WW1 August 1917 torpedoed UK ship Spectator, rescue by USS Paulding

Set of 5 photo postcards related to torpedoing of the British cargo ship Spectator on August 19^th 1917, 11 nautical miles (20 km) south East of Galley Head, County Cork by German submarine UC-33. Her crew was rescued by the escort destroyer USS Paulding.

Assuming these photos were taken from the USS Paulding, # of them mention Spectator, last one was part of same lot. Some photos have writing on negative

• Just after the torpedo struck (Spectator just after the blow up)
• The “Spectator” ready for the final plunge
• The “Spectator” after she disappeared (--- after she went down)
• Crew rescued from the “Spectator” (E.S.)
• Rescue of part of a crew from a stricken ship (E.S.)

Toning/staining on back. Last postcard in series has corner creases UL, LL.

(Red text is an electronic watermark that is not physically part of the photo for sale)

1917 19 August The British steamer Spectator is struck by a torpedo on its port side while under American destroyer escort. The destroyer Paulding recovers 46 survivors accounting for the entire crew, but Spectator sinks.

USS Paulding (DD-22) was the lead ship of Paulding-class destroyers in the United States Navy.

Paulding was laid down by the Bath Iron Works Corporation at Bath in Maine on 24 July 1909, launched on 12 April 1910 by Miss Emma Paulding and commissioned on 29 September 1910, Lieutenant Commander Yates Stirling, Jr. in command. She was the first American destroyer to be solely fueled by oil.

Assigned to the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet, Paulding operated primarily off the east coast until after the United States entered World War I. During April 1917, she patrolled off the New England coast and in May, she prepared for distant service. On 21 May, she got underway for the United Kingdom, arriving at Queenstown, Ireland to escort convoys and protect them from German U-boats. On that duty throughout the war, she returned to the United States after the Armistice.

WIKIPEDIA