Official Number:                      159809  

Laid down:

Builder:                                   Bremer Vulkan A.G. , Vegesack

Launched:                               1938

Into Service:                            1939

Out of service:                         1940

Fate:                                      1940 torpedoed and sunk 

Items of historic interest involving this ship: –

Background Data:  One of an additional group of ships requisitioned by the Admiralty during WW2 to augment the ships of the RFA

Career Data:

April 1938 completed

12 April 1938 at Bremen, Germany

21 April 1938 at 36°33N 50°00W Bosun Lee Chai discharged dead from heart failure

1 October 1938 passed St Catherines Point sailing east bound

9 October 1938 arrived at Falmouth from Hamburg, Germany

12 October 1938 radioed she was 180 miles south of Valencia on passage to Key West for orders

25 November 1938 sailed  Le Harve, France to Falmouth

28 November 1938 laid up in the River Fal

17 January 1939 sailed Falmouth

11 June 1939 arrived at Corpus Christi

1939 requisitioned for Admiralty service as an oiler, name unchanged

6 October 1939 sailed Suez independently to Abadan arriving 17 October 1939

18 October 1939 sailed Abadan independently to Port Said arriving 1 November 1939

3 November 1939 sailed Port Said in escorted convoy HG7 with a cargo of FFO to the Downs arriving 23 November 1939

25 November 1939 sailed Southend in unescorted convoy FN41 to Rosyth arriving 27 November 1939

1 December 1939 sailed Rosyth escorted to the River Tyne arriving the same day

20 December 1939 sailed River Tyne and joined unescorted convoy FS57 to the Downs arriving 22 December 1939

22 December 1939 sailed the Downs in escorted convoy OA58 until dispersal on the 25 December 1939 and then independently to Trinidad arriving 9 January 1940

22 January 1940 sailed Halifax in escorted convoy HX17 to Liverpool arriving 7 February 1940

21 February 1940 sailed Liverpool in unescorted convoy OB95 and then, on 23 February 1940, joined escorted convoy OG19 which had been formed at sea to Gibraltar arriving 29 February 1940

21 March 1940 sailed Halifax in escorted convoy HX29 arriving Liverpool 4 April 1940 and then to Scapa Flow

25 April 1940 sailed Liverpool in escorted convoy OB136 when then dispersed on 28 April 1940 and sailed independently to Trinidad

19 May 1940 sailed Bermuda in escorted convoy BHX44 joining escorted convoy HX44 to Scapa Flow

12 June 1940 sailed Scapa Flow in escorted convoy Hebrew to the River Clyde arriving 14 June 1940

17 June 1940 sailed Liverpool in escorted convoy OB169 which dispersed at 46°00N 20°40W on 22 June 1940 and then independently to Curaçao

10 July 1940 sailed Bermuda in escorted convoy BHX57 joining escorted convoy HX57 to Scapa Flow

13 August 1940 sailed Liverpool in escorted convoy OB197 which then dispersed on 16 August 1940 and then independently to Curaçao

9 September 1940 sailed Halifax in escorted convoy HX72 but on 21 September 1940 torpedoed and sunk by U-99 in the Atlantic 480 miles W of Bloody Foreland in position 55°40 N 22°04 W while on passage from Curaçao to Scapa Flow carrying 13,241t of fuel oil with the loss of sixteen lives. seventeen survivors were rescued by the sloop HMS FLAMINGO and landed at Londonderry and 15 survivors by the trawler HMS FANDANGO and landed at Belfast. Of those who died three are remembered with pride on the Tower Hill Memorial. The rest are remembered with pride on the Hong Kong Memorial

Image courtesy of Brian Watson

18 March 1941 Captain William R Forsythe and Third Officer John J Reed both awarded a Commendation for services when the ship was torpedoed and sunk. Details were published in the London Gazette of this day