General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
City of Pretoria
Posted by:
Eric Stone
()
Date: August 26, 2012 03:49PM
All,
While reviewing U-172's attacks, the City of Pretoria on March 4th, 1943 kind of jumped out at me.
She was carrying explosives and per the the KTB passage posted by KPP 8 years ago:
"06h59 triple shot tube I,III,IV: 3 G7e, depths 4m, vg=16, l left bow 104, dispersion 130m, E=1000m
1rst hit after 1 min 40 sec=1550m under the stern, short explosion light, then 2nd hit after 1 min 50 sec = 1700m, probably front side of the bridge. Steamer explodes at the same moment. During minutes white thin flame 500m high, enourmous blast wave which can be felt at this distance even in the bowrooms. Small and smallest fragments are flying for several thousand meters. Steamer has disappeared, no survivors. I am waiting for sunrise in order to find out the name.
08h00 CD3239 Amoung wrackage debris name of the shipowner: "Ellerman Ltd." Probably it was "City of Manchestyer" 8900 Brt."
What puzzles me is the size of her crew: 145. Even subtracting the 24 DEMS gunners, 7 passengers (DBS) and 5 apprentices, 108 plus the Master still seems abnormally high for a vessel this size (8,049 tons). The crew should have been in the 40-50 range, less than half. Looking at the casualty list it appears a large percentage of the crew were Muslims from various places.
For a vessel with such a dangerous cargo, running unescorted, any ideas why so many lives were put at risk? Was the crew unskilled and they simply threw extra bodies at it? Thoughts?
Eric Stone
www.ssarkansan.com
While reviewing U-172's attacks, the City of Pretoria on March 4th, 1943 kind of jumped out at me.
She was carrying explosives and per the the KTB passage posted by KPP 8 years ago:
"06h59 triple shot tube I,III,IV: 3 G7e, depths 4m, vg=16, l left bow 104, dispersion 130m, E=1000m
1rst hit after 1 min 40 sec=1550m under the stern, short explosion light, then 2nd hit after 1 min 50 sec = 1700m, probably front side of the bridge. Steamer explodes at the same moment. During minutes white thin flame 500m high, enourmous blast wave which can be felt at this distance even in the bowrooms. Small and smallest fragments are flying for several thousand meters. Steamer has disappeared, no survivors. I am waiting for sunrise in order to find out the name.
08h00 CD3239 Amoung wrackage debris name of the shipowner: "Ellerman Ltd." Probably it was "City of Manchestyer" 8900 Brt."
What puzzles me is the size of her crew: 145. Even subtracting the 24 DEMS gunners, 7 passengers (DBS) and 5 apprentices, 108 plus the Master still seems abnormally high for a vessel this size (8,049 tons). The crew should have been in the 40-50 range, less than half. Looking at the casualty list it appears a large percentage of the crew were Muslims from various places.
For a vessel with such a dangerous cargo, running unescorted, any ideas why so many lives were put at risk? Was the crew unskilled and they simply threw extra bodies at it? Thoughts?
Eric Stone
www.ssarkansan.com
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
City of Pretoria
|
Eric Stone | 08/26/2012 03:49PM |
|
Re: City of Pretoria
|
vito | 08/27/2012 09:22AM |
|
Re: City of Pretoria
|
Mark McShane | 08/27/2012 03:59PM |
|
Re: City of Pretoria
|
Eric Stone | 08/27/2012 06:07PM |