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Underwater Historical Landmark During the early morning of July 26, 1942, The German submarine U-171, commanded by Oberleutnant Gunther Pfeffer, slipped quietly through shallow Gulf waters near the Texas coast in search of allied shipping. Her unfortunate target on this morning was the Mexican freighter Oaxaca, enroute from New Orleans to Veracruz and captained by Francisco Rodriguez. Captain Pfeffer caught the Oaxaca just seven miles off Matagorda peninsula, striking her with a single torpedo on the port bow. She rapidly became unmaneuverable, moving slowly forward as she filled with water. The torpedo struck at 4:45 a. m. CST and at 6:50 a. m. the Oaxaca slipped bow first below the sea. According to a declassified report by the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D. C., the ship was abandoned within five minutes of the attack. Of the 45 crew members, 30 survived. Survivors took to the lifeboats and landed at Port O’Connor or were rescued by the Coast Guard. Another source related how survivors floated on debris to the beach near the airbase on Matagorda Island. The mess hall at the airbase reportedly fed nineteen survivors including one woman. The Oaxaca was a steel hulled freighter of 4,351 tons which operated between New Orleans and Mexican ports. Built in 1921, she originally sailed under a German flag as the Hameln, but was confiscated by Mexico in April 1941 while in Veracruz and was henceforth operated by the Mexican Navigation Company. If the information is correct, the seizure took place some 14 months before Mexico formally declared war on Germany. The Oaxaca was no stranger to the perils of operating in Gulf waters. On May 25, 1942, the Oaxaca rescued three crewmembers from the US tanker Halo that had been torpedoed five days earlier by a U-506 off the coast of Louisiana. Two of the three crewmembers did not survive their wounds. One crewmember died at sea as the Oaxaca sailed for Tampico and the second died at the hospital in Tampico within minutes of arriving. Of the 42 crewmembers aboard the Halo, only the one from the Oaxaca and two others rescued by another ship survived. The vessel’s cargo was generally reported as newsprint, caustic soda, telephone poles and other general cargo. The wreck is often locally referred to as “the rubber wreck” because of chunks of rubber that washed up on the beach after she sank which were believed to be part of the cargo. Rubber was a vital commodity during the war as supplies of natural rubber were cut off and synthetic rubber was just being developed. In the US, rubber was declared a “strategic and critical material” to be stockpiled and regulate by the Rubber Reserve Company. The approximate position of the Oaxaca has been known since the sinking. According to one source, the wreck was still visible until the US Navy blew it up during the war to reduce the navigation hazard it posed. In 1981 and engineering firm conducting a hazard survey in advance of drilling platform construction, located the wreck of the Oaxaca in approximately fifty-five feet of water. During the summer of 2000, the state marine archeologist working with marine stewards and other volunteers conducted a brief dive on the Oaxaca to establish the exact coordinates of the wreck and general condition. During June 2001, the state marine archeologist attempted to conduct a magnetometer survey over the wreck, but equipment problems prevented completion of the survey. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department contracted for a hazard survey in March of 2004 as part of their plan to create an artificial reef around the wreck, but the plan was subsequently dropped. The Oaxaca appears in historic photographs to be a fairly common mid-island bulk cargo carrier of the period. Without construction plans and related documents or sufficient archeological data, there is insufficient information to determine whether the vessel structure is representative of a type that might be significant for its specific details. Therefore, the significance must rely on the history of the vessel, specifically the circumstance of its loss. The Oaxaca was the only vessel sunk by an enemy submarine off the coast of Texas. As such, it is a significant reminder of that period in the past when our coast was considered vulnerable to enemy attack and special precautions were taken all along the coast to prevent such attack: entrances to ports were guarded, aids to navigation were extinguished and blackout conditions were observed. In addition, the wreck should be considered a war grave, as six sailors died in the attack. The wreck is easily accessible to divers and has proven to be a popular dive site in recent year. Much of the original hull and the provenance of the vessel’s components remain intact in spite of its catastrophic history. State Archeological Landmark status will help protect the wreck and ensure archeologists are able to collect the maximum amount of data from this week during future investigations.
NOTE: some sources list the captain as Francisco
Rodriguez Reybell |
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At a Gulf Coast Port—Thirty-six survivors of the Mexican freighter, Oaxaca, torpedoed and sunk by a submarine early Sunday morning off the Gulf coast, today described a surprise attack which claimed the lives of six members of the crew and seriously injured three others. The government-controlled Mexican navigation company said the ship was enroute to Tampico from New Orleans. 3 In Hospital Three of the most seriously injured are still in a hospital in a Victoria hospital receiving treatment for broken bones and internal injuries, while one is suffering pneumonia caused by exposure. The thirty-six were brought here Sunday from another Gulf coast port where they landed in life boats and rafts, and will leave here today to return to Mexico. A representative of the Mexican Navigation Co. was here last night to make the arrangements. Marco Antonio Demonte, first mate, said there was no premonition of trouble when the ship was struck by the torpedo on the port forward quarter. “The attack,” Demonte said, “was a complete surprise.” Speaking in Spanish, he described the explosion which sent a heavy vibration through the ship and blew a portion of the bridge and hatch covers into the air. The ship started turning to the right, he said, the propellers still turning over. The bow sank first and then the ship began to settle in the water. The vessel remained afloat more than an hour. Saw The Submarine After the explosion Demonte said he saw the surfaced submarine silhouetted, against the bright moon for only a moment, and caught a glimpse of it once again as the survivors were leaving. The captain, Francisco Rodriguez Reybell of Vera Cruz, was resting in the chart room when the attack occurred, Demonte said. “I went down from the bow, where I was standing when the ship was struck, to advise the captain of what had happened. He began immediately to gather up his valuable papers and necessary documents, and we made a search of the ship to round up all of the survivors. Herded Into Boats They herded the men into two life-boats and three rafts and began rowing toward shore. One of the life boats reached a Gulf Coast port several hours ahead of the other, which was towing the rafts. They were later brought to the U. S. Naval Hospital here by authorities from the Naval Air Station. Five of the men were asleep over the No. 1 hatch and Demonte said it was probable that they were killed by the explosion. The sixth, he said may have been trapped below decks. Genevevo Ferreyra, chief engineer, said the three injured men were doubtless hurt in attempting to leave the ship. He said at least one of the trio had been ___ on the ship for only a short time. Missing Men Listed Those listed as missing are Jose Nunez, fireman; Gregorio Bravo-Rincon, carpenter; Gilberto Lizan Camacho, sailor; Simon U. Rodriguez, helmsman; and Carlos Maldonado, watchman. [name of missing man not included] The injured are Manuel Najera, second purser, who has a broken ankle and internal injuries; Oscar Esteves, welder, hip and chest injuries; and Dario Mendez, first cook, who is receiving treatment for pneumonia. The Oaxaca, a 3,000-top vessel, was formerly the German freighter, Hameln, which the Mexican government seized in the port of Vera Cruz in April last year, the Mexican Navigation Co., said last night. It was the fifth Mexican ship sunk since the beginning of the war.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Tuesday,
July 28, 1942 |
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By Mike Reddell
Matagorda County's newest state historical
landmark recognizes and protects a ship sunk by a German U-boat off
Matagorda Peninsula in the early months of World War II. |
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Six lives were lost the day the Oaxaca was torpedoed by U-171. The bodies were never recovered from the wreck. The names of five of those casualties are included here.
An additional search revealed a article in
Spanish that provided complete names and positions. |
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Carlos Berzunza Cahuich, sailor |