The sinking of the SS David McKelvey

The SS David McKelvey was an American Steam Tanker of 6,821 tons built in 1921, it was torpedoed off the US coast in 1942


 On the 14th May 1942 when on route from Corpus Christi for New York carrying a cargo of 80,000 barrels of crude oil she was torpedoed by German submarine U-506 and sunk. 17 crew lost from a total of 40.

A salvage crew reboarded the burned out tanker on 29 May and prepared to tow her to the beach. After beaching on the coast of Louisiana, she was declared a total loss.

When the U.S. entered the war in December 1941, and throughout 1942, German submarines were having a field day along the U.S. East Coast, sinking many ships.  They also moved into the Gulf of Mexico, concentrating on the shipping ports of Tampa, Mobile, the Mississippi Delta, Port Arthur and Houston.  They scored heavily against ships steaming independently, since initially there were no efforts to form convoys or to give merchant ships the protection of warships in American waters.  In addition, there were very few aircraft equipped to hunt and sink submarines, and effective tactics still had to be devised.  In those early days, tactics were often, for both warships and aircraft, "If you see an enemy submarine, try to sink it somehow."

The Germans were winning, and shipping had to have more aerial coverage.  While developing the convoy system, along with more effective anti-submarine tactics, everyone made do with what they had at hand.  In December 1941, the Coast Guard began anti-submarine patrols from Biloxi with the RD-4 V-127, JF-2 V-143, JRF-2 V-184 and the two Hallboats, V-166 and V-170.  None were designed to be equipped with armament or depth bombs, and several jury-rigged systems were utilized until more sophisticated systems were developed and installed.  The aiming of depth charges relied on the same seaman's eye used to dropping message blocks to the shrimping fleet.

The "Gulf Sea Frontier" was designated in 1942, and areas of responsibilities were assigned to each service.  Coast guard aviation covered the area from Pensacola, Florida, to Galveston, Texas, while the US Navy covered the rest of the Gulf Coast.  Commander S. J. Linholm remained as Commanding Officer, Biloxi Air Station.

On May 14, 1942, the unarmed Hallboat V-170 with a six-man aircrew located the torpedoed and sinking tanker S.S. DAVID MCKELVEY 50 miles south of the Mississippi Delta.  The Hallboat crew searched for signs of the U-Boat or survivors, and 25 survivors were found swimming in the oil-covered water.  The aircrew contacted another tanker, the S.S. NORSOL, and directed it to the scene.  While the NORSOL picked up the survivors, the Hallboat crew continued the search for the U-Boat.

Two days later, on May 16, the same Hallboat, with a different aircrew, located the tanker S.S. WILLIAM C. MCTARNAHAN, which had been torpedoed in the same general location.  Once again, the crew of V-170 ensured the rescue of 28 survivors by directing several commercial fishing vessels to the tanker, while keeping up the search for the U-Boat.

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