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SHIPS HIT USA 80 *

12)FLORA MC DONALD U-126

Flora Mc Donald being towed by Dutch tug Zwarte Zee. Photo. https://dorindabalchindotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/imperial-war-museum-collections-object-205133324.jpg?w=604&h=404

 

Built 1943

Tonnage 7,177 / 10,000 tons

Cargo: 6,270 tons of cocoa, mahogany and rubber

Route: Marshall Liberia - Freetown

Sunk  30 MAY 43 by U-126 in position 07º 15"N 13º 20"W 

7 Dead

63 Survivors

At 21.57 hours on 30 May 1943, the Flora MacDonald (Master Ernest Wright Jones), escorted by the British armed trawler HMS Fandango (T 107), was hit by one torpedo from U-126. The torpedo struck on the port side in the engine room, killing the third assistant engineer and a fireman. The explosion opened a large hole that immediately flooded the engine room, stopped the engines and caused the ship to settle by the stern.

A fire started in the #3 hold and flames, shooting 40 feet in the air, quickly trapped some of the men in their quarters. The surviving crewmembers of the eight officers, 36 men, 24 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and nine 20mm guns) and two passengers abandoned ship in six lifeboats and two rafts. Five of these men suffered severe burns. The fire raged out of control and spread to the #2 and #4 holds and the entire midships house.

The armed trawler picked up the survivors and decided to head to Freetown, so the badly burned men could be treated. Three of them died on board and the other two died in the hospital in Freetown from their burns. 20 men were hospitalized.

At 14.30 hours the next day, the British tug HMS Zwarte Zee (W 163), escorted by the British sloop HMS Milford (L 51) and the British corvettes HMS Woodruff (K 53) and HMS Tamarisk (K 216), took the still burning vessel in tow for Freetown at 5.5 knots. At 18.00 hours on 1 June, they beached the ship in Freetown Harbor where the cargo of rubber was salvaged. The Liberty ship burned for 16 days and was later declared a total loss.

By Flora MacDonald (American Steam merchant) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net

 

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