Hi John,

The men killed on the SS Montana were killed in a collision with the SS John Morgan.

On the SS Montana there were 9 crew killed out of 37 leaving 28 crew survivors and 10 Navy Armed Guard killed out of 19 leaving 9 Navy Armed Guard survivors – a total of 37 survivors and 19 killed. Note that my source only lists the names of the crew killed – not the Armed Guard. Here are the details for both ships:

SS John Morgan

Company: Wessel, Duval & Co. New York, NY
Master: Joseph D. Lydon (Lost)
Gross Tons: 7176
Home Port: Baltirnore, MD
Built: May 1943 @ Baltimore, MD
Dimensions: 441'x 57'x 37'

The Liberty Ship, SS JOHN MORGAN, on her maiden voyage, collided with the Texas Company tanker SS MONTANA at 0400 EWT on June 1, 1943 off the Chesapeake Capes (36-53 North/76-00 West) while en route from Baltimore to the Persian Gulf with a cargo of explosives, in Convoy NK-544. Her complement was 42 merchant crew and 28 Naval Armed Guard. Three Navy men were the only survivors.

The SS MONTANA was inbound to Norfolk to join a convoy going to Iceland. The MORGAN was outbound. They approached each other with a routine port to port passing when suddenly the MORGAN changed course to port and headed directly for the MONTANA. The MONTANA was struck by the bow of the MORGAN on the port side just forward of the midship house. There was a terrific explosion as the MORGAN disintegrated killing all on board except for 3 Navy gun crew.

SS John Morgan crew killed (42):

Allen, Carl E. (O.S.)
Bailey, Leon B. (Oiler)
Byrnes, Thomas, Jr. (O.S.)
Calvert, Andrew L. (2nd Cook)
Dembowczyk, Anthony (Wiper)
Edwards, Tazwell B. (O.S.)
Flowers, Alfred E. (Ch. Cook)
Goldberg, Louis T. (Messman)
Graham, Roy E. (A.B.)
Holleran, Sydney (Utility)
Jeffreys, Robert R. (A.B.)
Karkota, Richard (Messman)
Kirk, John J. (Purser)
Koegier, Walter (Steward)
Lawrence, Henry B. (Jr. Engr.)
Lock, Jesse (3rd Mate)
Losada, Manuel (Radio Oper.)
Lydon, Joseph D. (Master)
McMahon, Martin J. (Wiper)
Meyer, Arthur (Ch. Engr.)
Nebraska, John H. (A.B.)
Obara, Jan (F I WT)
O'Leary, Henry J. (Messman)
Patterson, Thomas A. (Oiler)
Rafferty, Charles H. (2nd Mate)
Ramos, Alberto ((Utility)
Reid, Percy A. (Dk. Engr.)
Roffey, George (3rd Engr.)
Saethre, Karl W. (A.B.)
Schweitzer, Herman E. (A.B.)
Slaski, Edmund (O.S.)
Solano, Antonio (F I WT)
Solar, William (1st Engr.)
Stanley, David J. (Wiper)
Stevensen, Clifford C. (A.B.)
Stockmal, Stanley J. (O.S.)
Talbott, John 0. (Dk. Cadet)
Tompson, Albert C. (3rd Cook)
Turner, Ralph W. (Oiler)
Werley, Maurice C. (Bosun)
Wilkinson, Benjamin H. (Eng. Cadet)
Winter, Harold B. (Utility)

SS Montana

Company: The Texas Co. New York, NY (Texaco, Inc.)
Master: Lee D. Riggs (Lost)
Gross Tons: 9310
Horne Port: Wilmington, DE
Built: 1942 @ Chester, PA
Dimensions: 489'x 68'x 36'

The Tanker, SS MONTANA, was rammed in a collision with the Liberty ship SS JOHN MORGAN about 0400 EWT on June 1, 1943 off the Chesapeake Capes (36-53 North/76-00 West) while en route from Baytown, Texas to Iceland via Norfolk, Virginia with a cargo of high octane gasoline. Her complement was 37 crew members and 19 Naval Armed Guard. Nine of the ship's crew was lost including the Master and the 3 deck officers. Ten Navy men were lost.

The MONTANA was entering Hampton Roads to await a convoy to Iceland. The MORGAN was on her maiden voyage from Baltimore to ports in the Persian Gulf. Her cargo included 5000 tons of high explosives. The two ships were meeting port to port when the MORGAN suddenly changed course to port striking the MONTANA on her port side just forward of the midship house. Some of the ship's tanks exploded causing the ship to catch fire instantly. The MORGAN blew up and disintegrated. So tremendous was the explosion, debris was showered on the decks of vessels over a quarter mile away. The ship started down by the bow until the stern was well out of water. The MONTANA did not sink but burned for a number of days before a Navy firefighting crew boarded the ship and put out the fire with foam apparatus. Some of the gasoline cargo was salvaged.

The MONTANA was eventually repaired and returned to service. As all the lifeboats were destroyed in the explosion and fire, the survivors on the stern section had to jump overboard from the starboard quarter and swim through pockets of flaming gasoline on the water. Some rafts were launched and some survivors climbed aboard them. Others clung to bits of floating wreckage. Survivors were picked up by Navy escort vessels after being in the water about an hour. An alert engineer was responsible for saving many lives on the stern section when he shut down the main engines.

SS Montana crew killed (9):

Averill, John P. (3rd Mate)
Halvorsen, Ole (Ch. Mate)
Hansen, Vagn A. (2nd Mate)
Hastings, J. R. (O.S.)
Riggs, Lee D. (Master)
Resiand, John (Messman)
Schwartz, Harold (A.B.)
Smith, Monroe J. (A.B.)
Spotts, Gerald (Dk. Maint.)

Source: Moore, Captain Arthur R. A Careless Word… a Needless Sinking. Kings Point, NY: The American Merchant Marine Museum at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point NY, 1988. Copyright: Captain Arthur R. Moore, 1983.

What is the URL of the American War Shipping Administration web site you found that lists 26 killed?

Regards,

Ken Dunn