USS Salinas (AO-19) was a Navy fleet oiler operating in the North Atlantic on neutrality patrol when she was struck by a torpedo on 30 October 1941 — more than five weeks before Pearl Harbor brought the United States formally into the war. The attack was carried out by the German submarine U-106. Though severely damaged, Salinas survived and was repaired. This report by her commanding officer, published in the December 1941 issue of All Hands, describes the torpedo strike and the crew’s response in the critical moments that followed.
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