Ships hit by U-boats


Aegeon

Greek Steam merchant



Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart

NameAegeon
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage5,285 tons
Completed1919 - Napier & Miller Ltd, Old Kilpatrick, Glasgow 
OwnerAegeon SS Co Ltd, Piræus 
HomeportArgostoli 
Date of attack11 Apr 1941Nationality:      Greek
 
FateSunk by U-124 (Georg-Wilhelm Schulz)
Position6° 55'N, 15° 38'W - Grid ET 5635
Complement31 (4 dead and 27 survivors).
Convoy
RouteBuenos Aires - Freetown - Barry Roads 
Cargo7151 tons of wheat 
History Laid down as British War Poppy for the Shipping Controller, completed in October 1919 as Knockfierna for Limerick SS Co Ltd, Limerick. 1935 sold to Greece and renamed Aegeon
Notes on event

At 20.59 hours on 11 April 1941 the unescorted Aegeon was hit in the engine room by one torpedo from U-124 about 170 miles west-southwest of Freetown. The ship sank by the stern at 21.35 hours, shortly after the U-boat surfaced and left without questioning the survivors because the Alcinous had been sighted. The crew had managed to send a distress signal before they abandoned ship and HMS Wishart (D 67) (Cdr E.T. Cooper, RN) was redirected to their position, but the destroyer found no trace of wreckage or lifeboats during a short search of the area the next morning and had to return to Freetown as she was low on fuel. The survivors were picked up by the British motor merchant Sheaf Holme landed at Freetown on 14 April.

 


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