The SS Hewitt was a steel hulled bulk freighter built for the J. S. Emery Steamship Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, as the Pacific.

)[1] She was sold to the Union Sulphur Company in 1915 and in 1921 she and her entire crew disappeared without a trace off the southeast coast of the United States.

During this time, she became the first U.S. merchant marine vessel fitted with a six-inch gun, designed for defense against German U-boats.

Hans Jakob Hansen, she left fully loaded from Sabine Pass, Port Arthur, Texas on 20 January 1921.

[7] After the Hewitt failed to arrive in Boston on its expected due date of 29 January, Union Sulphur sent the ship's wireless call (K I L) through Atlantic coastal stations, and notified the United States Navy.

Initially, Coast Guard officials in Atlantic City reported hearing an explosion and seeing a flash approximately 20 miles (32 km) offshore on the night of 3 February, and connected this event with the Hewitt.

[9] Others speculated about piracy, perhaps connected with "Bolshevik raiders" in the aftermath of the Red Scare, although authorities discounted these suggestions.

[11][12] In a representative case, two families in Portland received settlements of $2,500 each; the court deemed that the crew members were presumed drowned off Florida.

It eventually transitioned to oil and gas production and, through a series of transactions, became part of British multinational energy company BP.