HNoMS Bath (I 17)
HNoMS Bath (I 17) under her former name USS Hopewell (DD 181)
| Name | HNoMS Bath (I 17) | ||
| Type: | Destroyer (Town) | ||
| Tonnage | 1.060 tons | ||
| Completed | 1918 - Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co, Newport News VA | ||
| Owner | Norwegian Navy | ||
| Homeport | |||
| Date of attack | 19 Aug, 1941 | Nationality:  Norwegian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-204 (Walter Kell) | ||
| Position | 49N, 17W - Grid BE 2647 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 124 officers and men (83 dead and 41 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | OG-71 (straggler) | ||
| Route | Liverpool (13 Aug) - Gibraltar | ||
| Cargo | |||
| History | Built as USS Hopewell (DD 181) of the Wickes-class and 1922 decommissioned. 1940 recommissioned and operated with the Neutrality Patrol off New England. On 23 Sep, 1940 handed over to Royal Navy as HMS Bath (I 17) and in January 1941 loaned to the Norwegian Navy as HNoMS Bath (I 17). | ||
| Notes on loss | On 18 Aug, 1941, HNoMS Bath (I 17) (LtCdr C.F.T. Melsom, RNoN) of the 5th Escort Group was detached from convoy OG-71 and was proceeding behind the convoy about 400 miles southwest of Ireland, when hit amidships by one G7e torpedo from U-204 at 02.05 hours on 19 August. The U-boat then fired a coup de grâce from the stern torpedo tube, but it passed underneath the vessel, which shortly thereafter capsized to port and sank within 6 minutes. As the vessel sank, her depth charges exploded and killed the commander and many other survivors swimming in the water. 39 survivors were picked up by HMS Hydrangea (K 39) (Lt J.E. Woolfendon, RNR) and all but nine transferred to HMS Wanderer (D 74) (Cdr A.F.St.G. Orpen, RN), which picked up four survivors herself. The survivors were taken to Gibraltar, but two of them died of wounds en route. The commander, two Norwegian officers, 68 Norwegian ratings, two British officers and ten British ratings were lost. | ||
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