Sandsend
British Steam merchant
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Sandsend | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 3,612 tons | ||
| Completed | 1925 - William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd, Sunderland | ||
| Owner | Headlam & Sons, Whitby | ||
| Homeport | Whitby | ||
| Date of attack | 18 Oct 1940 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-48 (Heinrich Bleichrodt) | ||
| Position | 58° 12'N, 21° 29'W - Grid AL 2593 | ||
| Complement | 39 (5 dead and 34 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | OB-228 (straggler) | ||
| Route | Port Talbot - Quebec | ||
| Cargo | 4350 tons of anthracite | ||
| History | | ||
| Notes on event | At 10.25 hours on 18 Oct 1940 the Sandsend (Master William Armstrong), a straggler from convoy OB-228, was hit by one torpedo from U-48 and sank by the bow after the crew had abandoned ship in three lifeboats 254 miles west-northwest of Rockall. The U-boat had spotted a group of three stragglers and attacked the one in the middle, but missed with the first two torpedoes at 08.08 and 08.09 hours before hitting the same target with the third torpedo. The contact to the other two ships was then lost in the mist. Five crew members were lost. The master and 33 crew members were picked up by HMS Hibiscus (K 24) (LtCdr R. Phillips) and landed at Methil. | ||
| On board | We have details of 7 people who were on board. | ||
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