Niceto de Larrinaga
British Steam merchant
Photo courtesy of Stuart Smith
| Name | Niceto de Larrinaga | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,591 tons | ||
| Completed | 1916 - Russell & Co, Port Glasgow | ||
| Owner | Larrinaga & Co Ltd, Liverpool | ||
| Homeport | Liverpool | ||
| Date of attack | 22 Sep 1941 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-103 (Werner Winter) | ||
| Position | 27° 32'N, 24° 26'W - Grid DG 9922 | ||
| Complement | 51 (3 dead and 48 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | SL-87 | ||
| Route | Lagos - Freetown (14 Sep) - London | ||
| Cargo | 3866 tons palm kernels, 2000 tons manganese ore, 2482 tons groundnuts and 622 tons general cargo | ||
| History | Completed in August 1916 | ||
| Notes on event | At 23.46 hours on 22 September 1941, U-103 fired four bow torpedoes at convoy SL-87 southwest of the Canary Islands, turned around and fired two stern torpedoes at 23.47 hours. They observed a ship capsizing after a small explosion and two other ships going down by their sterns after two further explosions. The fourth torpedo was a shallow hit causing a large column of water and the fifth exploded with a blue-green flash. Winter thought that four ships were sunk and another damaged. However, the Edward Blyden and Niceto de Larrinaga were each hit by two torpedoes. One passenger (DBS) from the Niceto de Larrinaga (Master Frederick Moulton Milnes) was lost. The master, 41 crew members, five gunners and three passengers (DBS) were rescued, but one crew member and one gunner died of injuries. Eleven survivors were picked up by HMS Gardenia (K 99) (LtCdr H. Hill, RNR) and landed at the Azores. The remaining survivors were picked up by HMS Lulworth (Y 60) (LtCdr C. Gwinner, RN) and landed at Londonderry on 4 October. | ||
| On board | We have details of 4 people who were on board. | ||
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