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 2,000,000 GRT 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'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 73°12′N 28°18′E / 73.2°N 28.3°E / 73.2; 28.3Coordinates: 73°12′N 28°18′E / 73.2°N 28.3°E / 73.2; 28.3, German submarine U-435 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, HMS Speedwell, one of the convoy's escorts, rescued 21 of the ship's 41-man crew; the remaining 20 crewmen died.
Read more about this topic: SS El Occidente
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