Ships hit by U-boats


Thornliebank

British Steam merchant



NameThornliebank
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage5,569 tons
Completed1939 - J. Readhead & Sons Ltd, South Shields 
OwnerAndrew Weir & Co, London 
HomeportGlasgow 
Date of attack29 Nov 1941Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-43 (Wolfgang Lüth)
Position41° 50'N, 29° 48'W - Grid CE 2526
Complement80 (80 dead - no survivors)
ConvoyOS-12
RouteBarry - Freetown - Middle East 
CargoGeneral cargo and munitions 
History Completed in March 1939 
Notes on event

At 04.11 hours on 29 November 1941 U-43 fired a spread of two stern torpedoes at a ship of convoy OS-12 about 240 miles north-northwest of the Azores. The Thornliebank (Master Sydney Letton) was hit by both torpedoes and blew up in a great explosion. The master, 69 crew members and ten gunners were lost. Debris from the ship fell around the surfaced U-boat and injured the Obersteuermann slightly at the upper arm. The next day, the Germans found an 10cm shell without fuze, which had been blown from the torpedoed ship onto the conning tower over a distance of about 1200 metres.

 
On boardWe have details of 80 people who were on board


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