Maroussio Logothetis
Greek Steam merchant
Maroussio Logothetis under her former name Queensland Transport. Photo courtesy of Dr Paul Bois collection
| Name | Maroussio Logothetis | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 4,669 tons | ||
| Completed | 1913 - Irvine´s Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co Ltd, Harbour Dock, West Hartlepool | ||
| Owner | Goulandris Bros, Piræus | ||
| Homeport | Andros | ||
| Date of attack | 15 May 1943 | Nationality:  Greek | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-105 (Jürgen Nissen) | ||
| Position | 5° 28'N, 14° 28'W - Grid ET 5997 | ||
| Complement | 39 (27 dead and 12 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Rio de Janeiro (1 May) - Freetown - UK | ||
| Cargo | 7024 tons of iron ore | ||
| History | Completed in April 1913 as British Queensland Transport for Empire Transport Co Ltd (Houlder Bros & Co), Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 1934 sold to Greece and renamed Maroussio Logothetis for Goulandris Bros, Piræus. On 9 Jul 1940, seized at Diego Suarez by Vichy French government and renamed General Duchesne. In April 1942 bought by Cie des Messageries Maritimes, Marseilles. On 2 May 1942, the ship left Tamatave with supplies for Djibouti and to load cattle there, under escort by Le Héros. On 5 May, the submarine left to operate against the Allied landings on Madagascar, while the ship was diverted to Mayotte, Comoros Islands, where she was seized by Britain on 22 Jun 1942. Returned by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) to the Greek owner under her original name. | ||
| Notes on event | At 20.43 hours on 15 May 1943 the unescorted Maroussio Logothetis was hit on port side amidships by two torpedoes from U-105, broke up and sank within two minutes about 250 miles southwest of Freetown. The ship had been missed by a first torpedo, which detonated prematurely. The 36 crew members and three gunners (the ship was armed with one 12pdr, two 20mm and two machine guns) had no time to launch the lifeboats and the survivors rescued themselves on two rafts that floated free. The master, 25 crew members and one gunner were lost. The second officer was taken prisoner by the U-boat, transferred four days later to U-460 (Schnoor) and landed at Bordeaux on 25 June. At 16.00 hours on 18 May, nine crew members and two gunners were rescued by a British Catalina flying boat (270 Sqn RAF/A) and taken to her base in Jui, Sierra Leone. | ||
| On board | We have details of 3 people who were on board. | ||
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