uboat.net

Allied Ships hit by U-boats


Athelviking


Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart

NameAthelviking
Type:Motor tanker
Tonnage8.779 tons
Completed1926 - Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Haverton Hill, Middlesbrough 
OwnerUnited Molasses Co Ltd, London 
HomeportLiverpool 
Date of attack14 Jan, 1945Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-1232 (Kurt Dobratz)
Position44.28N, 63.28W - Grid BB 7527
- See location on a map -
Complement51 (4 dead and 47 survivors).
ConvoyBX-141 
RoutePort Everglades, Florida - Boston - UK 
Cargo11.630 tons of molasses and 14 landing craft on deck 
History Built as Java, 1933 renamed Athelviking
On 13 Mar, 1940, the British steam merchant Rossington Court (6922 tons) collided with the Athelviking and sank about 600 miles east of Halifax. 
Notes on loss At 10.35 hours on 14 Jan, 1945, U-1232 attacked the convoy BX-141 east of Halifax, sank the British Freedom and badly damaged the Martin Van Buren six minutes later. The U-boat then sank the Athelviking and missed the HMCS Ettrick (K 254). Dobratz reported sinking four ships totalling 30.400 tons.

The master and three crew members from the Athelviking (Master Egerton Gabriel B. Martin OBE) were lost. 39 crew members and eight gunners were picked up by the Canadian motor launch HMCS ML-102 (Lt J.K. Macdonald) and landed at Halifax. 


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