Ships hit by U-boats


Afrika

British Motor merchant



Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart

NameAfrika
Type:Motor merchant
Tonnage8,597 tons
Completed1920 - Burmeister & Wain´s Maskin & Skibsbyggeri A/S, Copenhagen 
OwnerUnited Baltic Co, London 
HomeportLondon 
Date of attack7 Feb 1943Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-402 (Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner)
Position55° 16'N, 26° 31'W - Grid AL 4441
Complement60 (23 dead and 37 survivors).
ConvoySC-118
RouteHalifax - Liverpool 
Cargo5000 tons of steel and 6457 tons of government and general cargo, including grain and explosives 
History Completed in March 1920 as Afrika for A/S Det Østasiatiske Kompagni, Copenhagen. On 14 Apr 1940, she was en route from Aden to Colombo and seized by HMAS Hobart (D 63) (Capt H.L. Howden, OBE, RAN). Taken over by Britain and transferred to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). 
Notes on event

At 06.36 hours on 7 Feb 1943 the Afrika (Master Emanuel Broholm Jensen) in station #105 of convoy SC-118 was hit in hold #5 by one torpedo from U-402 and sank in 8 minutes southeast of Cape Farewell. Heavy weather made it difficult to abandon ship and one of the three launched lifeboats capsized. The master, 18 crew members and four gunners were lost. 29 crew members, six gunners and two passengers were picked up by HMS Campanula (K 18) (LtCdr B.A. Rogers, RD, RNR) and HMS Mignonette (K 38) (Lt H.H. Brown, RNR) and landed at Liverpool.

 
On boardWe have details of 20 people who were on board


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