SS Pink Star

SS Pink Star, an American-owned ship flying under the Panamanian flag, was the seventh American ship sunk by a German U-boat prior the United States entry into World War II. On September 20, 1941, she was torpedoed by GERMAN SUBMARINE U-552.

Ship history
The 4,150-ton steel-hulled ship was built by Öresundsvarvet A/B of Landskrona, Sweden, and completed in 1926. Under the name Saga she was owned by Waages Rederi of Oslo, Norway, until 1931, when she was sold to A.E. Reimann of Stensved, Denmark, and renamed Lundby.

On July 12, 1941, Lundby was requisitioned by the United States Government and ownership was transferred to the War Shipping Administration. In August 1941 she was assigned to the United States Lines Inc. under a General Agency Agreement (GAA), renamed Pink Star and registered in Panama.

On September 3, 1941 Pink Star sailed from New York, under the command of John S. MacKenzie, as part of Convoy SC-44, bound for the United Kingdom. At 01:51 on September 20, 1941, U-552, under the command of Erich Topp fired a spread of torpedoes into the convoy. Only Pink Star was hit, and quickly sank at position 61.6°N, -35.11667°W. Of her crew of 35 men, 13 were lost; one was American, one British, five Canadian, one French, one Danish, two Dutch and one Chinese.