Ships hit by U-boats


Penang

Finnish Sailing ship



Photo Courtesy of Jukka Mikkola (kolumbus.fi/jamikko)

NamePenang
Type:Sailing ship
Tonnage2,019 tons
Completed1905 - Rickmers Reismühlen Rhederi & Schiffsbau AG, Bremerhaven 
OwnerGustaf Erikson, Mariehamn 
HomeportMariehamn 
Date of attack8 Dec 1940Nationality:      Finnish
 
FateSunk by U-140 (Hans-Peter Hinsch)
Position55° 25'N, 10° 15'W - Grid AM 5511
Complement18 (18 dead - no survivors)
Convoy
RoutePort Victoria, South Australia (27 Jun) - Stenhouse Bay (2 Jul) - Queenstown, Ireland 
Cargo3250 tons of grain 
History Built as German three-masted steel barque Albert Rickmers for Rickmers Reismühlen Rhederi & Schiffsbau AG, Bremerhaven. 1910 sold to Reederei F. Laeisz, Hamburg, renamed Penang and used in the South American nitrate trade. 1920 sold to Finland, bought by John Nurminen, Raumo. In October 1923 sold to Gustaf Erikson, Mariehamn and used in the Australian wheat trade. 
Notes on event

At 12.26 hours on 8 Dec 1940, U-140 fired one torpedo at a sailing ship reported as the Finnish Lawhill and observed how the ship capsized after the hit and sank after 30 minutes northwest of Tory Island. However, the ship was in fact the Penang (Master Karl Viktor Karlsson), which was reported missing en route to Queenstown, Ireland.

 
On boardWe have details of 18 people who were on board


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