Photo. http://www.aukevisser.nl/inter/id66.htm
Built 1916
Tonnage 8,982 / 15,955 tons
Cargo: 96.069 barrels of fuel oil
Sunk 21 DEC 40 by U-65 on pos. 08º 26"N 16º 50"W
2 Dead
40 survivors
At 16.05 hours on 21 Dec, 1940, the unescorted, unarmed and neutral flagged Charles Pratt (Master Eric R. Blomquist) was torpedoed without warning by U 65 about
Steam smothering lines were opened but to no avail as all lines were destroyed in the pumproom. The survivors abandoned ship immediately in two lifeboats. The abandoned ship was then struck by a second torpedo just forward of the midship house blowing burning oil and debris several hundred feet in the air and showering the water with oil and steel fragments, some just missing a lifeboat. The second explosion put out the fire but sank the ship at once.
The chief mate, who suffered various injuries including a broken leg was picked up after 40 minutes in the water, he and an ordinary seaman had been blown overboard by the explosion, but the other man was never found. On 25 December, the survivors in the first boat were picked up by the British motor merchant
By Charles Pratt (Panamanian Steam tanker) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net