| Original caption: “An Unidentified Ship Blows Up in a Convoy off the North African Coast.” The ammunition-laden Liberty ship SS Paul Hamilton is completely destroyed after being struck by a German aerial torpedo launched from a Junkers Ju 88A, April 20, 1944. None of the 8 officers, 39 crew, 29 armed guards, and 504 troops aboard survived. About 2100 Hours on April 20 the convoy UGS-38 had been heavily attacked with torpedoes from 23 German aircraft of III./Kampfgeschwader 26, I. and III./Kampfgeschwader 77, just north of Algiers in the Mediterranean Sea. During the engagement 5 ships were torpedoed, 3 of them being sunk. Sunk were the destroyer USS Lansdale (DD-426) and the SS Paul Hamilton. The SS Royal Star was torpedoed aft and was abandoned by her crew. The SS Samite and the SS Stephen F. Austin were both torpedoed in the bow, but managed to reach Algiers. Early in April, Coast Guard Cutter WPG-37 Taney departed Norfolk as a unit of Task Force (TF) 66 as convoy guide for convoy UGS-38. The passage across the Atlantic proved uneventful, as the convoy made landfall off the Azores on April 13, 1944. Some 35 minutes after sunset on April 20, 1944, however, the convoy was spotted and tracked by the Germans, who launched a 3-pronged attack with 23 Junkers Ju-88 and Heinkel He-111 medium bombers. Each flew very low, using the shoreline as a background, thus confusing the search radar of the Allied ships. The 1st wave struck from dead ahead, torpedoing SS Paul Hamilton and SS Samite. The former, which had been inexcusably carrying both a load of ammunition as well as hundreds of Army Air Corps personnel, blew up in a shattering explosion – killing all the men on board. The 2nd wave of German torpedo planes hit the SS Stephen F. Austin and SS Royal Star. During this melee, 2 torpedoes churned past Taney close aboard. The 3rd wave mortally wounded Lansdale (DD-426), which later sank. All of the damaged vessels – save Paul Hamilton and Lansdale – reached Bizerte, Tunisia, on April 21, 1944. Taney later departed Bizerte with homeward-bound convoy GUS-38 and arrived at New York on May 21. Photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Arthur Green (November 9, 1913 – August 15, 1997), United States Coast Guard Reserve, aboard the USS Menges (DE-320). | |
| Image Filename | wwii2281.jpg |
| Image Size | 172.92 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1970 x 1337 |
| Photographer | Arthur Green |
| Photographer Title | United States Coast Guard |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 20, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Algiers |
| State or Province | Algiers |
| Country | Algeria |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | 26-G-2145 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database