Troops abandoning ship after the converted luxury liner SS President Coolidge struck two mines while entering the harbor at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 26 Oct 1942. Only 2 men were lost out of over 5,000.

Caption     Troops abandoning ship after the converted luxury liner SS President Coolidge struck two mines while entering the harbor at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 26 Oct 1942. Only 2 men were lost out of over 5,000. ww2dbase
Photographer    Unknown
Source    ww2dbaseUnited States Army
More on...   
Solomon Islands Campaign   Main article  Photos  Maps  
Photo Size 1,024 x 768 pixels
Photos on Same Day 26 Oct 1942
Photos at Same Place Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides
Added By David Stubblebine
Licensing  Public Domain. According to the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105), in part, "[c]opyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government".

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Colorized By WW2DB     Colorized with Adobe Photoshop



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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Anonymous says:
9 Oct 2019 05:36:33 PM

My father told me the story of this ship sinking many times. He said that he watched the ship come in and when the captain failed to respond to the harbor master, his gun crew turned their guns on the ship. He said the the ship struck the first mine and the whole ship rocked and after striking the second mine it began to sink. He said that the bow of the ship ran aground and some of the soldiers that jumped from the ship actually landed on the beach. He said he watched one soldier try to exit a port hole but got stuck because of the gear he was wearing and he watched him go down with the ship. He said most of the men were covered in oil when they came out of the water. He said they took the ship captain away in a Jeep and most believed he was a nazi. My father led an all black anti aircraft gun crew which shot down several Japanese planes. He said the Japanese would bomb the island weekly. Amazing to see pictures from a story that my father told me about and was there to witness.

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Modern Day Location
WW2-Era Place Name Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides
Lat/Long -15.5233, 167.2355
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