View source for SS Norlantic

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| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{USN flag|1942}}
| Ship name = * SS ''Lake Fandango'' (1919–1933)
* SS ''Lexington'' (1933–1941)
* SS ''Norlantic'' (1941–1942)
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| Ship owner = * U.S. Shipping Board (1919–1933)
* Merchants & Miners Transportation Co. (1933–1941)
* Norlasco Steamship Co. (1941–1942)
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| Ship builder = [[Detroit Shipbuilding Company]], [[Wyandotte, Michigan]]
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| Ship launched = 24 December 1919
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| Ship fate = Torpedoed and scuttled, 13 May 1942
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| Ship type = [[Design 1099 Ship]]
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| Ship displacement = 2,606 tons
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'''SS ''Norlantic''''' was an American [[cargo ship]] of the [[Norlasco Steamship Company]] of [[New York City|New York]] that was scuttled after being damaged by {{ship|German submarine|U-69|1940|2|up=yes}} in May 1942 with the loss of seven lives. The ship was built as '''SS ''Lake Fandango''''', a [[Design 1099 Ship|design 1099 ship]] of the [[United States Shipping Board]] (USSB), in 1919 and had also sailed under the name '''SS ''Lexington'''''.

== Career ==
''Lake Fandango'' was [[keel laying|laid down]] by the [[Detroit Shipbuilding Company]] of [[Wyandotte, Michigan]] for the USSB and [[launch (ship)|launch]]ed on 24 December 1919. Details of her merchant career after her March 1920 completion are not reported in [[secondary source]]s. In 1933, the ship was sold to the [[Merchants & Miners Transportation Company]] of [[Baltimore, Maryland]], and was renamed ''Lexington''. In 1941, the ship was sold to the [[Norlasco Steamship Company]] of [[New York City|New York]] and renamed ''Norlantic''.

In May 1942, ''Norlantic'', loaded with a {{convert|3800|LT|t|-1|adj=on}} general cargo that included cement and steel pipe, sailed from [[Pensacola, Florida]] for [[Puerto La Cruz]], [[Venezuela]]. In the early morning hours of 13 May, while about {{convert|90|nmi|km}} east of [[Bonaire]], the vessel came under attack by {{ship|German submarine|U-69|1940|2|up=yes}}. At 03:38, ''U-69'', under the command of ''[[Kapitänleutnant]]'' Ulrich Graf, launched two torpedoes that missed the ship. After closing to a distance of {{convert|2000|m|yards}} from ''Norlantic'', Graf began shelling the vessel at the bridge at 03:47. After the first several shell hits on ''Norlantic'', her crew tried to signal the German boat that they were abandoning ship to avoid further attack, and launched two lifeboats and two life rafts. Graf, unaware of the signal attempt, continued shelling the boat. At 04:11, three minutes after a [[coup de grâce]] hit ''Norlantic''{{'}}s port [[Boiler room (ship)|boiler room]], the battered vessel was scuttled by the captain, taking down six men—two killed below, and four killed by shellfire during the evacuation of the boat. A seventh man in one of the lifeboats later died of his wounds.

On the afternoon of 16 May, three days after the attack, the pair of lifeboats was spotted by Netherlands trading schooners ''India'' and ''Mississippi'', which took the boats under tow to Bonaire. Eight days later, and 11 days after the attack, two men aboard one of the rafts were rescued by {{SS|Marpesia}} and landed at [[Port of Spain]], [[Trinidad]]. The three men on the second raft were finally rescued on 19 June by the tug ''Crusader Kingston'' at position {{coord|14|2|N|83|13|W|display=inline}}, drifting some {{convert|1000|nmi|km}} from the scene of ''Norlantic''{{'}}s demise in the 37 days since the sinking.

== References ==
* [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/1637.html Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Norlantic] at Uboat.net
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{{Design 1099 ships}}
{{May 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norlantic}}
[[Category:Design 1099 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Wyandotte, Michigan]]
[[Category:1919 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1942]]