Hi John,

I think I see the problem. The SS Montana you are looking at is of Panamanian registry not American and I gave you the information for the American SS Montana.

The site you reference www.usmm.org, is not the American War Shipping Administration website. It is simply an American Merchant Marine website. Although it is the best one I have found and it has helped me several times over the years it does not speak for the War Shipping Administration and in this case mistakenly lists the entire crew as being killed as does: Jordan, Roger. The World’s Merchant Fleets 1939 – The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1999. ISBN: 1-55750-959-X. Copyright: Roger Jordan, 1999.

I wouldn’t be surprised if one of these sources got its information from the other one as information on the fate of Panamanian registry ships is hard to come by. Note also that “The World’s Merchant Fleets 1939” also incorrectly lists her as being in convoy SC42 (Sydney to Liverpool) at the time but she was actually sailing independently from Wilmington to Reykjavik with a cargo of lumber.

The Panamanian registry SS Montana was torpedoed by U-105 (Georg Schewe) and there were survivors although the number is in dispute. The member’s area here at uboat.net shows a crew of 25 with 18 killed and 7 survivors. Lloyd's of London (Hocking, Charles F.L.A. Dictionary of Disasters at Sea During the Age of Steam – Including Sailing Ships and Ships of War Lost in Action 1824-1962 Volume II. London: Lloyd’s Register of Shipping. Copyright: Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, 1969.) shows a crew of 26 with 18 killed and 8 survivors. Neither source indicated how the survivors were rescued.

U-105 had no successes against SC42.

Regards,

Ken Dunn