River Afton
British Steam merchant
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| Name | River Afton | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,479 tons | ||
| Completed | 1935 - Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow | ||
| Owner | Campbell Brothers & Co, Newcastle-upon-Tyne | ||
| Homeport | Glasgow | ||
| Date of attack | 5 Jul 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-703 (Heinz Bielfeld) | ||
| Position | 75° 57'N, 43° 00'E - Grid AC 3568 | ||
| Complement | 56 (23 dead and 33 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | PQ-17 (dispersed) | ||
| Route | Middlesbrough - Reykjavik - Archangel | ||
| Cargo | 2314 tons of military stores, 36 tanks, 12 vehicles and 7 aircraft | ||
| History | Completed in October 1935 | ||
| Notes on event | At 21.02 hours on 5 July 1942 the River Afton (Master Harold William Charlton), dispersed from convoy PQ-17, was torpedoed by U-703 northeast of Kola. She was the ship of convoy commodore John Charles Keith Dowding, CBE, DSO, RD, RNR. The vessel exploded, broke in two and sank after being hit by two coups de grâce at 21.05 and 21.22 hours. Twelve crew members, eight gunners, two naval staff members and one passenger were lost. The master, the commodore, 26 crew members, one gunner, three naval staff members and one passenger were picked up by HMS Lotus (K 93) (Lt H.J. Hall, RNR) and landed at Matochkin, Novaya Zemlya. Three crew members from River Afton were lost during repatriation aboard HMS Leda (J 93) (LtCdr A.H. Wynne-Edwards, RN) when the vessel was torpedoed and sunk by U-435 (Strelow) in convoy QP-14 on 20 September 1942. | ||
| On board | We have details of 33 people who were on board. | ||
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