The middle section was left in Aruba and, after being used for a number of years as a target by Dutch gunners after the war, has become a scuba diving site.
On the morning of 16 February 1942, U-156, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein, commenced an attack on oil tankers at anchor in San Nicolas Harbor in Aruba as part of Operation Neuland.
The fore and aft sections were joined and the ship made way under her own power to Baltimore, Maryland, where she had a new midsection installed, and continued her career.
[1] After the end of World War II, the tanker continued sailing under her same name until 1957 when she was renamed Esso Pedernales.
[1] The damaged middle section of Pedernales was towed away from the dry dock and was used for many years as a target by Dutch Navy aircraft.