The final voyage of the James Eagan Layne was in convoy BTC-103[1] to carry 4,500 tons of US Army Engineers' equipment from Barry, Wales, to Ghent, in Belgium.[2] She also carried motorboats and lumber as deck cargo. She was sighted on 21 March 1945, sailing 12 miles off Plymouth by U-399[3] and torpedoed on the starboard side between holds #4 and #5. She was badly damaged, but was taken in tow by tugs Flaunt and Atlas. She was beached in Whitsand BayCornwall, but subsequently settled on the bottom and was declared a total loss. There were no casualties amongst her crew of 69.[4]
As a wreck
Wreckage of the SS James Eagan Layne in 2014
Some salvage was done at the time of her loss before the forward holds flooded and much of the cargo in the stern section was salvaged by an Icelandic firm in 1953 with further salvage work completed in 1967.[5]
March 2015 is the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the James Eagan Layne. To celebrate this anniversary, the Liberty 70 Project was started with the aim of researching and documenting all aspects of the life of this vessel - wartime transport, shipwreck, commercial salvage, the classic UK wreck dive and artificial reef.[9]
james, eagan, layne, liberty, ship, beached, sunk, during, second, world, whitsand, cornwall, united, kingdom, launching, james, eagan, laynehistoryunited, statesnamejames, eagan, laynenamesakejames, eagan, layneoperatorus, navigation, company, york, citybuild. SS James Eagan Layne was a liberty ship She was beached and sunk during the Second World War off Whitsand Bay Cornwall United Kingdom Launching of the James Eagan LayneHistoryUnited StatesNameJames Eagan LayneNamesakeJames Eagan LayneOperatorUS Navigation Company New York CityBuilderDelta Shipbuilding Corporation New Orleans LouisianaYard number157Laid down23 October 1944Launched2 December 1944Completed18 December 1944FateSunk on 21 March 1945General characteristicsClass and typeLiberty shipTonnage7 176 tonsLength422 8 ftBeam57 ftDraft27 ft 9 25 inPropulsionTwo oil fired boilers triple expansion steam engine single screw 2500 horsepower 1 9 MW Speed11 to 11 5 knots 20 to 21 km h Crew69 Contents 1 History 1 1 Voyages and sinking 1 2 As a wreck 2 References 3 External linksHistory EditVoyages and sinking Edit She was built by the Delta Shipbuilding Corporation New Orleans Louisiana in 1944 and was operated by the United States Navigation Company of New York City She was named after the second engineer of the Esso Baton Rouge who was killed when Esso Baton Rouge was sunk by Reinhard Hardegen s U 123 on 8 April 1942 The final voyage of the James Eagan Layne was in convoy BTC 103 1 to carry 4 500 tons of US Army Engineers equipment from Barry Wales to Ghent in Belgium 2 She also carried motorboats and lumber as deck cargo She was sighted on 21 March 1945 sailing 12 miles off Plymouth by U 399 3 and torpedoed on the starboard side between holds 4 and 5 She was badly damaged but was taken in tow by tugs Flaunt and Atlas She was beached in Whitsand Bay Cornwall but subsequently settled on the bottom and was declared a total loss There were no casualties amongst her crew of 69 4 As a wreck Edit Wreckage of the SS James Eagan Layne in 2014 Some salvage was done at the time of her loss before the forward holds flooded and much of the cargo in the stern section was salvaged by an Icelandic firm in 1953 with further salvage work completed in 1967 5 The wreck has been a popular dive site for many years 6 7 James Eagan Layne is situated 540 metres 1 770 ft east of the wreck of HMS Scylla in 22m of water with her bows at 50 19 602 N 4 14 714 W 50 326700 N 4 245233 W 50 326700 4 245233 Coordinates 50 19 602 N 4 14 714 W 50 326700 N 4 245233 W 50 326700 4 245233 In June 2011 three divers got into difficulty on the wreck resulting in one death 8 March 2015 is the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the James Eagan Layne To celebrate this anniversary the Liberty 70 Project was started with the aim of researching and documenting all aspects of the life of this vessel wartime transport shipwreck commercial salvage the classic UK wreck dive and artificial reef 9 References Edit 1 Convoy BTC 103 on uboat net The Liberty Ships p83 L A Sawyer amp W H Mitchell ISBN 1 85044 049 2 Lost Patrols Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel p28 Innes McCartney ISBN 1 904381 04 9 Great British Wrecks p47 Kendall McDonald ISBN 0 946020 07 8 UKHO Wreck Report 17655 UK Hydrographic Office 2 DiverNet Wreck Tour 62 The James Eagan Layne Dive South Cornwall p43 Richard Larn ISBN 0 946020 25 6 Diver dies after shipwreck rescue in Whitsand Bay BBC News BBC 12 June 2011 Retrieved 12 June 2011 3 The Liberty 70 ProjectExternal links EditTotnes SAC The Liberty 70 Project Submerged FourthElement Archived 27 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title SS James Eagan Layne amp oldid 1117170895, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
