Official Number:                      148676

Laid down:

Builder:                                    Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd

Launched:                                8 June 1925

Into Service:                            September 1939

Out of service:                         1940

Fate:                                        13 June 1940 sunk by gunfire

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:

8 June 1925 launched by, Low Walker as Yard Nr 1196 named BRITISH PETROL for British Tanker Co Ltd, London

9 June 1925 the Sheffield Daily Telegraph newspaper reported …

23 September 1925 completed

6 December 1925 sailed Swansea to Abadan with 8 passengers. Captain William Pritchard was Master

25 February 1926 sailed Swansea to Abadan with 3 passengers

12 January 1927 sailed from Port Said for Swansea

8 September 1927 sailed Swansea to Abadan with 6 passengers

30 January 1930 sailed Swansea to Abadan via Southampton with 1 passenger

19 February 1931 arrived at Abadan from Southampton

20 September 1931 sailed Falmouth to Abadan with 7 passengers. Captain P V Mills was Master

22 June 1932 berthed at Grangemouth from Abadan with 5 passengers

5 July 1932 sailed River Tyne for Abadan

20 June 1933 sailed Falmouth to Abadan with 1 passenger

25 August 1933 at Swansea

6 November 1933 arrived at Suez when on passage to Swansea

22 March 1934 passed Perim when on passage to Abadan

7 July 1934 passed Gibraltar sailing east for Abadan

13 October 1934 sailed Falmouth to Abadan with 9 passengers

19 January 1935 sailed Falmouth to Abadan with 7 passengers

14 June 1935 passed the Lloyds Signal Station at Flamborough Head when sailing north bound

12 March 1936 at Suez

20 September 1935 engaged 40 crew members at the North Shields Board of Trade Shipping Office, River Tyne

18 January 1936 passed Perim when sailing north for Suez

23 June 1937 reported serious engine problems and in need a tow at 34°19N 25°52E (from the Lloyds Casualty reports)

25 June 1937 salvage ship Viking on way to provide assistance (from the Lloyds Casualty reports)

24 July 1937 arrived at Grangemouth under tow having suffered a engine breakdown (see above) (from the Lloyds Casualty reports) 

28 July 1937 passed St Abbs Head in tow bound for the Tyne  (from the Lloyds Casualty reports)

6 December 1938 in Parliament a member asked the Minister of Health about fourteen members of the crew which had been lying at Purfleet and who had been detained at Denton Isolation Hospital on 27 November 1938 suffering from an unidentified illness. The Minister of Health reported that twenty one members of the crew had been detained in hospital in London while two others had been detained in hospital when the ship reached the Tyne. The illness was identified due to salmonella food poisoning 

September 1939 requisitioned  for Admiralty service

26 October 1939 sailed Port Said in convoy Blue 6 to Gibraltar arriving on 6 November 1939

14 November 1939 sailed Gibraltar in convoy HG 7 to Devonport arriving on 22 November 1939

25 November 1939 sailed Devonport independently to Falmouth arriving the same day

20 December 1939 sailed Falmouth joining convoy OG55G to join convoy OG11 at sea to Gibraltar passing on 26 December 1939 and then sailing independently to Port Said arriving on 2 January 1940

2 January 1940 sailed Port Said independently to Aden arriving 9 January 1940

9 January 1940 sailed Aden independently to Abadan arriving on 17 January 1940

19 January 1940 sailed Abadan independently to Aden arriving on 27 January 1940

30 January 1940 sailed Aden independently to Abadan arriving on 6 February 1940

8 February 1940 sailed Abadan independently to Suez arriving on 22 February 1940

23 February 1940 sailed Port Said independently to Gibraltar arriving on 3 February 1940

4 March 1940 sailed Gibraltar in convoy HG21 to the Clyde arriving on 13 March 1940

24 April 1940 sailed the Clyde in convoy OB135 but returned suffering from collision damage arriving back at the Clyde on 26 April 1940

30 May 1940 sailed the Clyde in convoy OB158 and to join convoy OG32F to Trinidad in ballast

13 June 1940 sunk by gunfire from the German raider WIDDER in mid-Atlantic in position 20°10 N 46°56 W with the loss of 2 lives. The remainder of her crew became PoW’s. Those lost are remembered with pride on the Tower Hill Memorial

Image courtesy Brian Watson 

15 April 1941 Able Seaman William C Murray from the ship died while in a German Prisoner of War Camp and is buried in Malbork Commonwealth War Cemetery, Poland in grave 1.A.9 

17 April 1941 Steward Joseph McKenzie from the ship died while in a German Prisoner of War Camp and is buried in Malbork Commonwealth War Cemetery, Poland in grave 5.B.4 

13 May 1942 1st Radio Officer Walter Leonard Skett from the ship who had been held captive at Milag North was shot dead by a German Sentry for allegedly trying to escape. He is buried in Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau Niedersachsen, Germany in grave 17.A.4

23 March 1946 Storekeeper Reginald Ogilivy Dowine from the ship who had been held captive in a German Prisoner of War Camp died on his return to the UK. He was cremated at the Newcastle upon Tyne (West Road) Crematorium