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Allied Ships hit by U-boats


Siremalm

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NameSiremalm
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage2.468 tons
Completed1906 - A. Rodger & Co, Port Glasgow 
OwnerA.I. Langfeldt & Co, Kristiansand 
HomeportKristiansand 
Date of attack27 Sep, 1941Nationality:      Norwegian
 
FateSunk by U-201 (Adalbert Schnee)
Position49.05N, 20.10W - Grid BE 1939
- See location on a map -
Complement27 (27 dead - no survivors)
ConvoyHG-73 
RouteAlmeira - Gibraltar (17 Sep) - Barrow 
Cargo4000 tons of iron ore 
History

Built as Craigisla, 1910 renamed Ottawa, 1935 sold to Norway and renamed Senta for Ole L. Løkke, Oslo. 1939 sold to A.I. Langfeldt & Co, Kristiansand and renamed Siremalm.

At 04.27 hours on 23 Mar, 1941, the unescorted Siremalm (Master Haakon Svendsen) was hit on the port side amidships by a dud torpedo from U-110 (Lemp) en route from Reykjavik (left on 21 March) to Halifax with general cargo and mail in 60°35N/28°25W (grid AK 3162). The torpedo left a big indent in the vicinity of the boiler room. The ship had been spotted at 12.00 hours the day before and the U-boat had lost contact temporarly due to aircraft that forced her to submerge. After spotting the ship again, a stern torpedo missed at 03.14 hours and three minutes later a bow torpedo. Lemp then decided to attack the ship with all guns 15 minutes later, but the barrel of the deck gun exploded on the first shot because the gun crew forgot to remove the water plug. The U-boat opened fire only with the 37mm and 20mm AA guns, scoring two hits in the hull on the port side of the ship, which was armed with one 4in gun and three machine guns. The Siremalm escaped zig-zagging at full speed. The radio operator sent distress signals, which were not answered and the crew manned the gun, but did not fire because they feared that this would give away their position and making the ship a target. No casualties among the crew of 25 Norwegians.
When U-110 tried to chase the ship, they suddenly begun to dive and had to stop. An examination of the deck showed that splinters of the exploded barrel had damaged some pipelines, which led to the unintentional diving and forced the U-boat to abort the patrol. 

Notes on loss

Between 02.08 and 02.11 hours on 27 Sep, 1941, U-201 fired five torpedoes at the convoy HG-73 about 700 miles west of the Bishop Rock and observed how the first detonated with a huge flash and the ship quickly sank. The second was seen to explode close to an escort and two other torpedoes struck another ship, whereupon the U-boat had to dive and could not observe the results. The ships hit were Siremalm and HMS Springbank.

The Siremalm (Master Haakon Svendsen) sank with all hands immediately after being hit. 20 Norwegian, three Finnish, one Swedish and three British crew members were lost.

 


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