Nils Gorthon
Swedish Steam merchant
Name | Nils Gorthon | ||
Type: | Steam merchant | ||
Tonnage | 1,787 tons | ||
Completed | 1921 - Howaldtswerke AG, Kiel | ||
Owner | Joh. Gorthon, Helsingborg | ||
Homeport | Helsingborg | ||
Date of attack | 13 Aug 1940 | Nationality: Swedish | |
Fate | Sunk by U-60 (Adalbert Schnee) | ||
Position | 55° 45'N, 7° 05'W - Grid AM 5373 | ||
Complement | 21 (5 dead and 16 survivors). | ||
Convoy | HX-62 (straggler) | ||
Route | St. John’s, Newfoundland - Sydney, CB - Ridham Dock | ||
Cargo | 743 fathoms of pulp wood | ||
History | Completed in October 1921 as German Hertha for C. Wohlenberg, Hamburg. 1924 renamed Eifel for Übersee Reederei AG, Geestemünde. 1926 sold to Sweden and renamed Nils Gorthon for Rederi-A/B Gylfe (Joh. Gorthon), Helsingborg. | ||
Notes on event | At 21.47 hours on 13 Aug 1940 the unescorted and unarmed Nils Gorthon (Master E. Kastman), a straggler from convoy HX-62 due to fog, was hit aft by one G7e torpedo from U-60 and sank within two minutes 25 miles north-northeast of Malin Head. Four crew members were lost. The survivors had no time to launch the lifeboats and abandoned ship on two rafts, which lost contact to each other in the morning of 15 August. Later that day, the eight men on one raft were picked up by the Icelandic trawler Helgafell and landed at Reykjavik on 19 August. The master and eight men on the other raft were picked up by HMS St. Kenan (FY 264) (T/Lt H.J. Beverley, RNR), escorting convoy OA-198, after their flares were sighted at 01.15 hours on 16 August. The armed trawler searched briefly for the other raft before rejoining convoy and later landed the survivors in Glasgow, where the chief officer died of wounds in a hospital. | ||
On board | We have details of 10 people who were on board. |
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