Draft:SS Heredia

History
United States
Name	Heredia (1908-1933, 1937-1942) General Pershing (1933-1937)
Namesake	Heredia, Costa Rica; General John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces from 1917-1920
Owner	United Fruit Company (1908-1933, 1937-1942) States Steamship Company (1933-1937)
Acquired	1914
Homeport	New York
Fate	Sunk off the coast of Dulac, Louisiana
General characteristics
Type	civilian; passenger and refrigerated cargo liner
Tonnage	4,732 GRT
Length	410 feet
Armament	single 3" and two .30 caliber guns

The SS Heredia was a Banana Boat owned by United Fruit and Steamship Company built in 1908 in Belfast, United Kingdom. Heredia shipped primarily bananas and coffee beans from Central America to the United States. She was sunk in the Gulf of Mexico by Kriegsmarine u-boat U-506 on May 19, 1942, with 36 deaths, almost entirely civilians.

Construction

Heredia was built in Glasgow, Scotland at Workman Clark & Co Ltd. and was completed in 1908. She was a double masted, single funnel liner with a three deck superstructure and seven decks in total. Heredia was built for service in the relatively new American Banana trade, usually running from Guatemala to New Orleans and back. She had a crew complement of 48 men.

Fate

On May 19, 1942, Heredia was steaming at 13.5 knots 2 miles off the coast of southern Louisiana en route to New Orleans from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. She was carrying 8 passengers, 6 hired gunmen to operate her newly installed battery, and 48 crew members. In her hold was 40,000 stems of bananas and 5,000 bags of coffee. At 1:56 AM, Heredia was struck by three torpedoes from German u-boat U-506, which was only on her second ever patrol. The first two torpedoes struck the port quarter aft of the #3 and #4 holds, but the final torpedo struck amidships on her starboard side directly below the house, causing a devastating explosion that sank the Heredia in only three minutes. The explosion destroyed two of her four lifeboats and ultimately only two life rafts escaped the sinking.

Aftermath and Rescue

During the ship's sinking 36 lives were lost, including 6 officers. Only one passenger died, and five of the six armed personnel were killed, the only survivor having been thrown from the armament during the explosion. Some of the survivors made it on the two surviving rafts, but many were stuck adrift in the oily water. Due to the frantic nature of the sinking and the death of the ship's radio-operator during the explosion, no distress signal could be sent.

Fortunately, a patrol seaplane witnessed the tail end of the incident and dropped a wooden block to the survivors indicating help was on the way. The seaplane notified nearby shrimp trawlers Papa Joe, Conquest, J. Edwin Treakle, and Shellwater of the sinking, and the boats quickly made way to the site. The Coast Guard report afterwards praised the recovery effort, reading:

"The intelligent cooperation and prompt action on the part of the masters of the fishing vessels was highly commendable and probably resulted in saving the lives of those rescued. They had been in the water for 15 hours and other surface aid could not have reached them before dark."

Ultimately, 23 survivors and one body were recovered. Most were taken to Morgan City, Louisiana, while 3 critically injured survivors were rushed by seaplane to New Orleans for immediate medical treatment.

1992 Oil Spill

In August of 1992 the wreck of Heredia suddenly began leaking Bunker fuel oil excessively, creating a heavy coated sheen in a 10 mile radius around the wreck. Cleanup efforts resolved the danger with minimal effect to local wildlife.

See Also

• Banana boat (ship)
• List of shipwrecks in May 1942