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GULFTRADE
 The tanker, Gulftrade, was built in 1920 by Sun Ship Building Co.,
Chester, Pennsylvania. She was 430 feet long, 59 feet wide and
weighed 6,776 gross tons. The Gulftrade had been running blacked out
in accordance with navy policy for avoiding U-Boats, but because
there were other ships in the vicinity and in order to reduce the
possibility of collision, her running lights were turned on. On
March 10, 1942, under the command of Captain Torger Olsen, while en
route from Port Arthur, Texas, to New York with a cargo of 80,000
gallons of fuel oil, a torpedo from the U-588 exploded amidships,
breaking the tanker in two.
 Fire filled the night sky. The Antietam , a Coast Guard vessel,
rushed to her aid. Rescuers were able to pick up eight men including
the Captain from one of her stern life boats. Unfortunately, the
Antietam wasn't able to maneuver closer since a line had fouled in
her propeller. On the still floating stern section remained seven
men waiting for help. Two hours later, the seven where taken off by
the Navy tender, Larch. Out of a total of 34 men, only 16 survived.
 Today, the Gulftrade is actually two dive sites. The scattered bow
section is resting in 60 feet of water, eight miles from Barnegat
Inlet. The bow wreckage was blown up so as not to cause a hazard to
navigation. The stern section drifted about ten miles before
settling in deeper water of 90 feet, 13 miles from Barnegat Inlet.
Her stern section was not left alone after sinking either, but was
wire dragged clear to a depth of 50 feet for safe navigation.
Underwater Photo by
Herb Segars:
The Gulftrade was a 430'
long tanker powered by a steam engine, It was built in 1920 and was
sunk on March 10, 1942 by the German Submarine U-588 off the coast
of New Jersey, USA.
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Gulftrade Shipwreck. Courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Gulftrade Shipwreck. Courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Capt. George Hoffman recovered this porthole from the Gulftrade Shipwreck. Courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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