Caspia
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Caspia | ||
| Type: | Steam tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 6.018 tons | ||
| Completed | 1928 - Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne | ||
| Owner | Baltic Trading Co Ltd, London | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 16 Apr, 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-81 (Friedrich Guggenberger) | ||
| Position | Grid CP 5636 - See estimated map location (33.33N35.10E) * | ||
| Complement | 38 (27 dead and 11 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Haifa (16 Apr) - Tripoli, Syria | ||
| Cargo | 7000 tons of light benzine | ||
| History | | ||
| Notes on loss | At 19.54 hours on 16 Apr, 1942, U-81 spotted a tanker and one escort vessel off the coast of Lebanon and fired at 20.38 and 20.39 hours two torpedoes each at both ships. FFL Vikings (P 41) exploded and sank 23 miles 240° from Beirut after being hit by a torpedo. At 21.48 hours, the U-boat fired two torpedoes at the Caspia and hit her with one torpedo in the bow. The tanker sank in flames 10 miles south of Beirut after being hit by a coup de grāce at 22.10 hours. The master, 24 crew members and two gunners from the Caspia (Master Cecil Henry Humphries) were lost. Ten crew members and one gunner were picked up by the British motor launches HMS ML-1023 (Lt C.S. Roberts) and HMS ML-1032 (Lt C.D. Searle) and landed at Beirut. | ||
* Estimated position shown here is based on positions of losses in a roughly the same German grid code. It may be a bit off but should give a good idea as to where the attack took place.
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