SS Gairsoppa
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | SS Gairsoppa |
| Operator: | British-India Steam Navigation Company |
| Ordered: | by MOWT as War Roebuck SS taken over by BISN |
| Builder: | Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne |
| Launched: | 1919 |
| Renamed: | during construction |
| Fate: | Sunk, February 17, 1941 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Steam merchant ship |
| Tonnage: | 5237 grt |
| Length: | 121 feet (37 m) |
| Beam: | 15 feet (4.6 m) |
| Height: | 9 feet (2.7 m) |
| Draught: | 7 feet (2.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | triple expansion engine, coal |
| Speed: | 10 knots |
The SS Gairsoppa was a British steam merchant ship that saw service during the Second World War. She sailed with several convoys, before joining Convoy SL 64. Whilst heading to Galway, Ireland to refuel, she was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat.
Career
Ordered by the Ministry of War Transport as War Roebuck SS from Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, she was taken over during construction by the British-India Steam Navigation Company, and completed as SS Gairsoppa.[1]
Sinking
Attached to convoy SL-64 under master Gerald Hyland, she was returning from India to Britain in 1941 with a cargo of silver ingots, pig iron and tea.[2][3] Joining the 8 knot convoy in Freetown, Sierra Leone,[4] while in a heavy storm and running low on coal off the coast of neutral Republic of Ireland, it split off from the convoy and set course for Galway harbour.
Circled by a large four engine aircraft at 08:00 on 16th February, at 22.30 she was spotted by U-101, under the command of Ernst Mengersen. Torpedoed on the starboard side in No. 2 hold, she sank within 20 minutes (Note: German logbooks kept in German time state she sank at 00.08 hours on February 17, 1941).[4] Her last reported position was 50°00′N 14°0′W / 50°N 14°W, 300 miles (480 km) southwest of Galway Bay.[2] The wreck lies at least 6,500 feet (2,000 m) below the surface.
It was thought that three lifeboats launched, but only that in charge of the second officer R.H. Ayres with four Europeans and two Lascars on board made it away; the rest of the crew was lost. Ayres and his boat reached the Cornish coast two weeks later at Caerthillian Cove. Two died trying to get ashore, they are buried at St. Wynwallow, Church Cove, Landewednack.[4] Ayres was made an MBE for his attempts to rescue his fellow sailors, and lived until 1992.[2]
Memorial
Eleven crew members are commemorated on Tower Hill, Panel 51. Seventy Lascars are commemorated on the Chittagong War Memorial.[2]
Recovery
In 1989, the British government invited tenders to salvage the cargo and received just one, from Deepwater Recovery and Exploration Ltd.[5]
After a competitive tender, in January 2010 the British Government choose US company Odyssey Marine Exploration, who have a two year contract period to find and salvage the silver.[3]
References
- ↑ "SS Gairsoppa". wrecksite.eu. http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?58703. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "SS Gairsoppa". convoyweb.org. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/sl/mem/64_1.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Brooks, Richard (2010-01-24). "Hunt is on for SS Gairsoppa's £70m silver hoard". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6999930.ece. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "SS Gairsoppa". BBC. 2005-01-25. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/32/a3563732.shtml. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ↑ "Salvage". Hansard. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-11-15/Writtens-2.html.
External links
- Ship infoboxes without an image
- 1919 ships
- Tyne-built ships
- Steamships
- Ministry of War Transport ships
- Ships of the British India Steam Navigation Company
- Ships sunk by German submarines
- World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom
- World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
- Maritime incidents in 1941
