Ships hit by U-boats


Montana

Panamanian Steam merchant



Montana under her former name Paula. Photo courtesy of Danish Maritime Museum, Elsinore

NameMontana
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage1,549 tons
Completed1934 - Helsingørs Jernskibs-og Maskinbyggeri A/S, Elsinore 
OwnerUS Maritime Commission, Washington DC 
HomeportPanama 
Date of attack11 Sep 1941Nationality:      Panamanian
 
FateSunk by U-105 (Georg Schewe)
Position63° 40'N, 35° 50'W - Grid AD 7195
Complement26 (26 dead - no survivors)
Convoy
RouteWilmington, NC (29 Aug) - Reykjavik, Iceland 
Cargo1,500,000 feet of lumber 
History Completed in August 1934 as Danish Paula for A/S D/S Vesterhavet (J. Lauritzen), Esbjerg. In April 1940 laid up in New York. On 2 Aug 1941, seized by the US Maritime Commission, renamed Montana and registered in Panama. 
Notes on event

At 16.50 hours on 11 September 1941 the unescorted and neutral Montana (Master Martin Arnold Marinus Knudsen) was hit on port side by one of four G7e torpedoes fired by U-105 in very bad visibility about 330 miles northeast of Cape Farewell. The torpedo struck just ahead of the bridge and caused the ship to sink slowly by the bow with a heavy list to port. The survivors were observed to abandon ship in two lifeboats by an Allied aircraft, but they were never found.

 
On boardWe have details of 24 people who were on board


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