HMS Astronomer
| Name | HMS Astronomer | ||
| Type: | Boom defence vessel | ||
| Tonnage | 8.401 tons | ||
| Completed | 1917 - D. & W. Henderson & Co Ltd, Glasgow | ||
| Owner | The Admiralty | ||
| Homeport | Liverpool | ||
| Date of attack | 1 Jun, 1940 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-58 (Herbert Kuppisch) | ||
| Position | 58.01N, 02.12W - Grid AN 1829 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 105 (4 dead and 101 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Rosyth - Scapa Flow | ||
| Cargo | 3000 tons of naval stores | ||
| History | In August 1939 the steam merchant Astronomer of T. & J. Harrison, Liverpool, was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and converted to a boom defence vessel. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 23.48 hours on 1 Jun, 1940, the HMS Astronomer (Master John James Egerton) was torpedoed by U-58 30 miles southeast of Wick. The vessel foundered the next day in position 58°02N/02°07´30W. Four crew members were lost. The master, 51 crew members, one gunner and 48 naval officers and ratings were picked up by the British armed trawlers HMS Stoke City (FY 232) (LtCdr N.C.H. Scallan) and HMS Leicester City (FY 223) (Lt A.R. Cornish) and landed at Rosyth. | ||
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