Ships hit by U-boats


Rym

Norwegian Steam merchant



Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart

NameRym
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage1,369 tons
Completed1919 - NV Scheepsbouwwerf ´De Noord´, Alblasserdam 
OwnerJohannes Larsen, Bergen 
HomeportBergen 
Date of attack17 Oct 1941Nationality:      Norwegian
 
FateSunk by U-558 (Günther Krech)
Position57° 01'N, 24° 20'W - Grid AL 1966
Complement21 (0 dead and 21 survivors).
ConvoySC-48
RouteRimouski – Sydney, CB (5 Oct) - Londonderry 
Cargo570 standards of timber 
History Completed in July 1919 as Dutch Mont Rose for Van der Eb & Dresselhuys Scheepvaart Mij, Rotterdam. 1922 sold to Germany and renamed Mosel for Rochling Menzell, Hamburg. 1925 sold to Norway and renamed Rym for Johannes Larsen, Bergen. 
Notes on event

At 01.31 hours on 17 Oct 1941, U-558 fired one torpedo at W.C. Teagle in station #103 of convoy SC-48 and sank her about 600 miles west of Rockall. Erviken in station #104 and Rym in station #85 both slowed down to pick up survivors, the latter actually had to alter course to avoid a collision. At 01.49 hours, the U-boat sank the stopped Erviken with a stern torpedo. Seeing this the Rym immediately tried to reach convoy again at full speed but was chased not only by U-558 but also by U-432 (Schultze), which observed how Krech torpedoed and sank her at 02.14 hours.

The Rym (Master Conrad Rustad), armed with five machine guns, was hit by a torpedo on the starboard side between #1 and #2 hatches and broke in two. The forward part was torn away to port and the ship only kept together by the deck cargo of timber with a heavy list to starboard. The bridge and the starboard lifeboat had been destroyed, so 16 survivors abandoned ship in the port boat. The master, the first engineer and three crewmen remained aboard and tried to save the ship. HMS Veronica (K 37) (LtCdr D.F. White, RNR (rtd)) arrived about three hours after the ship was torpedoed, picked up the men in the boat and stayed in the area until dawn. At daylight it became clear that the vessel could not be saved so the five men went aboard the corvette, which rejoined convoy after scuttling the wreck by gunfire. The survivors were landed at Londonderry on 19 October.

 
More infoMore on this vessel 
On boardWe have details of 21 people who were on board


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