SS Robert E. Lee (1924)
SS "Robert E. Lee" was a steam passenger ship built for the Eastern Steamship Lines in 1924. It was sunk on 30 July 1942 after being torpedoed by the German submarine on its return to New Orleans. Construction. SS "Robert E. Lee" was built in Newport News, Virginia, and finished construction in 1924. The ship had a keel length of , a beam length of , and a depth of . The ship was constructed to primarily transport passengers between Virginia and New York. History. In February 1942, "Robert E. Lee" was chartered by the Alcoa Steamship Company  to transport goods and personnel from New York to ports located in the Caribbean. One month later, she was contracted by the War Shipping Administration as a freight carrier and was subsequently armed with a stern gun and degaussed to prevent magnetic mine attacks. Sinking. On 30 July 1942, "Robert E. Lee" left Trinidad with around 270 passengers bound for Tampa, Florida. She initially traveled with convoy TAW-7, but was soon diverted to New Orleans along with the submarine chaser . At 22:37, a single torpedo was fired at the ship by . The torpedo was spotted by lookouts away, but no  evasive action was able to be taken. The torpedo struck just aft of the engine room and destroyed the #3 hold. Further damage was also done to the radio compartment and the steering gear. The ship began to list to port, and then starboard, before finally sinking by the stern about 15 minutes after the torpedo hit. Of the 407 crewmen and passengers, 15 passengers and 10 crewmen died in the sinking. The survivors were rescued by the patrol boats and , and the tug "Underwriter", and they were transported without incident to Venice, Louisiana. Wreckage. In 1986, an oil and  gas survey conducted by Shell Offshore discovered the shipwreck of "Robert E. Lee" in the Mississippi Canyon. It was located at a depth of . In January 2001, the wreckage was once again spotted, but this time it was located by C & C Technologies. Located away was the wreckage of German submarine "U-166" after it had been sunk with depth charges by "PC-566".