SHIPS HIT PANAMA 13 - PANAMANIAN SHIPS LOST
10)REINE MARIE STEWART (SUB DA VINCI)
Photo. Thomaston Historical Society
Built: 1919
Tonnage: 1087
Cargo: Lumber cut for fruit boxes with a deck cargo of same, piled 6'- 8' high covered with canvas.
Route: Lourenço Marques - New York
Sunk 2 JUN 42 by Italian Submarine Leonardo Da Vinci on pos. 07º16" N 13º20" W
0 Dead
11 Survivors
The Panamanian flag sailing vessel (4 Masted Schooner), Reine Marie Stewart, was shelled and torpedoed by the Italian submarine DA VINCI (Luigi Longanesi-Cattani) at 22:50 GCT on June 2, 1942, while en route from New York to an East African. She was sailing alone and unarmed. On board was a crew of eleven men including the Master. All were saved.
Reine Marie Stewart was 40 miles SW of Freetown, Sierra Leone in position 07º16" N13º20" W. She was shelled at first, then by a torpedo sinking the ship. At the time the vessel was becalmed and showing no lights. No electricity on board, only kerosene lanterns.
The crew of 11 abandoned ship in the one lifeboat, a 16' long, clinker built, wooden boat with an inboard motor. They headed for the West African coast and were eventually rescued by the British SS Afghanistan and landed at Capetown around the 24th of June. The crew was repatriated to the
