Ships hit by U-boats


Corbis

British Motor tanker



Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart

NameCorbis
Type:Motor tanker
Tonnage8,132 tons
Completed1931 - Workman, Clark & Co Ltd, Belfast 
OwnerAnglo-Saxon Petroleum Co Ltd, London 
HomeportLondon 
Date of attack18 Apr 1943Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-180 (Werner Musenberg)
Position34° 56'S, 34° 03'E - Grid KZ 6568
Complement60 (50 dead and 10 survivors).
Convoy
RouteAbadan (21 Mar) - Bandar Abbas (25 Mar) - Capetown 
Cargo13.100 tons of diesel oil and 50 tons of aviation spirit 
History Completed in December 1931 
Notes on event

At 03.56 hours on 18 April 1943 the unescorted Corbis (Master Stanley Wilfred Appleton) was hit by two torpedoes from U-180 about 500 miles east-southeast of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. At 04.10 hours, the U-boat fired a coup de grâce at the stopped tanker, which evaded by reversing. A second coup de grâce fired six minutes later hit the foreship, set the ship on fire and caused her to sink in a short time. The Germans observed four lifeboats at the sinking position, but three of them were swamped. The master, 47 crew members and two gunners were lost. Four crew members and six gunners were rescued after drifting 13 days in an open boat by a SAAF crash launch and landed at East London.

 
On boardWe have details of 53 people who were on board


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