Sergej Kirov
Soviet Steam merchant
Sergej Kirov under her former name Hebburn. Photo courtesy of Allan C. Green Collection
| Name | Sergej Kirov | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 4,146 tons | ||
| Completed | 1925 - Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Co Ltd, Blyth | ||
| Owner | Dalnevostochnoe Gosudarstvennoe Morskoe Parokhodstvo (DGMP), Vladivostok | ||
| Homeport | Vladivostok | ||
| Date of attack | 1 Oct 1943 | Nationality:  Soviet | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-703 (Joachim Brünner) | ||
| Position | 75° 48'N, 83° 52'E - Grid AS 2426 | ||
| Complement | 54 (1 dead and 53 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | VA-18 | ||
| Route | USA - Northern Sea Route - Laptev Sea (1 Oct) - Enisej River | ||
| Cargo | Machinery equipment for Norilsk plant | ||
| History | Completed in March 1925 as Australian Hebburn for Huddart Parker Ltd, Melbourne. 1931 sold to Soviet Union and renamed Sergej Kirov. | ||
| Notes on event | At 13.10 and 13.14 hours on 1 Oct 1943, U-703 fired two spreads of two torpedoes at convoy VA-18 12 miles southeast of Izvestij Island and claimed one ship sunk and another damaged. In fact, the Sergej Kirov (Master A.I. Litvinenko) was hit on the port side at #3 hold by one torpedo and the Soviet steam merchant Mossovet (2981 grt) was missed. The crew abandoned ship when the #2 and #3 holds, the bunker, fire and engine room were flooded and was rescued by the Soviet minesweeper T-909 (No 63). At 13.41 hours, the ship broke between the bridge and the second mast and sank. | ||
| On board | We have details of 1 people who were on board. | ||
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