Records of Torpedoed Ships

[jjam]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping to find out where I could find any possible accounts of an incident that occurred in 1917.

On approx. 24th April 1917, the SS Pontiac was torpedoed by an enemy submarine and the survivors were picked up of Mizen Head, Ireland. I have found an entry that shows the ship's name and the date, but nothing about the incident itself.  I have read that other such occurrences have been documented in German records with quite lengthy descriptions of the event, and was wondering if anyone would know where these could be found.  Thank you for your help.

[MaxD]

PONTIAC (1), 1,698/1879, Atlantic & Eastern SS Co (J Glynn & Son), Liverpool, armed, sailing Liverpool for Genoa with general cargo. Torpedoed by U.53 (Hans Rose), sank 56 miles SW 1/2 S of Fastnet (L/te - in 50.30N, 10W; un – 50.31N, 10.09W); 2 lives lost (H/L/te/un)

Sat 21 April 1917 from Naval-history.net

Not quite what you asked for but gives the number of the U Boat.  The record may be
Bodo Herzog: Deutsche U-Boote 1906–1966.

This is the profile: https://www.uboat.net/wwi/boats/?boat=53  The previous page lists Pontiac among the vessels sunk.

More here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-53

MaxD

[seaweed]

For a detailed report of the incident, obviously written in German, You need the U-Boats KTB (Kriegstagebuch)
I would post on the WW1 board at uboat.net to see if any kind soul will send you a translated copy.
There are some really informative people who post on the WW1 forum and I have always found them willing to share information
 Other than that I understand that there are copies in NARA, the US National Archive. British reports on the incident should be in the series ADM137 again someone on the WW1 U boat forum will be able to tell you an exact record location.

[jjam]

MaxD -   I do have that entry but I appreciate your reply.  Thank you also for the links.

Seaweed - Thank you for that information, I shall head over to uboat.net now. Hopefully someone there will be able to help further     Cheers

[jjam]

.

[seaweed]

I note that you have a couple of replies on the WW1 forum at uboat.net.  I would ask specifically for the KTB of U53 with the dates you are interested in.

Meanwhile details from the British National Archive

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4115658

If you decide to obtain a quote, be sure to ask for documents concerning the attack on PONTIAC.
Otherwise they will quote you of all the vessels attacked during this period.

[barryd]

Scroll down the long list of torpedoed ships and there is SS Pontiac.

https://www.ardmorewaterford.com/hans-rose-and-the-crew-of-the-u-53/

[jjam]

Seaweed - Thanks for that.  I am heading back over to uboat.net to ask more specifically for info as you suggested.  Hopefully, someone will be able to help.  I have also put in a quote over at the National Archives from the link you gave, so fingers crossed!

Thanks so much for your help so far   

[jjam]

barryd - There she is!  Thank you