La Salle
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| Name | La Salle | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5.462 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - Merchant Shipbuilding Corp, Chester PA | ||
| Owner | Waterman Steamship Co, Mobile AL | ||
| Homeport | Mobile | ||
| Date of attack | 7 Nov, 1942 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-159 (Helmut Witte) | ||
| Position | 40.00S, 21.30E - Grid GR 7599 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 60 (60 dead - no survivors) | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | New York - Guantanamo - Balboa, Canal Zone (26 Sep) - Cape Horn - Capetown | ||
| Cargo | 6116 tons of trucks, steel and ammunition | ||
| History | Built as George Peirce for the US Maritime Commission, Washington DC and was later laid up as part of the reserve fleet. In 1940 renamed La Salle for Waterman SS Co, Mobile AL. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 22.50 hours on 7 Nov, 1942, the unescorted La Salle (Master William Arthur Sillars) was hit by one torpedo from U-159 about 350 miles southeast of the Cape of Good Hope. The U-boat had followed the ship for five hours and already missed with a stern torpedo at 21.19 hours. The torpedo ignited the cargo of ammunition and the ship exploded, creating a fireball hundred meters high and completely destroyed the vessel. Bits of wreckage fell around the ship for several minutes afterwards and slightly wounded three men on watch in the conning tower of the U-boat. It is reported that the explosion was heard clearly at Cape Point Lighthouse over 300 miles away. None of the eight officers, 32 crewmen and 20 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four 20mm and two .30cal guns) survived. | ||
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