Memorial last sunken American merchant ship

The S.S. Black Point was built in 1918 at Camden, New Jersey as a coal collier. She was owned by Sprague Steamship Co. of Boston, Mass. And was 369’ long 55’ at the beam and was carrying 7500 tons of coal. Captain Charles Prior was master with a complement of 41 merchant seamen and 5 U.S. Navy Armed Guard gun crew. Eleven Merchant Seamen and one Armed Guard were killed when a torpedo struck the aft magazine, and tore away 40 feet of the stern section at 1740 hrs, and sank the S.S. Black Point at 1755 hrs. The S.S. Kamen, which was in the area, sent an S.O.S., and the signal was picked up at 1742 hrs by the frigate USS Moberly (PF-83), and was joined in the search for the enemy by the USS Atherton (DE-169) and USS Amick (DE-168). At 1930 hrs their sonar pinpointed the submarine. The S.S. Kamen and U.S. Coast Guard vessels in the area rescued the 34 survivors.

The German High Command had issued orders on May 4, 1945 to cease hostilities at once. Whether the U-853 had received the orders is unknown.

To the men who lost their lives, to their families and loved ones, to the men of the ships that sank the U-853, to the men who rescued the survivors; we, the crews of the U.S. Navy Armed Guard and U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans of WWI and WWII, and the Sprague Steamship Co., dedicate this plaque so others in the future may know the facts.

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Source

• Text: Dick de Bruijne
• Photos: Sandra Hughes