For other United States ships named Paul Hamilton, see USS Paul Hamilton

USS Paul Hamilton

Three ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Paul Hamilton, named in honor of Paul Hamilton, , a veteran of the American War of Independence and the third Secretary of the Navy....

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The SS Paul Hamilton (Hull Number 227) was a Liberty ship

Liberty ship

Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...

 built in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. She was named after Paul Hamilton

Paul Hamilton

Paul Hamilton was the 3rd United States Secretary of the Navy, from 1809 to 1813.Paul Hamilton was born in Saint Paul's Parish, South Carolina, on October 16, 1762. He left school at the age of sixteen due to financial problems...

, the third United States Secretary of the Navy

United States Secretary of the Navy

The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...

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On her fifth voyage the SS Paul Hamilton was traveling from the United States to the European theatre when it was attacked 30 miles (48 km) off the coast of Cape Bengut, Algiers

Algiers

' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...

, in the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

. On the evening of 20 April 1944 23 German Ju 88

Junkers Ju 88

The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...

 bombers of III./KG 26, I. and III./KG 77 attacked convoy UGS 38

UG convoys

The UG convoys were a series of east-bound trans-Atlantic convoys from the United States to Gibraltar carrying food, ammunition, and military hardware to the United States Army in North Africa and southern Europe during World War II...

 SS Paul Hamilton was sailing with. One aerial torpedo

Aerial torpedo

The aerial torpedo, airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, the torpedo, designed to be dropped into water from an aircraft after which it propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torpedoes were used extensively in World War II, and remain in limited...

hit detonated the cargo of high explosives and bombs, and the ship and crew disappeared within 30 seconds. All hands were lost. Of the 580 men aboard only one body was recovered.

External links

• They Died Together; The Vagaries of War – An eye witness account by an ex-Merchant Marine seaman.