Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. At 20.04 hours on 1 Nov 1942 the George Thatcher (Master Henry Olin Billings) on her maiden voyage was torpedoed by Uboat U-126 about 100 miles off the west coast of Africa, while proceeding under escort by two Free French corvettes at 8.2 knots. Already on 29 October, U-126 had attacked the small convoy and several torpedo tracks were seen by the escorts, but no action was taken by them. The torpedo struck on the starboard side between #2 and #3 hatches. One minute later, a second torpedo hit at the #4 hatch, setting fire to the cargo of gasoline, destroying one lifeboat and blowing the rafts overboard. The freighter, still under way, took a sharp list to starboard and began to settle by the head as she traveled in circles. She later righted herself, facilitating the launching of the remaining three lifeboats by the eight officers, 31 crewmen, 15 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and and four 20mm guns) and 12 US Army passengers on board about 30 minutes after the attack. The master, the chief mate, three crewmen, five armed guards (including the officer) and eight passengers were lost. The survivors were picked up by the corvettes and landed in Point Noire on 3 November. The Liberty ship continued burning but did not sink until 3 November at 09.00 hours.

This is an extremely macabre piece pertaining to the SS George Thatcher, the ship’s christening bottle, which did not break upon christening. It is a well-known superstition that a ship whose bottle did not break is doomed, and this could not have been truer for the George Thatcher, which sank on November 1st, 1942, just four months after being completed in July. 

The bottle is contained within a case measuring 14¼ x 7¼ x 5½”, with a plaque affixed to the top of the lid reading:

S.S. GEORGE THATCHER
SPONSORED BY
MILDRED G. CARROLL
JUNE 23, 1942
CALIFORNIA SHIPBUILDING CORPORATION

The bottle is still wrapped in its ceremonial ribbons, and is protected by an acrylic window. We do not know if the bottle still contains liquid, but from what we can see, it appears unbroken. This is an extremely scarce bit of WWII Naval militaria, the first christening bottle we have offered with such a macabre backstory. The bottle comes with some printed research. This is sure to become the centerpiece of any WWII Navy collection. Comes ready for further research and display.