Ships hit by U-boats


Norvana

American Steam merchant



Norvana under her former name York

NameNorvana
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage2,677 tons
Completed1920 - Saginaw Shipbuilding Co, Saginaw MI 
OwnerNorth Atlantic & Gulf SS Co, New York 
HomeportNew York 
Date of attack19 Jan 1942Nationality:      American
 
FateSunk by U-123 (Reinhard Hardegen)
Position36° 07'N, 75° 23'W - Grid CA 7668
Complement29 (29 dead - no survivors)
Convoy
RouteNuevitas, Cuba (14 Jan) - Philadelphia 
Cargo3980 tons of ore 
History Laid down as Lake Eaglerock, completed in November 1920 as Lake Gatun for US Shipping Board (USSB). 1926 sold to Stanley Hillier Inc and apparently sold for scrapping to Ford Motor Co, River Rouge MI in 1927, but withdrawn by US Shipping Board. 1929 transferred to Merchants & Miners Transportation Co, Baltimore MD and renamed York. 1941 sold to North Atlantic & Gulf Steamship Co, New York and renamed Norvana
Notes on event

At 05.16 hours on 19 January 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Norvana (Master Ernest Jefferson Thompson) was hit just aft of the stack by one torpedo from U-123 about 50 miles north of Cape Hatteras after a first torpedo fired at 04.41 hours had missed. The explosion caused the ship to sink by the stern within one minute, leaving no survivors among the eight officers and 21 crewmen on board. The US Navy later found an empty lifeboat from the Norvana off Wimble Shoals.

 
On boardWe have details of 29 people who were on board


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