Ringhorn
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| Name | Ringhorn | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 1.298 tons | ||
| Completed | 1919 - Huiskens & van Dijk, Dordrecht | ||
| Owner | Albert Schjelderup, Bergen | ||
| Homeport | Bergen | ||
| Date of attack | 4 Feb, 1941 | Nationality:  Norwegian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-52 (Otto Salman) | ||
| Position | 55.46N, 22.36W - Grid AL 5132 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 19 (14 dead and 5 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | OB-280 (straggler) | ||
| Route | Gourock (30 Jan) - St.John, New Brunswick | ||
| Cargo | 1300 tons of coal | ||
| History | In November 1939, the Ringhorn rescued 54 survivors from the Danish motor merchant Canada (11108 tons), which had struck a mine on 3 November from a minefield laid in October by German destroyers and sank east of Holmpton, Spurn Head. At 08.27 hours on 28 Nov, 1940, the Ringhorn, dispersed from convoy OB-248 in 17°W, was missed by a torpedo from U-95 (Schreiber) in 55°29N/18°01W (grid AL 6282) and tried to escape at full speed while sending a distress signal after which the HMS Wanderer (D 74) was detached from another convoy but did not find her. She was missed again by a torpedo at 09.33 hours, but the U-boat surfaced at 10.25 hours and attacked with the deck gun. After two hits in the funnel and near the bridge the crew abandoned ship. U-95 had soon to break off the shelling due to the rough seas and missed at 11.12 hours with a third torpedo that was a tube runner. Believing the ship will sink the Germans left the area but the crew reboarded the vessel that was only damaged at the superstructure and arrived at Belfast Lough on 1 December. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 08.38 hours on 4 Feb, 1941, the Ringhorn (Master Trygve Terkelsen), straggling from convoy OB-280 due to bad weather since 2 February, was hit by one torpedo from U-52. The torpedo struck in the starboard bow, causing a list to port and destroying the starboard lifeboat. The port boat with 10-12 men reached the water, but turned over when the ship capsized and was hit by the funnel. Four of the men managed to reach a raft in the heavy seas but were not able to help the others that cried for about one hour before they drowned or died of exhaustion in the cold water. 13 Norwegians and one British were lost, including all officers. The survivors later spotted another man sitting on the capsized boat and unsuccessfully tried to reach him. After six hours, the five survivors were found by HMS Harvester (H 19), which already had 121 survivors from the HMS Crispin on board that had been sunk the day before by U-107 (Hessler). So the destroyer ordered HMS Camellia (K 31) to pick up the survivors from Ringhorn. The three Norwegian, a Hungarian and a Estonian crewmen were landed in Greenock on 9 February. | ||
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