SS William H. Machen Type: Collier LOA: 360 ft. Beam: 49 ft. Date of Loss: July 7th, 1942 Reason for Sinking: Collision with Maid of Sterling (freighter) Discovery Date: July 4th, 2017 William H. Machen (Machen) in 300 feet of water off the New England coast on the 75th anniversary of her sinking. On July 7th, 1942, the 360'
Machen collided with the 218' general cargo freighter the
Maid of Stirling owned by Stirling Shipping Company off the New England coast. The
Sterling was not seriously damaged and continued on to port. Unfortunately, the mortally wounded
Machen foundered and few details ever emerged about the collision itself or her final location. Lost during war time, with 44 other US merchant vessels loses in July 1942, the sinking of the
Machen became
a single line entry in a Coast Guard report and was largely forgotten.
She was discovered in the summer of 2017 by a team including Danny Allan, Mike Barnett, Mark Bowers, Josh Cummings, Bob Foster, Nate Garrett, Jeff Goodreau, Ryan King, and Scott Morency
For more information about the discovery and exploration check out our
blog post
