffe "goldencomb" attack against Convoy PQ-18 that sank the Oregonian and a number of other vessels; Impossible to know the specific craft/crew to assign credit, but nice to narrow it down to the unit(s) involved.

The Marcy's captain, Graham Griffths, was quite a lucky guy (and an amazing mariner). He had already survived the sinking of the Texan in 1942 (U-126 Bauer) and the sinking of the Montanan in 1943 (I-27 Fukumura). One torpedo attack a year; '42. '43 & '44.

I was recently contact by Griffiths' Welsh relatives who provided many new details about his life and career. With that and the information you have provided I hope to update the preliminary biography I had originally included on my Texan page.

Thank you again. Best Regards,

Eric
www.ssarkansan.com

p.s. Thank you Peter as well for the reply.

[bettika61]

She was later towed to Bremerhaven and loaded with surplus ammunition and scuttled in the North Sea ,this was done in 1948.

Hallo,
da würde mich die Quelle für 1948 interessieren

Chronik des seekrieges
Versenkung deutscher und ausländischer Schiffe mit Gasmunition
William L Marcy ........24.09.45
http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/4508-bilder/gasmunition.htm

Følgende skip skal ha blitt senket i "Nordsjøen". Senkingsområdet er sansynligvis farvannet utenfor Helgoland.
ARTHUR SEAWALL 7176brt. - tauet ut fra Bremerhaven
DESSAU 5933brt.
KINDERSLEY 1999brt.
WILLIAM L. MARCY 7176brt

Samlet og satt opp av Erling Skjold

Quelle:
FFI (2002): "Investigation and risk assessment of ships loaded with chemical ammunition scuttled in Skagerrak", FFI/RAPPORT-2002/04951, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment,
(Norwegen 2002) 
die auch von Marc Koch und  "Munition im Meer" verwendet wurde. Dort finden sich nur  Angaben ohne Datum .

Auf welcher Quelle basiert das Datum bei "Chronik des Seekrieges" ?

Grüsse
Beate
      

[kgvm]

Hier die kompletten Angaben von Mitchell/Sawyer:
7.8.44: Damaged by E boat torpedo in English Channel 49.25N 00.27W
11.8.44: Towed to St. Helens Roads.
18.8.44: Towed Mumbles, beached.
27.8.45: Refloated, towed Swansea. CTL.
25.9.45: Towed River Blackwater and laid up.
48: Towed Bremerhaven, loaded with surplus ammunition, towed to sea and scuttled in North Sea.

[bettika61]

Hallo,
danke an @kgvm für die vollständigen Angaben  von Mitchell/Sawyer 

1948 deckt sich mit den Angaben aus einer weiteren Liste von Erling Skjold, die für die  versenkten Schiffe mit Gasmunition auch das Datum der Versenkung enthält

FARTØYER SENKET AV DE ALLIERTE ETTER KRIGEN IHT DATO
D/S WILLIAM L. MARCY    7176brt.   senket   ......1948

Ajour pr. 25. juli 2002
Samlet og satt opp av Erling Skjold

Grüsse
Beate

[Urs Heßling]

hi, Eric,

If my translation is accurate, it appears one of the 12 long range TIIId "Dackel" torpedoes launched that evening from those S-Boats is the culprit.

There was some additional discussion on this topic here http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=174526

greetings, Urs

[Arkansan]

Urs and all,

Just a quick update to let you know I have posted my new page on the William L. Marcy:
http://www.ssarkansan.com/home/american-hawaiian-in-wwii/william-l-marcy

Hope you find it interesting.

Thanks again for your help.

Best Regards,

Eric
www.ssarkansan.com