Here, thanks to research by Matthew J. Kessler, DVM, Dipl. ACLAM, Associate Director, Office of Laboratory Animal Resources Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University and former Director of the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC), University of Puerto Rico; and Richard G. Rawlins, PhD, former Scientist-in-Charge of the CPRC’s Cayo Santiago monkey colony, are some more stories relating to the S.S. Coamo.
September, 1930 - The Coamo encountered one of the worst hurricanes in years, four miles off the Santo Domingo harbor. Captain Thomas Evans, his crew, and their passengers endured more than seven hours of the storms intense winds and rough seas. Steaming at full capacity the ship could make little of no headway. When they entered the eye of the hurricane the ship became a temporary shelter for all kinds of sea birds that had been caught in the storm. A half hour later the rest of the storm overtook the ship. Water then came into the ship through ceilings, doors, windows and a broken skylight. The Coamo survived with not a single loss of life and only a few passengers being slightly injured.
Source. The New York Times September 5, 1930.
November 1938 - The S. S. Coamo was used to transport about 500 Rhesus monkeys from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was the final part of a 51-day, 14,000-mile journey that began in the jungles of India. The monkeys final destination was the 35-acre island of Santiago which lies eighteen miles east of San Juan, and about five - eights of a mile from the mainland. It was selected for experiments using the monkeys to study tropical disease because its climate and vegetation is similar to their native home in the hills near Calcutta, India. In 2013 the Cayo Santiago Rhesus Monkey Colony celebrated its 75th anniversary with studies still being conducted on descents of the monkeys transported there by the S. S. Coamo.
Sources. American Journal of Primatology. “ A 75 Year Pictorial History of the Cayo Santiago Rhesus Monkey Colony”, By Matthew J. Kessler and Richard G. Rawlings.
New York Times, November 22, 1938, Special Cable to the New York Times from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov.21.
Laconia order of 1942.
This order may explain why the German U-boat that sank the S. S. Coamo did not attempt to rescue any survivors that were still alive in the water after the ship sank.
On September 12, 1942 the Royal Mail Steamer Laconia was sunk off the coast of West Africa by U-boat 156. This ship was carrying 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, 80 civilians and 428 British and Polish soldiers. U-boats 156, 506, 507, and an Italian submarine attempted to rescue the survivors. Life boats were taken in tow, the wounded were given medical treatment and survivors were allowed to congregate on the decks of the U-boats. Red Cross flags were displayed on the U-boats to indicate to any passing aircraft that the boats were engaged in humanitarian relief efforts. Despite these flags an American B-24 bomber launched an attack that damaged one U-boat and caused a large number of casualties among the non-German survivors. Admiral Karl Doenitz, head of German U-boat operations, was furious that his submariners were endangered while engaged in a rescue mission. This resulted in him issuing instructions that became known as the ‘Laconia order’, composed of four parts.
1 Efforts to save survivors of sunken ships, such as fishing swimming men out of the water and putting them on board lifeboats, the righting of overturned lifeboats, or the handing over of food and water, must stop. Rescue contradicts the most basic demands of the war: the destruction of hostile ships and their crews.
2 The orders concerning the bringing-in of skippers and chief engineers stay in effect.
3 Survivors are to be saved only if their statements are important for the boat.
4 Stay firm. Remember that the enemy has no regard for women and children when bombing German cities.
Sources. Origin of the Laconia Order, by Dr. Maurer Maurer and Lawrence J. Paszek. Royal United Services Journal 109,1964, page 338.
“The 1942 Laconia Order: The Murder of Shipwrecked Survivors and the Allied Pursuit of Justice 1945-46” by G. H. Bennett. Law, Crime and History ( 2011) 1, pages 16-34.
Information on U-604 the German U-boat that sank the S. S. Coamo is contained in a 208-page book “No Ordinary War; The Eventful Career of U-604. By Christian Prag. Seaforth Publishing, April 16, 2009. ISBN-10 1848320221.
