Ships hit by U-boats


Allende

British Steam merchant



Photo courtesy of State Library of New South Wales

NameAllende
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage5,081 tons
Completed1928 - Northumberland Shipbuilding Co (1927) Ltd, Howden-on-Tyne 
OwnerR.E. Morel & Co Ltd, Cardiff 
HomeportCardiff 
Date of attack17 Mar 1942Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-68 (Karl-Friedrich Merten)
Position4° 00'N, 7° 44'W - Grid EU 8523
Complement43 (5 dead and 38 survivors).
Convoy
RouteCalcutta - Sandheads - Capetown (3 Mar) - Freetown - UK 
Cargo7700 tons of general cargo 
History Completed in November 1928 
Notes on event

At 21.03 hours on 17 March 1942 the unescorted Allende (Master Thomas James Williamson) was hit on the starboard side amidships by one torpedo from U-68 about 18 miles south of Cape Palmas, Liberia. Five crew members on watch below were lost. The master, 30 crew members and seven gunners abandoned ship in two lifeboats and were questioned by the Germans before the U-boat fired a coup de grĂ¢ce at 22.28 hours. The G7a torpedo hit aft and caused her to sink by the stern within five minutes. The survivors made landfall at Tabou, French Ivory Coast and were interned for four months by the Vichy French authorities at Bobo Dioulasso and Bamako. Two crew members died of illness during the internment and another shortly after being released.

 
On boardWe have details of 43 people who were on board


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