Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Starboard broadside view of S.S. CITY OF ALMA, c.1936.

CITY OF ALMA (5446gt). Built 1920 by Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation at Harriman PA, U.S.A. for the Waterman Steamship Co. of Mobile, U.S.A. At 04.10 hours on 3 Jun, 1942, unescorted and unarmed and carrying a manganese ore cargo, she was torpedoed by U-172 about 400 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The torpedo ripped a hole about 40 feet long in the side and she sank within three minutes. Of the 39 officers and crew, 29 men died, including the master, second mate, three Navy signal men, radio operator, the chief engineer and his three assistants. Only two officers and eight men survived on a lifeboat that had floated free of the ship and were picked up by an American patrol boat and taken to San Juan four days later.