SS Robert E. Lee

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 GS U-166 (1941) 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 375 ft, a beam length of 54 ft, and a depth of 29 ft. 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 USS PC-566.

At 22:37, a single torpedo was fired at the ship by GS U-166 (1941). The torpedo was spotted by lookouts 200 yd 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 USS PC-566 and USS SC-19, 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 4700 ft. In January 2001, the wreckage was once again spotted, but this time it was located by C & C Technologies. Located 1 mi away was the wreckage of German submarine U-166 after it had been sunk with depth charges by PC-566.