William Eustis
American Steam merchant
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| Name | William Eustis | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant (Liberty) | ||
| Tonnage | 7,196 tons | ||
| Completed | 1943 - Todd-Houston Shipbuilding Corp, Houston TX | ||
| Owner | United Fruit SS Co, New York | ||
| Homeport | Houston | ||
| Date of attack | 17 Mar 1943 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-435 (Siegfried Strelow) | ||
| Position | 50° 10'N, 35° 02'W - Grid BD 1379 | ||
| Complement | 72 (0 dead and 72 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | HX-229 | ||
| Route | Cienfuegos, Cuba - New York (8 Mar) - Liverpool | ||
| Cargo | 7000 tons of sugar and 600 tons of food, including milk, eggs and dried fruit | ||
| History | Completed in January 1943 | ||
| Notes on event | At 01.22 hours on 17 March 1943 the William Eustis (Master Cecil Desmond) in station #22 of convoy HX-229 was hit on the starboard side by one of two FAT torpedoes from U-435, the other missed by 200 feet. The torpedo struck in the #2 hold, blew of the hatch covers of #2 and #3 holds, flooded the hold and a split became visible on the starboard side 20 feet from the hold to the bridge. The eight officers, 34 crewmen and 30 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship after 30 minutes in one lifeboat and four rafts because heavy weather had damaged four of the boats and another was damaged by the explosion. The survivors were picked up after four hours by HMS Volunteer (D 71) (LtCdr G.J. Luther, RN), which scuttled the wreck by gunfire and depth charges and landed the men at Liverpool on 22 March. | ||
| On board | We have details of 68 people who were on board. | ||
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