The Gulf Oil tanker Gulfpenn in her original. peacetime colors. Photo courtesy the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia.

The oil and petroleum tanker Gulpenn was constructed in 1921 by the Sun Shipbuilding Company of Chester, Pennsylvania.  The vessel was originally named the Agwihavre (Sun Shipbuilding Hull #40) and was owned by the Gulf Oil Corporation.  The Gulfpenn was 480.5 feet in length, 66.0 feet in beam, and had a depth of 36.8 feet.

On May 13, 1942, the Gulfpenn was transporting 90,000 barrels of gasoline from Port Arthur, Texas to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when it was torpedoed by U-506.  The torpedo struck the engine room, which was in the aft section of the vessel, and killed all of the personnel on duty in that location.  The vessel sank stern first and swiftly plunged to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.  Twenty-five crewmembers survived the attack, but thirteen men were killed.

A shipwreck identified as the Gulfpenn by Marine archaeologist Laura Landry was discovered on a deepwater survey in Mississippi Canyon for Shell International Exploration and Production Inc.  The survey was conducted with the Texas A&M University deep-tow system in 1994.  Water depth at the shipwreck is 1,820 feet.  There has not previously been any known video collected at this site. 

Gulfpenn at war -- her bright upperworks have been painted over gray, and emergency liferafts are fitted near the masts. Photo courtesy the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia.