Mohamed Ali El-Kebir
| Name | Mohamed Ali El-Kebir | ||
| Type: | Troop transport | ||
| Tonnage | 7.527 tons | ||
| Completed | 1922 - Scottīs Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Greenock | ||
| Owner | British India Steam Navigation Co Ltd, London | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 7 Aug, 1940 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-38 (Heinrich Liebe) | ||
| Position | 55.22N, 13.18W - Grid AM 4525 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 862 (96 dead and 766 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Avonmouth (5 Aug) - Gibraltar | ||
| Cargo | 697 troops including naval personnel, government stores and mail | ||
| History | Built as steam passenger ship Teno, 1935 renamed Egyptian Mohamed Ali El-Kebir for Pharaonic Mail Line SAE, Alexandria. In March 1940, the ship was requisitioned by the Admiralty as military store ship and later used as troop transport. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 21.40 hours on 7 Aug, 1940, the Mohamed Ali El-Kebir (Master John Pratt Thomson, died) was hit in the starboard quarter by one of two stern torpedoes fired by U-38 about 230 miles west of Bloody Foreland, while steaming on a zigzag course at 15 knots under escort by HMS Griffin (H 31) (LtCdr J.L. Barber). The ship settled by the stern and sank by the stern at 23.40 hours, just before the destroyer was able to go alongside. The destroyer first attacked the U-boat and chased it away and then began picking up the survivors from 11 lifeboats and over 20 rafts and set out two whale boats. The destroyer constantly dropped depth charges to scare away the U-boat and searched the area until the next morning when no more survivors were found and then left for Greenock, arriving on 9 August. The master, nine crew members, four naval personnel and 82 troops were lost, 33 bodies were washed up two weeks later on the shore of Donegal. 154 crew members, one gunner, 549 troops and 62 naval personnel were rescued by the destroyer, among them 62 wounded men. The 697 troops on board were from following units: | ||
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