Grounding in 1922

Swiftstar passed through Panama Canal on her first trip on new route on 3 September 1922 bound for San Pedro,^[14] and after taking on 10,132 tons (~70,000 barrels) of oil from the terminals of the Union Oil Company, departed for her return journey on 19 September 1922 under command of captain Kenney, who was replacing her usual commander, captain James P. Stevenson.^[15][16] The journey was largely uneventful, until the evening of October 10. At around 17:00 the ship was deemed to be approximately thirty miles south of Block Island. By about 18:00 heavy fog spread out through the area reducing visibility to about 300 yards. At about 20:43 while still travelling in fog the tanker suddenly ran aground on the southern side of Block Island. Distress calls were made and picked up by the local life-saving station, as well as in New York and Fall River. The fog finally dissipated around midnight and the crew could see themselves lying broadside to the beach no more than 50 yards away. At about 06:00 on October 11 tug Guardsman showed up at the scene, but was unable to render any assistance and returned to New London. As Swiftstar went hard on the beach, she injured her bottom with many holds being punctured and leaking. Several pumps became inoperable due to them being filled with sand, two boilers went extinguished, and the engine room was continuously leaking. Standard Oil tanker Eocene soon arrived and offered to tow the stricken vessel, but her offer was declined on the fears Swiftstar would break in tow and sink. By 11:00 the after-peak bulkhead finally gave in and the engine room got flooded very rapidly cutting off the dynamo and severing any means of communications. At around 15:00 submarine N-2 appeared in sight and by 16:15 it closed in to within 150 yards. Using lifeboats from minesweeper Chewink, N-2 was able to take off all 33 people on board the tanker in three trips. After abandoning the ship, the crew was taken by the submarine to New Harbor where they were safely landed two hours later.^{[17][18][19][20]}

After four days of work the vessel was finally dislodged from her position in the morning of October 15 by wrecking tug Resolute and towed to New London for temporary repairs.^[21] After review, it was discovered that only three tanks were punctured during the grounding. The ship was then towed to the yard of Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company in mid-November 1922, where repairs at a cost of US$171,500.00 were performed.^[22][23] The repairs were finished in early January 1923 and the tanker returned to her regular service soon thereafter, sailing for Tampico on 11 January 1923.^[24]

Following her return to service, Swiftstar reentered intercoastal service carrying oil from California to Fall River for the rest of her career, while still making occasional trips to Mexico.

In June 1923 while en route from Providence to San Pedro, one of the sailors was arrested on board the tanker and put in chains after a wireless message was received identifying him as a suspect in murder and robbery committed in Rhode Island.^[25]

Disappearance

Swiftstar cleared for her last voyage from San Pedro with a cargo of 11,400 tons of crude oil (~79,000 barrels) on 30 June 1923 bound for Fall River. The tanker was under command of captain Richard Hull and had a crew of thirty two men. The tanker passed through the Panama Canal on 13 July 1923 and took course to her final destination.^[26] The tanker was expected at Fall River between July 23 and July 25, but she never arrived at that port, nor were any distress signals were received by any vessels along her expected route. On 22 July 1923, the schooner Albert H. Willis, on her way to the island of San Andrés to pick up a cargo of copra, sighted a wreckage close to the island shore. As the schooner closed in to investigate, the crew discovered a large number of splinters floating everywhere in the oil-covered sea, in addition to two wooden and one steel rudderless lifeboats. Each lifeboat had the name Swiftstar written on the stern. A lookout also spotted a floating box of approximately 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet deep. It was picked up and hoisted on board the vessel, and on further examination it was deemed to be an icebox. Upon opening, it was discovered that the box contained a charred body of a man whose identity was impossible to establish. The body was buried on San Andrés island before the schooner continued on her voyage.

According to one theory advanced after the accident, a lightning strike was most likely responsible for the tragedy. As it struck the tanker amidships, it knocked out the dynamo thus preventing the vessel to send out a distress call. It also caused two adjacent tanks to explode breaking the ship in two with both halves sinking rapidly, and therefore preventing any fire or smoke developing that could have been observed by passing ships. Finally, the charred body probably belonged to a man who was killed by the lightning outright with his body being thrown into the icebox.^[27]

One of the Swiftstar sailors, John Paquette, later showed up at Fall River aboard another tanker, SS Swifteagle. Apparently, he had been detained in Panama after attempting to smuggle a bottle of liquor into Canal Zone and as a result missed his ship and avoided the fate of the rest of the crew.^[28]