Capira
Panamanian Steam merchant
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| Name | Capira | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,625 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - J.F. Duthie & Co, Seattle WA | ||
| Owner | US Lines Inc, New York | ||
| Homeport | Panama | ||
| Date of attack | 31 Aug 1942 | Nationality:  Panamanian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-609 (Klaus Rudloff) | ||
| Position | 57° 13'N, 33° 40'W - Grid AK 2916 | ||
| Complement | 54 (5 dead and 49 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | SC-97 | ||
| Route | New York (16 Aug) - Halifax - Glasgow | ||
| Cargo | General cargo, including trucks, tractors, steel mats, bulldozers and 250 bags of US mail | ||
| History | Completed in March 1920 as West Campgaw for US Shipping Board (USSB) and later laid up as part of the reserve fleet. 1941 renamed Capira for US Lines Inc and registered in Panama. | ||
| Notes on event | At 10.04 and 10.05 hours on 31 Aug 1942, U-609 fired torpedoes at convoy SC-97 and reported two ships sunk. The victims were the Capira and the Bronxville. The Capira (Master Ejnar Jensen) in station #63 was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side at #4 hold near the after end of the engine room, which was immediately flooded. The ship began to settle by the stern and sank after 20 minutes. The most of the 41 crew members and 13 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and eight machine guns) abandoned ship in three lifeboats and two rafts, but one boat capsized. At 10.15 hours, 33 survivors were picked up by the British rescue ship Perth. The remaining 16 survivors were picked up from wreckage and a raft by HMCS Drumheller (K 167) (Cdr G.H. Griffiths, RCN). On 6 September, all men were landed at Gourock, Scotland. | ||
| On board | We have details of 21 people who were on board. | ||
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