Tasmania
British Motor merchant
Photo courtesy of Danish Maritime Museum, Elsinore
| Name | Tasmania | ||
| Type: | Motor merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 6,405 tons | ||
| Completed | 1935 - Nakskov Skibsværft A/S, Nakskov | ||
| Owner | T. & J. Brocklebank Ltd, Liverpool | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 31 Oct 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-103 (Gustav-Adolf Janssen) | ||
| Position | 36.06N, 16.59W - Grid CF 9856 | ||
| Complement | 46 (2 dead and 44 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | SL-125 | ||
| Route | Calcutta - Freetown (16 Oct) - Glasgow | ||
| Cargo | 8500 tons of foodstuffs, tea, jute, 2000 tons of pig iron and 400 tons of ore | ||
| History | Completed in October 1935 as Danish Tasmania for A/S D/S Orient, Copenhagen. 1940 taken over by Britain and transferred to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). | ||
| Notes on loss | At 21.53 hours on 30 Oct, 1942, U-659 (Stock) fired a spread of two torpedoes at a ship in convoy SL-125 north of Madeira and observed one hit and the sinking of the vessel after 3 minutes. However, the Tasmania (Master Hans Christian Roder) continued and was sunk by two torpedoes from U-103 fired at 00.12 hours on 31 October. One crew member and one gunner were lost. The master, 35 crew members, seven gunners and one passenger (DBS) were rescued: 24 survivors were picked up by the British steam merchant Baron Elgin and landed at Madeira; 20 survivors were picked up by the Alaska, which was later torpedoed by U-510 (Neitzel) on 31 October but reached Lisbon safely on 11 November. | ||
| Crewlists | We have listing of 3 people who were on this vessel | ||
Attack entries for Tasmania
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Loss type | Tons | Nat. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Oct 1942 | U-659 | Kptlt. Hans Stock | Damaged | 6,405 | |
| 31 Oct 1942 | U-103 | Oblt. Gustav-Adolf Janssen | Sunk | 6,405 | |
Locations of attacks on Tasmania.
ship sunk.
ship damaged.
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