SS Santa Elisa

History
Name	SS Santa Elisa
Owner	United States Maritime Commission (USMC)[1]
Operator	Grace Line[1]
Port of registry	Wilmington, Delaware[2]
Builder	Federal Shipbuilding[3] Kearny, New Jersey
Yard number	179
Launched	29 May 1941
Completed	July 1941
Fate	Sunk by Italian MAS torpedo boat, 13 August 1942[4][5]
General characteristics
Type	Type C2-G ship
Tonnage	8,379 GRT
Length	439 ft 0 in (133.81 m)[2]
Beam	63 ft 2 in (19.25 m)[2]
Draft	27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)[2]
Decks	three decks
Propulsion	2 General Electric steam turbines, geared to a single screw propeller[2]
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h)[3]
Crew	11 officers, 45 sailors, 10 Naval Armed Guardsmen (83 total)[1]
Armament	unknown, but included 20 mm guns

SS Santa Elisa was a refrigerated cargo ship built for the United States Maritime Commission by Federal Shipbuilding of Kearny, New Jersey in 1941.

Operated by the Grace Line, Santa Elisa was a member of Convoy WS 21S from Newport, England, for Malta as a part of Operation Pedestal. After she straggled from the convoy, she was attacked and torpedoed by the Italian motor boats MAS 557 and 564 25 nautical miles (46 km) southeast of Cape Bon, Tunisia on the night of 12/13 August 1942. MAS 557 strafed the vessel with her .51 Breda machine gun, killing four British army gunners, while the second motorboat launched a 450 mm torpedo that struck Santa Elisa on the starboard side near the No. 1 cargo hatch at about 05:17. The ship's cargo of aviation gasoline burst into flames.

Santa Elisa eventually sank at approximately 07:17 on 13 August near position 36°20′N 11°28′E / 36.333°N 11.467°E / 36.333; 11.467, and 28 survivors, including Francis A. Dales who was awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for his involvement in the convoy, were rescued by HMS Penn and landed at Malta.^[4][5] Frederick A. Larsen, Jr. the Junior Third Mate on SS Santa Elisa also was awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for courage, heroism above and beyond the call of duty. After the Santa Elisa's sinking, Dales and Larsen volunteered to board the damaged SS Ohio and helped defend it against further attacked until the Ohio reached Malta on 16 August 1942 suspended between the British destroyers Bramham and Penn. The award was given by Admiral Emory S. Land.^[6]

• Browning, Robert M. (1996). U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-087-8. OCLC 32310902.
• Greene & Massignani, Jack & Allessandro (1999). The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940-1943. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-885119-61-5.
• Woodman, Richard (2000). Malta Convoys 1940-43. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5753-4.
• Moses, Sam (2006). At All Costs. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-345-47674-6.