Faja de Oro
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The Faja de Oro was a Mexican tanker , the sinking of which on May 21, 1942 finally led to the declaration of war on the German Reich on June 1, 1942.
history
In 1914 the ship was built as a Barneson at the Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. shipyard. The ship was not a tanker by today's definition, since then, the crude oil in barrels ( a barrel ) was transported. In 1915 it was renamed Oyleric and in 1937 Genonano . During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the ship was together with the Italian tanker Lucifero in Tampico . Both ships were seized by the Mexican government the following day and were now sailing for the state oil company PEMEX .
The ship was renamed Faja de Oro on December 8, 1941 , the name of an oil field near the coastal town of Tuxpán on the Gulf of Mexico in the state of Veracruz .
On May 13, the Lucifero, renamed Potrero del Llano , was sunk by the German submarine U 564 in the Gulf of Mexico off Miami . The Faja de Oro followed on May 21 (position 23 ° 30 ′ N , 84 ° 24 ′ W ). The tanker was sunk by two torpedoes . He was on his way back from Philadelphia to Tampico with ballast . There were ten dead and 27 survivors. The sinking was carried out by the German submarine U 106 under the command of Hermann Rasch off Key West . The sinking of both ships, Mexico was formally neutral, led to the declaration of war on the German Reich .
Some historians have suggested that the ship may have been sunk by a US submarine to persuade Mexico to join the war. The attack by a submarine was undisputed because the attack took place below the surface of the water. However, the attack by U 753 was observed and the sinking by U 106 can be considered proven.
Web links
- The Faja de Oro on uboat.net (English)