Daily Event for February 19, 2014

The freighter Miraflores was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson in Newcastle-on-Tyne, she was launched on Mar. 12, 1921 and completed in May of the same year. Originally owned by the shipyard, in 1925 she was sold to the Miraflores Steamship Company in Kingston, Jamaica. Sold again in 1932 and once more in 1937, this time to the Standard Fruit Company of Kingston, but the ship retained her original name for her entire career.

Her last voyage started at Port de Paix, Haiti on Feb. 14, 1942 and was supposed to end in New York. However she disappeared between the two ports, nothing was heard of her again. It is believed that she was one of the four ships reportedly sunk by U-432. Her commanding officer, Kapitänleutnant Heinz-Otto Schultze signaled to Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU) on Feb. 20, 1942 that he had sunk 4 ships for 20,000 tons in his area (between Cape Hatteras and New York). The only named ship in his report was Olinda which was sunk on Feb. 18th about 34 miles east of Parramore Island, Virginia.

At around midnight on February 18/19, 1942 about 160 miles northeast of where he torpedoed Olinda he claimed to have sunk another ship, it is thought that this was the Miraflores. The ship sank immediately about 60 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey leaving no survivors from the thirty-four man crew.

It took until 1994 to confirm Schultze's claim. The mystery was solved when divers located and identified the wreck just about where Schultze claimed he sank an unidentified ship. The final resting place of the Miraflores and her crew is no longer unknown.
© 2014 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com



Roll of Honour
In memory of those who lost their lives in
SS Miraflores
"As long as we embrace them in our memory, their spirit will always be with us"

Name
Rate
Notes
Bing, Robert L.
Able Seaman
Bodden, William C.
Boatswain
American
Brockerville, John J.
Able Seaman
Canadian Merchant Navy
Brudick, Carl
Fireman
Bush, William
Able Seaman
Cutts, Norman L.
Steward
Dabarro, Leonardo
Oiler
Davison, Albert E.
Chief Officer
Diaz, Jose B.
Fireman
Ebanks, Willard C.
Carpenter
American
Enroos, Oliver A.
Sailor
Fore, James
Steward
Age 17
Gautier, Jose R.
Steward
Haitian
Keenan, Robert
2nd Engineer Officer
Kustrow, Joseph
Junior Engineer Officer
Lamos, Jose
Oiler
Lloyd, Samuel
Cook
MacFarlane, John A. T.
Chief Engineer Officer
McHenry, William
Mess Room Boy
Powers, John E.
3rd Officer
Quillantang, Jose
2nd Officer
Rama, Jose F.
Junior Engineer Officer
Riley, John D.
Steward
Robinson, Martin
Steward
Sablad, Restituto
Junior Engineer Officer
Simois, Americo
Able Seaman
Thompson, Robert
Master
American
Vaca, Antonio
4th Engineer Officer
Waller, Otis
3rd Engineer Officer
Honduran
White, Sylvan
Boatswain
Nicaraguan
Winston, John
Cook
Wood, Stephen E.
Radio Operator
Yasko, Andrew E.
Able Seaman
Zamora, Ramon
Wiper


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