View source for Engineering:SS Potrero del Llano

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
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|Ship image = SS Potrero Del Llano burns after being torpedoed.jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=
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|Ship name=*''F.A. Tamplin'' (1912–1921)
*''Arminco'' (1921–1930)
*''Lucifero'' (1930–1941)
*''Potrero del Llano'' (1941–1942)
|Ship ordered=
|Ship owner=*T.W. Tamplin & Co, [[Place:London|London]] (1912-1921)
*SA d'Armement, d'Industrie & de Commerce, Antwerp (1912–1930)
*Società Italiana Transporti Petroliferi (SITP), Genoa (1930–1941)
*Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Tampico (1941–1942)
|Ship builder= [[Company:Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company|Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company]], Hebburn-on-Tyne
|Ship original cost=
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|Ship launched=6 November 1912
|Ship completed= December 1912
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|Ship registry={{Flagicon|Mexico|28px}} Tampico (1941–1942)
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|Ship fate= Torpedoed and sunk on 14 May 1942
|Ship identification=
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type=Steam tanker
|Ship tonnage= 4,000 GRT
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'''SS ''Potrero del Llano''''' was an oil tanker built in 1912. She sailed for a number of companies, and survived service in the First World War, only to be torpedoed and sunk by a [[Place:Nazi Germany|German]] [[Engineering:U-boat|U-boat]] during the Second World War while sailing under the Mexican flag off the coast of Florida. Her sinking contributed to Mexico's decision to enter the war on the side of the Allies.

''Potrero del Llano'' was originally built by [[Company:Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company|Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company]], Hebburn-on-Tyne as the ''F.A. Tamplin'', for service with T.W. Tamplin & Co., of [[Place:London|London]]. She was sold in 1921 to the Belgian company SA d'Armement, d'Industrie & de Commerce, of Antwerp, and was renamed ''Arminco'', and was sold again in 1930 to the [[History:Kingdom of Italy|Italian]] company Società Italiana Transporti Petroliferi (SITP), of Genoa, and was renamed ''Lucifero''.<ref name=uboat>{{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1648.html
|title=Potrero del Llano (steam tanker)
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|accessdate=1 February 2010
}}</ref> She was interned while docked at Tampico, in Mexico on 10 June 1940 and was seized on 8 December 1941 by the Mexican government and renamed ''Potrero del Llano''
after a town in Veracruz.<ref name=uboat/> She was operated by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), and was homeported in Tampico.<ref name=uboat/>

''Potrero del Llano'' was sailing unescorted from Tampico to {{wipe|New York City}} in May 1942, carrying 6,132 tons of petroleum. She was sighted by the {{GS|U-564}}, under Reinhard Suhren at 07:17 hours on 14 May 1942, while east of the coast of Florida.<ref name=uboat/> Suhren noticed an illuminated flag painted on the side of the ship but misidentified it as the Italian flag. Since only ships of the Mexican Navy were permitted to display the Mexican flag with the eagle in the centre, the flag shown by the ''Potrero del Llano'' resembled the Italian one, and having decided that the tanker's position and course meant that she could not be Italian, Suhren decided to sink her.<ref name=uboat/> ''U-564'' duly torpedoed the ''Potrero del Llano'', which sank with the loss of 13 of her crew. Twenty-two survivors were picked up by {{USS|PC-536}} and taken to Miami.<ref name=uboat/> One of the survivors, José Reyes Sosa, survived another attack on [[Engineering:SS Las Choapas|SS Las Choapas]], a tanker sunk by {{GS|U-129|1941|2}} on 27 June 1942, and the fourth Mexican tanker sunk by German submarines.

On 20 May 1942 a second tanker, ''[[Engineering:SS Faja de Oro|Faja de Oro]]'', was attacked and sunk, this time by {{GS|U-106|1940|2}}. This established a sound ''[[Social:Casus belli|casus belli]]'' for the Mexican government to declare war on the Axis powers on 22 May 1942.
[[File:VIIC uboat line.svg|thumb|Schematic representation of a U-boot type VII C]]
[[File:VIIC vector.svg|thumb|Side view of a U-Boot type VII C]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1648.html
|title=Potrero del Llano (steam tanker)
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|accessdate=1 February 2010
}}

{{Coord|25|35|N|80|06|W|type:waterbody_region:US_source:dewiki|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potrero del Llano}}
[[Category:Oil tankers]]

{{Sourceattribution|SS Potrero del Llano}}