SS Fairport (1941)
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | SS Fairport |
| Owner: | Waterman Steamship Company[1] |
| Port of registry: | 22x20px Mobile, Alabama[2] |
| Builder: |
Gulf Shipbuilding[3] Chickasaw, Alabama |
| Yard number: | 1[3] |
| Launched: | 15 November 1941[3] |
| Completed: | April 1942[3] |
| Fate: | sunk by U-161, 16 July 1942[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type C2-S-E1 ship |
| Tonnage: | 6,165 GRT[3] |
| Length: | 445 ft 0 in (135.64 m)[2] |
| Beam: | 63 ft 0 in (19.20 m)[2] |
| Draft: | 31 ft 2 in (9.50 m)[2] |
| Propulsion: | 2 steam turbines, geared to a single screw propeller[2] |
| Speed: | 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h)[3] |
| Crew: | 10 officers, 33 men, 14 Naval Armed Guardsmen |
| Armament: |
1 x 4 in (100 mm) gun 4 x .50 in (13 mm) machine gun 2 x .30 in (7.6 mm) machine gun |
SS Fairport was a Type C2-S-E1 cargo ship built by Gulf Shipbuilding for the Waterman Steamship Company. She was sunk by German submarine U-161 on 16 July 1942. All hands were rescued by an American destroyer.
Career
Fairport was laid down as the first ship constructed at Gulf Shipbuilding of Chickasaw, Alabama[3]. Constructed under a United States Maritime Commission contract (MC hull number 849) on behalf of the Waterman Steamship Company of Mobile, Alabama,[3][4] she was launched on 15 November 1941.[3] After Fairport's April 1942 completion, she was registered at Mobile and armed with a 4-inch (100 mm) deck gun and six machine guns, and took on fourteen Naval Armed Guardsmen to man the guns.[1]
On 13 July 1942, Fairport departed New York with convoy WS 4 for the Persian Gulf.[1] She was carrying a cargo of 8,000 long tons (8,128.375 t) of war materiel which included a deck load of tanks,[5] and also carried 66 passengers.[1] The convoy consisted of six other merchant ships and an escort of three destroyers; Fairport's station in the convoy was in position #12, the second ship in the port column.[1]
At 09:45 on 16 July,[1] near position 27°10′N 64°33′W / 27.167°N 64.55°WCoordinates: 27°10′N 64°33′W / 27.167°N 64.55°W or about 500 nautical miles (930 km) northwest of the Virgin Islands, Fairport was struck by two torpedoes launched by Korvettenkapitän Albrecht Achilles, the commander of German submarine U-161.[5] The first torpedo struck the cargo ship's #4 cargo hold on the port side, starting a fire that was quickly extinguished by inrushing seawater. The second torpedo struck ten seconds after the first, and opened a 30-by-25-foot (9.1 by 7.6 m) hole near the #1 hold. The engines were secured and the vessel ordered abandoned five minutes later. Fifteen minutes after the attack, Fairport sank by the stern.[1] All 123 persons aboard the ship (10 officers, 33 men, 14 Naval Armed Guardsmen, 66 passengers) were rescued by destroyer Kearny,[1] and landed at New York on 21 July.[5]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Browning, p. 187.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Register of Ships (1941–42 ed.). London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Scan of page "F" (pdf) hosted at Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 ""2241559" (Fairport)" (subscription required). Miramar Ship Index. R.B. Haworth. http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
- ↑ Colton, Time. "Halter Marine - Chickasaw, Chickasaw AL". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Companies. http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/chickasaw.htm. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Fairport". Uboat.net. http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/1939.html. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
References
- Browning, Robert M. (1996). U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781557500878. OCLC 32310902.
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