The Liberty ship Sumner I. Kimball was a relatively new ship in 1944, she had been delivered to the Mystic Steamship Company on Oct. 21, 1943 and used on a couple of convoys to Halifax. She made her first trans-Atlantic crossing in convoy HX-267, a convoy of almost 60 ships and over 20 escorts, because of the size of the escort and Ultra decrypts the convoy arrived at Liverpool without a single loss.

She was returning in ON-219, a convoy of about the same make-up as HX-267 in ships and escorts. For a reason unknown to me Kimball straggled from the convoy in mid-ocean and was found by U-960 on January 16, 1944. The submarine fired a number of torpedoes at the ship scoring several hits, but the stubborn ship failed to sink. She was sailing in ballast so there was no cargo of ammunition or any other explosive compounds to cause her to explode, but even after several hits she should have gone down quickly.

After some time the ship broke in half, a common problem with Liberty ships, but again she did not sink, both halves stayed afloat until at least the next day. The U-boat commander, Oberleutnant zur See Günther Heinrich, reported the attack, but was ordered to return to the wreck and sink it, on Jan. 17 he was able to find the forward half and he dispatched it with a torpedo, the stern was found by HMS Forester H-74, and it too finally sunk, but what of the survivors?

There were seventy sailors on the ship and her master, Harry Atkins, was able to get a distress signal off, however this was the last ever heard of the crew. Heinrich made no reports of seeing survivors, neither did Forester and no lifeboats or rafts were ever found. The loss of the entire crew was one of those ironic twists of fate as the ship was named in honor of Sumner I. Kimball, the "father" of the lifesaving service in the United States.