Cherbourg... And freedom came from the sea
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Susan B. Anthony
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© Courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command, Department of the US Navy.
Construction
Shipyard: New York Shipbuilding Company
(USA)
Shipping company: Grace Steamship Company
Launch date: march 1930
Dimensions
Length: 154 m / Width: 19 m / Draft: 7 m
Propulsion
Turbo-electric
Weapons
Decommissioned
Sank on 7 june 1944
She was renamed Susan B. Anthony after a
famous, late nineteenth-century, American
feminist.
On 29 September 1942, Henry Hartley assumed
command of the ship.
Starting on 23 October 1942, and for the
following seven months, Susan B. Anthony
made four voyages between the United States
and North Africa (Casablanca in Morocco and
Oran in Algeria), taking men and equipment.
For several months, Susan B. Anthony shuttled
troops and equipment across the Atlantic
from the United States to England, Ireland
and Scotland during the preparations for the
Normandy landings, scheduled to take place
on 6 June 1944 (Operation Overlord).
Early in the morning of 7 June 1944, while Susan
B. Anthony was in the Bay of the Seine on her
way to Omaha Beach to land troops, she struck
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5 guns
On 7 August 1942, the US Navy requisitioned
the liner SS Santa Clara. She was converted into
a transport ship at Bethlehem Steel’s New York
yard and recommissioned on 7 September 1942.
Cherbourg... And freedom came from the sea
Susan B. Anthony
a German mine. Her number 4 hold was badly
damaged and her rudder went hard.
ship.
At 10.10, Susan B. Anthony sank.
By 8.05, holds numbers 4 and 5 were full of
water and the ship was listing 8° to starboard.
In a last effort to save the ship, the commanding
officer of the convoy T. L. Gray ordered the
embarked solders to move to the port side to
bring her back to an even keel.
Susan B. Anthony was struck from the US Navy
list on 29 July 1944.
The wreck of Susan B. Anthony lies 9 nautical
miles (just over 10 miles) north of Port-enBessin (Calvados) at a depth of 33 metres.
At 9.05, Susan B. Anthony’s deck was awash at
the stern. The ship was listing badly.
At 10 o’clock, the commanding officer of the
convoy T. L. Gray was the last to leave the troop
49°29’4317’’N
00°42’8681’’W
Susan B. Anthony
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All rights reserved - © La Cité de la Mer - 2014
At 8.22, the American AT-90 tug ship Pinto came
alongside Susan B. Anthony to tow her to safety.
However, a fire broke out in the engine room.
The Captain gave the order to abandon ship.
The Pinto and two other destroyers took on the
troops and then the members of the crew.
All the soldiers and crew members were saved.
45 men had, however, been injured, some
seriously.