S.S. STANFIELD/NITZA

The SS-Stanfield was a steel steam merchant freighter, weighing 3,370 tons, 120 meters long, 15 meters wide and 9 meters deep, with a midship bridge, which set sail on June 5, 1916 from Norfolk, Virginia to Savona, Italy led by Georges Yannaghas with a cargo of coal for the Italian Army. On June 25, 1916 at 11:30 p.m., she sank near Islas Hormigas; given the time of the accident, the official date of the shipwreck was given for the 26th and this happened when the SS-Stanfield had passed the coast of Cartagena; It is said, and according to versions, that she was sighted and sunk about 6 miles and near the NE buoy of the Cabo de Palos Marine Reserve, by one of the German submarines of the U-BOOTE series that carried out the blockade to the allies. Other versions of the incident suggest that it could have happened when it collided with the Bajo de Fuera or the Losa next to the islands, although other hypotheses point to a collision with another ship and as a consequence its stern was destroyed and that for those In times of war, it was usual to sail without lights so as not to be detected by German submarines, but the latter has been ruled out because another ship, the Alba, was sailing nearby and no more ships were sighted in the area.

Source: http://personales.ya.com/todo-radio/Stanfield.htm