| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Armed Merchant Cruiser |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | |
| Built by | Hawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn-on-Tyne, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 1 Nov 1921 |
| Commissioned | 9 Nov 1939 |
| Lost | 16 Jun 1940 |
| Loss position | 62° 36'N, 15° 09'W |
| History | In September 1939 the passenger ship Andania of the Cunard White Star Ltd, Liverpool was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to an armed merchant cruiser. Displacement: 13950 BRT At 0027A on 16 June 1940, HMS Andania (Capt. Donald Keppel Bain, RN) was hit by one torpedo from the German submarine U-A about 230 nautical miles west-northwest of the Faroer Islands in position 62°36'N, 15°09'W. The ship sank slowly and the entire crew was taken off by the Icelandic trawler Skallagrímur, so only two men were injured. The trawler continued its course to Hull, but HMS Forester (H 74) took the men off the trawler 36 hours after the rescue. Hit by U-boat |
| U-boat Attack | See our U-boat attack entry for the HMS Andania |
Commands listed for HMS Andania
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Capt. Donald Keppel Bain, RN | 18 Sep 1939 | 16 Jun 1940 |
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Notable events involving Andania include:
This page, displaying the wartime history of HMS Andania, was created in May 2024.
9 Nov 1939
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) is commissioned at Birkenhead. (1)
17 Nov 1939
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) conducted gun, paravane and compass adjustment trials in Liverpool Bay. (1)
25 Nov 1939
Around 1715Z/25, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Birkenhead for Greenock. (1)
26 Nov 1939
Around 1030Z/26, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) arrived at Greenock from Birkenhead. (1)
30 Nov 1939
Around 1300Z/30, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the south of Iceland. (1)
11 Dec 1939
Around 0930Z/11, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (2)
16 Dec 1939
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) conducted gunnery exercises in the Clyde area. (2)
19 Dec 1939
Around 1945Z/19, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Iceland - Faeroer gap. (2)
1 Jan 1940
Around 1630Z/1, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (3)
4 Jan 1940
Around 1200Z/4, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the south of Iceland. (3)
17 Jan 1940
Around 1430Z/17, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (3)
20 Jan 1940
Around 1400Z/20, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the south of Iceland. (3)
2 Feb 1940
Around 1215Z/2, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (4)
5 Feb 1940
Around 1215Z/5, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Denmark Strait. (4)
19 Feb 1940
Around 1645Z/19, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (4)
21 Feb 1940
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) is towed up river to the King George V Dock. On the 23rd she is taken in hand for repairs and alterations by the Stephens shipyard. (4)
18 Mar 1940
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) is towed down river and anchored off Greenock. (5)
20 Mar 1940
Around 1615A/20, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the south of Iceland. (5)
3 Apr 1940
Around 1200A/3, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (6)
6 Apr 1940
Around 1130A/6, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the north-west of the Hebrides. (6)
9 Apr 1940
Around 0530A/9, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (6)
11 Apr 1940
Around 1200A/11, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the west of the Hebrides. (6)
16 Apr 1940
Around 0430A/16, HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol.
Around 1740A/16, she departed Greenock to again proceed on patrol. She was now ordered to patrol in the Denmark Strait / west of Iceland. (6)
2 May 1940
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol.
On 8 May 1940 she is taken in hand for repairs by the John Brown, Clydebank and Barclay Curle, Govan shipyards. (7)
19 May 1940
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. (7)
4 Jun 1940
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (7)
7 Jun 1940
HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She is ordered to patrol to the south of Iceland. (7)
14 Jun 1940
At 1217B/14 (1117A/14), to the south of Iceland, the German submarine U-A, fired a spread of three torpedoes at HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) but no hits were obtained. It is thought the attack was not observed on board the target. (8)
15 Jun 1940
Sinking of the armed merchant cruiser HMS Andania.
At 2330A/15 (0030B/16 = German time), the armed merchant cruiser HMS Andania (Capt. D.K. Bain, RN) was torpedoed and heavily damaged by the German submarine U-A south-west of Iceland in position 62°36'N, 15°09'W. The ship sank slowly by the stern and the entire crew was taken off by the Icelandic trawler Skallagrímur. There were no casualties.
In response the destroyer HMS Forester (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Tancock, RN) was sent from the Faroes. HMS Amazon (Lt.Cdr. N.E.G. Roper, RN), which was part of the escort of a transport ship from Scapa Flow to the Faroes was also ordered to leave this transport ship and proceed to the attack position. HMS Amazon however had to return to Scapa Flow with defects and arrived there around 1115A/17.
At 0200A/16, the destroyer HMS Kelvin (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Machin, RN) departed Scapa Flow to assist. She was later ordered to proceed to the Faroes.
At 0240A/16, the destroyers HMS Ashanti (Cdr. W.G. Davis, RN) and HMS Bedouin (Cdr. J.A. McCoy, DSO, RN) departed Scapa Flow for Reykjavik, Iceland. They were to try to find the Icelandic trawler Skallagrímur which had the survivors of the Andania on board. They could however not find the trawler in the low visibility. These two destroyers were later ordered to hunt a German submarine which was reported to be near Reykjavik.
It was HMS Forester who encountered the trawler on the 16th but the survivors could not be transferred due to the weather conditions.
On the 17th it was possible to take over the survivors and they were taken to Scapa Flow by HMS Forester. She arrived there at 2230A/17. (9)
Sources
- ADM 53/107432
- ADM 53/107433
- ADM 53/111384
- ADM 53/111385
- ADM 53/111386
- ADM 53/111387
- ADM 199/2545
- KTB (war diary) U-A, 1st war patrol from 11-05-1940 to 30-08-1940 (NARA, T 1022, roll 3464, PG 30889)
- ADM 199/376
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.