Revision 8/29/2009 5:10 PM

Name: NAECO
previous name: Charles M. Everest (1933) Type: Tanker Built: 1918 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Wilmington, DE Owner: Charles Kurz & Co., Inc., Philadelphia, PA
Home Port: Wilmington, DE Size (ft.): 428-0 x 53-5 x 25-7 Gross Tonnage: 5373 tons Propulsion: Single screw reciprocating steam engine/speed 10 knts
Date Sunk: 3/23/1942 Cause: Torpedoed by U-124 Location Cape Lookout, NC GPS: N34° 01.520’/W76° 38.878’ (stern)

Naeco (Moore)
SHIP HISTORY : (Sources: Moore, Hickam, Gentile, Wynn) Captained by Emil H. Englbrecht, the Naeco was making its way from Houston, TX with 97,000 barrels of #2 fuel oil. The tanker was traveling alone and unarmed towards its final destination of Seawaren, NJ. Early on the morning of March 23, the Naeco was 65 miles SE of Cape Lookout, NC and unbeknownst to the captain and crew, it was already under attack.
KL Johann Mohr and the U-124 had been off the NC coast for only 10 days, but had already wrecked havoc by sinking or damaging the Ceiba, Acme, Kassandra Louloudis, E.M. Clark, Papoose, W.E. Hutton, Esso Nashvilleand Atlantic Sun. The u-boat now had the Naeco in its periscope.
The first torpedo missed or was a dud. Unaware, the tanker steamed onward. At 0315 a second torpedo found its mark, hitting the Naeco on the starboard side near the midship house with catostrophic results. The explosion immediately ignited the fuel oil and engulfed the deck house and bridge and spread burning fuel over the water. All hands in the bridge area and forward were killed in the explosion or by the resulting flames. Over 20 miles away, the USCGC Dione got word of the attack and rushed to assist. It was still miles away when it could see the volcanic eruptions and burning plume from the Naeco in the night sky.

DIVING NOTES: Diving Depths: 125-145 ft.
Visibility: Generally very good; range 60 to 100+ ft.
Current: Slight to moderate
Summer Temperature: high 70s to lo 80s
Points of Interest: Stern: Boilers, engine, stern anchor, rudder/steering quadrant; Bow: port anchor; bow point
Fish/Animal Life: Both sections have large variety of tropical fish; large schools of baitfish are more prevelent on stern; african pampano, amberjack, grouper, sandtiger sharks. In 2000, the stern section of the Naeco was location of the first sightings of the invasive pacific species lionfish in North Carolina waters. It is now quite common in the area
Description: The bow and the stern sections of the Naeco sank a couple of miles apart. It was apparent to those who dived the wreck that there was a piece missing - the pilot house area. Was it completely destroyed or did its remains lay somewhere in the sand between the two end sections? After a many year search, Bobby Edwards of the Atlantis IV, discovered the "missing" section. In the end, there are three different places to dive the Naeco.
The stern section is the largest, has the highest relief and most often visited. It is lying on its keel. Although the water is generally very clear and the stern section is not too spread out, I find myself having to be careful or else I can get turned around in the large schools of baitfish and redeyes that can sometimes surround a diver - particularly in the area forward of the high stern section. The steering quadrant, the engines and boilers and the deck wall which separates the engine area from the huge tank sections offer the most relief on this portion of the wreck. Forward of this "wall", the stern flattens out and eventually disappears into the sand. The bow is much smaller and lying flat and nearly collapsed on its starboard side. The port anchor is visible, still sitting in the hawse pipe. There is not much notable relief on the bow.

http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/WRECKS/NAECO/NAECO.HTML

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