Ships hit by U-boats


HMS LST-404

British Landing ship



HMS LST-404 after being torpedoed. Photo courtesy of Robert Hurst

NameHMS LST-404
Type:Landing ship
Tonnage1,625 tons
Completed1942 - Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc, Baltimore MD 
OwnerThe Admiralty 
Homeport 
Date of attack15 Aug 1944Nationality:      British
 
FateA total loss by U-741 (Gerhard Palmgren)
Position50° 02'N, 0° 38'W - Grid BF 35
Complement? men (? dead and ? survivors).
ConvoyFTM-69
RouteSeine Bay (15 Aug) - Southend 
Cargo 
History Completed in December 1942 as USS LST-404 for the US Navy, but the same day transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS LST-404
Notes on event

At 16.35 hours on 15 August 1944, U-741 attacked convoy FTM-69 about 35 miles southeast of St. Catherine’s Point and torpedoed HMS LST-404, but was sunk after the attack by an escort vessel.

HMS LST-404 was returning from the Normandy beachhead with wounded personnel, casualties and prisoners of war. Eight crew members and several German prisoners were killed by the torpedo explosion. HMS LST-413 went alongside, took off the passengers and most of the crew and landed them at Portsmouth. The badly damaged landing ship was taken in tow by the American rescue tug USS ATR-4 to St. Helen’s Roads, Isle of Wight and then proceeded to Lee-on-Solent, arriving in the evening of 16 August. HMS LST-404 later broke in two and was declared a total loss. The wreck was broken up at Zeebrugge in June 1948.

 
On boardWe have details of 12 people who were on board


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