The author of a book about a U.S. merchant ship sunk by the Germans before America entered World War II said few people know the story of the SS Robin Moor because there were no reported deaths or acts of war after the ship went down.
George Haber, a Jericho resident who wrote “Outrageous and Indefensible: The Sinking of the SS Robin Moor,” said the book was published by the American Merchant Marine Museum in connection with a year-long exhibit on the ship’s sinking.
“Everybody who hears about this says they’ve never heard about it,” Haber said. “When I gave my presentation at the Merchant Marine Museum, one of the things I mentioned was the reason I think people don’t know about this and it was forgotten is that nobody was killed in the sinking and no military action took place after the sinking.”
He said a German U-boat torpedoed the SS Robin Moor, a steamship, while it was sailing along the coast of West Africa, six months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Interestingly, Haber said, none of the ship’s passengers died because the captain put them in lifeboats shortly before it went under.
He said President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced Germany’s actions in sinking the ship, which he called its “first step to seize control of the high seas.”
The ship’s sinking, Haber said, sparked a national debate between isolationists and interventionists on whether to retaliate against Germany and join the war or not.
The story of the ship’s sinking and its aftermath are documented in his book and presented in an exhibit at the American Merchant Marine Museum, which had its opening reception on May 20.
Haber, who considers himself a World War II history buff, said the museum’s director, Dr. Josh Smith, had asked him to write the book in connection with the exhibit because of a previous work he published about the convoy system in the North Atlantic.
He said he spent six months gathering as much information as he could on the SS Robin Moor, which included finding the diary of one of the passengers in a South African newspaper from 1941.
Haber’s wife, Elinor, who formerly worked as a research librarian at the National Maritime Research Institute, assisted him by finding copies of the Congressional Record from 1941, which had statements from Congressmen about the ship’s sinking.
He said the book has been well received by.
Smith, Haber said, had sought out and located family members of the sunken ship’s survivors and invited them to the exhibit’s opening reception.
“The book has been getting a lot of praise by the survivors’ children and relatives,” he said. “They really appreciated that the book was being sold.”
Smith, who also teaches at the marine academy, said the book was “the most comprehensive study of the Robin Moor incident to date.”
Those interested in purchasing “Outrageous and Indefensible” can order it for $12 from Information Services, P.O. Box 429, Jericho, N.Y. 11753.
Haber formerly served as editor of Surveyor Magazine of the American Bureau of Shipping, an international maritime engineering society that sets standards for the design and construction of merchant ships.
