Avoceta
Photo courtesy of the Allen Collection
| Name | Avoceta | ||
| Type: | Steam passenger ship | ||
| Tonnage | 3.442 tons | ||
| Completed | 1923 - Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Dundee | ||
| Owner | Yeoward Line Ltd, Liverpool | ||
| Homeport | Liverpool | ||
| Date of attack | 26 Sep, 1941 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-203 (Rolf Mützelburg) | ||
| Position | 47.57N, 24.05W - Grid BE 4156 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 166 (123 dead and 43 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | HG-73 | ||
| Route | Lisbon - Liverpool | ||
| Cargo | 469 tons of general cargo and mail | ||
| History | Completed in January 1923 | ||
| Notes on loss | At 00.31 hours on 26 Sep, 1941, U-203 fired four torpedoes at the convoy HG-73 north of the Azores and saw one hit and heard three detonations after diving. Later Mützelburg saw lifeboats and sank a damaged vessel by a coup de grâce at 06.34 hours (probably the Cortes). He claimed two ships with 20.000 grt sunk and one other damaged. In fact, three ships were sunk: Varangberg, Avoceta and Cortes. The Avoceta (Master Harold Martin) was the ship of the convoy commodore (Rear-Admiral K.E.L. Creighton, MVO, RN). 43 crew members, four gunners and 76 passengers were lost. The master, the commodore, five naval staff members, 19 crew members, two gunners and 12 passengers were picked up by HMS Periwinkle (K 55) (LtCdr P.G. MacIver, RNR) and landed at Milford Haven. Three crew members were picked up by the Cervantes, transferred to HMS Stork (U 81) (Cdr F.J. Walker, RN) and landed at Liverpool. The Cervantes was sunk by U-124 (Mohr) later that day. | ||
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