Strabo
Dutch Motor merchant
Name | Strabo | ||
Type: | Motor merchant | ||
Tonnage | 383 tons | ||
Completed | 1937 - C. van der Giessen & Zonen´s Scheepswerven NV, Krimpen | ||
Owner | NV West-Indische Scheepvaart Mij, Curaçao | ||
Homeport | Willemstad | ||
Date of attack | 10 Aug 1942 | Nationality: Dutch | |
Fate | Sunk by U-155 (Adolf Cornelius Piening) | ||
Position | 7° 29'N, 54° 05'W - Grid EO 6241 | ||
Complement | 13 (0 dead and 13 survivors). | ||
Convoy | |||
Route | Sao Luiz de Maranhao, Brazil - Barranquilla, Colombia | ||
Cargo | 504 tons of babassu nuts | ||
History | Completed in July 1937 | ||
Notes on event | At 18.50 hours on 10 Aug 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Strabo (Master Wilhelm Heimensen) was stopped with a warning shot from the deck gun by U-155 while steaming at 9 knots about 110 miles north-northeast of Paramaribo. The crew immediately abandoned ship in two lifeboats whereupon the U-boat closed from the starboard beam to a range of 500 yards and fired about 20 rounds at the ship until she caught fire. Piening questioned the survivors, first in English and then in German, but wrongly thought the name of the ship was Curaçao. He apologized for sinking their ship and asked if he could supply them with anything, gave the course to Georgetown and wished them good luck before the U-boat left the area. The Germans did no longer see the fire after two hours and assumed that the Strabo sank, but both lifeboats returned to the ship five hours later after the fire had consumed the whole bridge and upper works . However, the survivors could see the fire still burning through the shell holes and gave up the idea of returning aboard. The boats then set off on a southerly course and independently made landfall somewhere off the coast of French Guiana after losing contact during the first night. They proceeded coastwise until picked up by a pilot boat and the US Army tug USAT General Thomas S. Jessup off Braams Point at the entrance of the Suriname River on 13 August. All survivors were landed at Paramaribo during the afternoon on 14 August. | ||
On board | We have details of 13 people who were on board. |
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