History
United States
NameRobert F. Hoke
NamesakeRobert Hoke
BuilderNorth Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina
Yard number152
Way number2
Laid down10 April 1943
Launched4 May 1943
FateScrapped 1949
General characteristics
TypeLiberty ship
Tonnage7,000 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Length441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Propulsion
  • Two oil-fired boilers
  • Triple expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
  • 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Capacity9,140 tons cargo
Complement41
Armament

SS Robert F. Hoke (MC contract 1968) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Robert Hoke, Confederate Army Major General, politician, and Director of the North Carolina Railroad.

The ship was laid down by North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in their Cape Fear River yard on April 10, 1943, then launched on May 4, 1943.[1]

On December 28, 1943, while operated by American Export Lines,[2] en route from Abadan, Iran, to Mombasa, Kenya, in the Arabian Sea the Robert F. Hoke was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-26.[3] A 700-foot hole was blown in the hull but she remained afloat.[4] The Naval Armed Guard detachment remained on board, firing to keep I-26 down while the crew abandoned ship. After the submarine retreated, the crew reboarded the ship but are unable to get her underway. 68 crew (41 merchant sailors and 27 Naval Armed Guardsmen) were rescued by a Royal Air Force crash boat.[5]

The Robert F. Hoke was taken under tow by Royal Navy tug HMS Masterful and taken to Aden where she was written off as a loss. She was cut down into a self-propelled barge and used as a Royal Navy training vessel in Bombay, India until being sold in 1948. She was scrapped in Bombay in 1949.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "North Carolina Shipbuilding". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  2. ↑ "Liberty Ship Saved After Being Torpedoed". Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. Sydney, NSW. June 28, 1944. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  3. ↑ Cressman, Robert J. "Events of the Year 1943". The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in WWII. Naval Historical Center. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  4. ↑ "Liberty Ship Saved After Being Torpedoed". Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. Sydney, NSW. June 28, 1944. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  5. ↑ Cressman, Robert J. "Events of the Year 1943". The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in WWII. Naval Historical Center. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  6. ↑ "Robert F. Hoke". MARAD Vessel History Database. Retrieved 2018-01-05.


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