US-German WWII, U-Boot Archive, Sinking of the SS Muskogee By U-123
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $125.00

This tragic tale of the sinking, and loss of the entire crew of the SS Muskogee illustrates the sad fate of many of America's Merchant Navy during WWII.The Muskogee was an oil tanker, loaded with crude oil, steaming her way through the North Atlantic, when torpedoed by the German submarine U-123, commanded by Reinhard Hardegan, on 22 March 1942.The stricken ship went down by the stern, with some of her crew escaping the sinking vessel by taking to the sea in wooden rafts. Hardegan's boat surfaced and he questioned some of the survivors, photographing them, providing them with food and water, and then the U-Boot slid back beneath the waves, leaving the Muskogee crew to their fate.The lot includes a well written article on the incident which was published in a magazine in 1992, listing the names of all of Muskogee's crew with some individual photographs.A hand signed black and white photo of Reinhard Hardegan, taken from a book or magazine.Lastly a hand written letter dated 3 September 1987 from Hardegan to the Author of the aforementioned article, where he gives great detail regarding the sinking of Muskogee.