Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:07:23-1:09:41

The loss of SS President Coolidge

A question about the mined troopship SS President Coolidge asks whether simple miscommunication explains the disaster.

Command And ControlLive Q&AMaritime LogisticsNaval MinesSS President CoolidgeWorld War II
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Question

What caused the loss of SS President Coolidge, and was it simply a miscommunication?

Short answer

It was a wider early-war coordination failure: critical procedures and information flows were not yet reliable, though the captain still bore ultimate responsibility.

Notes

SS President Coolidge struck friendly mines in 1942 amid a wider early-war coordination failure. Procedures were incomplete, organizations were scrambling, and Captain Nelson had not been properly informed about the hazards. Command responsibility still rested with him, but the information system around the ship was unreliable. Nelson also got almost everyone ashore, which complicates attempts to reduce the disaster to one person's mistake.