SS El Occidente SS " El Occidente was a cargo ship for the Morgan Line , a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company . During World War I , she was known as USAT " El Occidente in service with the United States Army and as USS " El Occidente " ( ID - 3307 ) in service with the United States Navy . At the end of war , she reverted to her original name of SS " El Occidente " . Built in 1910 , SS " El Occidente " was one of four sister ships that carried cargo and a limited number of passengers for the Morgan Line . She was acquired by the U . S . Army after the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , and converted to carry horses and mules to France . In February 1918 , she fought a 20 - minute gun battle with two German submarines , destroying the periscope of one . In August 1918 , the ship was transferred to the U . S . Navy and continued transporting animals through the end of the war . " El Occidente " returned to the Morgan Line in 1919 and sailed with them until June 1941 , when the entire Morgan Line fleet was purchased by the United States Maritime Commission . While serving as a civilian - crewed cargo ship during World War II , " El Occidente " was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine " U - 435 " on 13 April 1942 . Early career . SS " El Occidente " was a cargo and passenger steamship launched on 24 September 1910 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co . of Newport News , Virginia ( yard no . 133 ) , and delivered to the Atlantic division of the Morgan Line on 2 December 1910 . She was the newest of four sister ships ; the older three being , " El Mundo " , and . " El Occidente " was , was long by abeam , and made . The vessel sailed for the Morgan Line , the brand name of the Southern Pacific Steamship Company ( a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad ) , which employed her to carry cargo and a limited number of passengers between New York and New Orleans , the eastern terminus of the Southern Pacific line . In April 1913 , " The New York Times " reported that " El Occidente " , loaded only with cargo , had rammed a schooner in fog off the New Jersey coast . Responding to a wireless message , the Savannah steamer " City of Montgomery " came alongside " El Occidente " to offer assistance , but was refused . The name and fate of the schooner were not reported . World War I . After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 , the United States Army , needing transports to get its men and materiel to France , had a select committee of shipping executives pore over registries of American shipping . The committee selected " El Occidente " and thirteen other American - flagged ships that were sufficiently fast , could carry enough fuel in their bunker s for transatlantic crossings , and , most importantly , were in port or not far at sea . After " El Occidente " discharged her last load of passengers and cargo , she was officially handed over to the Army on 30 May . Before any troop transportation could be undertaken , all of the ships had to be hastily refitted . Of the fourteen ships , four , including " El Occidente " , were designated to carry animals and cargo ; the other ten were designated to carry human passengers . The four ships designated to carry animals had to have ramps and stalls built . All the ships had to have gun platforms installed , before each ship docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to have the guns themselves installed . All the ships were manned by merchant officers and crews but carried two U . S . Navy officers , Navy gun crews , quartermaster s , signalmen , and wireless operators . The senior Navy officer on board would take control if a ship came under attack . The American convoy carrying the first units of the American Expeditionary Force was broken into four groups ; " El Occidente " was in the fourth group with , , and , and escorts consisting of cruiser , U . S . Navy transport , and destroyer s , , and . " El Occidente " departed with her group on the morning of 17 June for Brest , France , steaming at an pace . A thwarted submarine attack on the first convoy group , and reports of heavy submarine activity off of Brest resulted in a change in the convoy ' s destination to Saint - Nazaire . " El Occidente " departed Saint - Nazaire on 14 July in the company of her convoy mates " Dakotan " , " Montanan " , and " Edward Luckenbach " . Joining the return trip were Army transport , Navy armed collier , Navy oiler , and cruiser , the flagship of Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves , the head of the Navy ' s Cruiser and Transport Force . Sources do not reveal " El Occidente " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s movements over the next eight months . But in April 1918 , the " Chicago Daily Tribune " reported on an encounter " El Occidente " had with two German submarines that had occurred on 2 February . In a 20 - minute running gun battle , Naval Armed Guard smen aboard " El Occidente " exchanged fire with two U - boats , one on the port and one on the starboard . The news item reported that " El Occidente " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s gunners had demolished the periscope of one of her attackers . " El Occidente " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s next recorded convoy trip took place on 23 March , when she sailed with Navy transports and , Army transport ship , and cruiser , arriving in France on 4 April . " El Occidente " next sailed on 18 May with , , stores ship , and Italian steamer . Rendezvousing with a contingent of transports from Newport News — , , , and Italian steamer — the convoy was escorted by American cruiser , and destroyers and . The convoy arrived in France on 30 May . On 10 July , " El Occidente " departed Newport News with Navy transports , , " Martha Washington " , , but had to return to port with a leaky gas injector . On 27 August 1918 , " El Occidente " was transferred to the Navy and commissioned the same day with Lt . Commander E . S . Campbell , USNRF . " El Occidente " loaded cargo and 585 horses and mules , and sailed for France on 17 September . Five animals died or were destroyed during the voyage . Offloading her cargo at Saint - Nazaire and Verdun , " El Occidente " returned to the U . S . on 1 November . In port when the Armistice with Germany was signed on 11 November , " El Occidente " loaded of cargo and 800 animals for a second Navy voyage . Departing on 17 November for Verdun , the ship arrived there on 19 December . Returning to Baltimore for repairs and alterations which included the removal of her armament and the stalls for animal cargo , " El Occidente " sailed again on 15 January 1919 for Bordeaux where she unloaded cargo for the Army of Occupation and embarked 90 passengers for return to the United States . She was decommissioned at New York on 18 March 1919 , and delivered to the United States Shipping Board the same day . Interwar civilian service . Returned by the USSB in March 1919 , " El Occidente " resumed cargo service with the Morgan Line , where she had almost 15 years of routine operation . However , in the 1930s , sailing on a New York – Galveston route , " El Occidente " was involved in several notable events . In July 1933 , " El Occidente " had a fire in her No . 1 cargo hold while she was southbound out from Norfolk , Virginia . " El Occidente " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s initial radio message reported that her crew had the blaze under control , but when that proved not to be the case , she headed in , docked at the Norfolk grain elevator , and requested assistance from local firefighters . In September 1935 , " El Occidente " came to the aid of Morgan passenger liner , which had been driven onto French Reef by the Labor Day Hurricane . " Dixie " had been headed from New Orleans to New York when she grounded on the reef , located about south of Miami , Florida and off shore . " El Occidente " , one of 15 ships that responded to " Dixie " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s distress calls , carried two loads of passengers and baggage from " Dixie " to Miami . There was no loss of life during the grounding or the rescue of " Dixie " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s passengers . In January 1937 , " El Occidente " issued a distress call while she was in the Gulf of Mexico . After she reported a fire while some south of the mouth of the Mississippi River , U . S . Coast Guard cutters and and German freighter " Leubeck " all responded to the call . Before any reached the burning vessel , " El Occidente " reported that she had gotten the fire under control and needed no further assistance . " El Occidente " headed to Galveston . The following month , " El Occidente " issued another distress call , this time for a broken rudder while off the Virginia Capes . Coast Guard cutter responded and towed " El Occidente " to Norfolk , delivering her there on 7 February . World War II . In June 1941 , the United States Maritime Commission ( USMC ) announced that it had requisitioned the entire Morgan Line fleet of ten ships , including " El Occidente " and her remaining sister ships , " El Oriente " and " El Mundo " . The ships were to finish previously scheduled cargo runs and be handed over to the USMC over the following six weeks . The USMC had been charged with assembling a U . S . fleet to " aid the democracies " fighting Germany in World War II , and paid $ 4 . 7 million for all ten ships and a further $ 2 . 6 million for repairs and refits . " El Occidente " was handed over to the USMC at Galveston on 7 July and assigned to United States Lines , Inc . , for operation . The cargo ship was placed under Panamanian registry by U . S . Lines . Little is known of " El Occidente " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s movements over the six months , but on 30 January 1942 , she left Boston for Halifax loaded with a general cargo . Arriving at Halifax on 1 February , she joined Convoy HX 174 and headed for Liverpool on 7 February , arriving at her destination on 21 February . Two days later , " El Occidente " sailed for Reykjavík , where she arrived on 1 March , just in time to depart with Convoy PQ 12 for Murmansk . After the convoy arrived at Murmansk on 12 March , " El Occidente " unloaded her cargo and took on a partial ballast load of chromium ore . She departed in Convoy QP 10 on 10 April . At 01 : 29 on 13 April , while at position , German submarine " U - 435 " under the command of Siegfried Strelow fired one or two torpedoes which struck " El Occidente " in the engine room , nearly breaking the vessel in half . " El Occidente " went down stern first within two minutes , with no time to launch lifeboats . Within 30 minutes of her sinking , , one of the convoy ' s escorts , rescued 21 of the ship ' s 41 - man crew ; the remaining 20 crewmen died .