Ruth
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| Name | Ruth | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 4.833 tons | ||
| Completed | 1919 - Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Co, Seattle WA | ||
| Owner | A.H. Bull & Co Inc, New York | ||
| Homeport | New York | ||
| Date of attack | 29 Jun, 1942 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-153 (Wilfried Reichmann) | ||
| Position | 21.44N, 74.05W - Grid DP 4769 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 38 (34 dead and 4 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Rio de Janeiro - Port of Spain, Trinidad - Baltimore | ||
| Cargo | 5000 tons of manganese ore | ||
| History | Built as Gaffney, 1928 renamed Barreado by the US Maritime Commission, Washington DC and later placed in reserve. 1940 transferred to A.H. Bull & Co Inc, New York and renamed Ruth. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 05.55 hours on 29 Jun, 1942, the unescorted Ruth (Master Robert Melville Callis) was hit in the stern by one torpedo from U-153 while steaming a zigzag course at 10.5 knots about 100 miles north of Cape Maysi, Cuba. The explosion ignited the magazine and the whole stern was blown off. She developed a list to port and sank by the stern within two minutes. She sank so rapidly that the seven officers, 27 crewmen and four armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and two .30cal guns) had no time to launch boats or to leave the vessel otherwise. Three crewmen managed to swim to a raft that floated free and another crewman was picked up by the U-boat and placed aboard the raft after being questioned. The Germans apparently searched for other survivors before leaving the area. The survivors were picked up on 4 July by USS Corry (DD 463) and landed at Trinidad three days later. | ||
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