Alma (tugboat)
World War II
In the morning on December 23, 1941 the Japanese submarine I-21 torpedoed and sank the Union Oil tanker SS Montebello near the start of World War II. The Montebello had departed Port San Luis with crude oil bound for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Alma departed her mooring at the Cayucos Pier to look for survivors of the sunken oil tanker. The 400-foot (120 m) Montebello sank six miles (9.7 km) offshore just north of Cambria, California. The Alma was able to pick up two of Montebello's lifeboats with 22 men and took them back to Cayucos. Another tug towed one of the other lifeboats to shore. The fourth and last lifeboat was able to make it to shore on its own. The Montebello has thirty-three survivors. The tanker's wreck lies in 880 feet (270 m) of water off the coast of Cambria. The shipwreck was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
See also
References
- ^ "Morro Bay Maritime Museum: After 20-Plus Years A Dream Becomes Reality". 27 December 2018.
- ^ Alma Tugboat, sanluisobispo.com/news
- ^ "The Fleet – Morro Bay". Morro Bay Maritime Museum. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
- ^ "Audio Exhibits". Morro Bay.
- ^ "U.S. Tanker Sunk By Jap Torpedo". The Spokesman-Review. 24 December 1941. p. 24. Retrieved 15 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Captain Tells of Torpedoing". Ventura County Star-Free Press. 23 December 1941. p. 1. Retrieved 15 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Olof Ekstrom (30 December 1941). Report of Casualty (Report). Port San Luis: Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Customs.