Barnegat Light in WW2 History | World War II Database

10 Mar 1942

United States

At 0632 hours, the unescorted 6,776-ton American unarmed steam tanker Gulftrade was torpedoed by German submarine U-588 three miles off Barnegat Light on the coast of New Jersey, United States. The tanker was spotted by the submarine because the running lights and the masthead light had been turned on to avoid collision with several colliers in the vicinity. A torpedo struck the starboard side just forward of the mainmast and just aft of the bridge. The explosion broke the ship in two and oil and debris was sprayed over the vessel from stem to stern and the ship caught fire immediately. Within one minute, the high seas washed over the tanker and extinguished the flames. The engines were stopped and the ship was abandoned by the crew of eight officers and 26 crewmen. The high seas and the fact that oil lay several inches deep all about the deck and had filled the boats complicated the abandoning. Seven survivors stayed on the stern and nine abandoned ship in a lifeboat. Two other boats with 18 men swamped, drowning the officer and 17 crewmen in them. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Barnegat Light, New Jersey | CPC, HM]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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