SS Stephen Hopkins was a United States Merchant Marine Liberty ship that served in World War II. She was the only US merchant vessel to sink a German surface combatant during the war.
She was built at the Permanente Metals Corporation (Kaiser) shipyards in Richmond, California. Her namesake was Stephen Hopkins, a Founding Father and signer of the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island.[1] She was operated by Luckenbach Steamship Company under charter with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.
She completed her first cargo run, but never made it home. On September 27, 1942, en route from Cape Town to Surinam, she encountered the heavily armed German commerce raider and her tender . Because of fog, the ships were only apart when they sighted each other.
Ordered to stop, Stephen Hopkins refused to surrender, and Stier opened fire. Although greatly outgunned, the crew of Stephen Hopkins fought back, replacing the Armed Guard crew of the ship's lone 4-inch (102 mm) gun with volunteers as they fell. The fight was fierce and short, and by its end both ships were wrecks.
| Conflict: | Action of 27 September 1942 |
| Partof: | World War II |
| Date: | September 27, 1942 |
| Place: | off Surinam, Atlantic Ocean |
| Result: | Mutually destructive engagement |
| Combatant1: |  United States |
| Commander2: | Horst Gerlach |
| Strength1: | 1 Liberty ship |
| Strength2: | 1 auxiliary cruiser, 1 supply ship |
| Casualties1: | 42 killed 1 Liberty ship sunk |
| Casualties2: | 2 killed 1 auxiliary cruiser scuttled, 1 supply ship lightly damaged |
Stephen Hopkins sank at 10:00. Stier, too heavily damaged to continue her voyage, was scuttled by its crew less than two hours later. Most of the crew of Stephen Hopkins died, including Captain Paul Buck. The 15 survivors drifted on a lifeboat for a month before reaching shore in Brazil.
Captain Buck was posthumously awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for his actions.[2] So was US Merchant Marine Academy cadet Edwin Joseph O'Hara, who single-handedly fired the last shots from the ship's 4-inch gun.[3] Navy reservist Lt. (j.g.) Kenneth Martin Willett, commander of the Armed Guard detachment which manned the ship's 4-inch gun, was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.[4]
The Liberty ships,, and, and the destroyer escort were named in honor of crew members of Stephen Hopkins, and in honor of the ship itself.