Ships hit by U-boats


Solon II

British Steam merchant



Photo courtesy of John H. Marsh Maritime Research Centre

NameSolon II
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage4,561 tons
Completed1925 - W. Gray & Co Ltd, Sunderland 
OwnerT. & J. Brocklebank Ltd, Liverpool 
HomeportSwansea 
Date of attack3 Dec 1942Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-508 (Georg Staats)
Position7° 45'N, 56° 30'W - Grid EO 5225
Complement82 (75 dead and 7 survivors).
Convoy
RouteIskenderun, Turkey - Capetown - Pernambuco - Trinidad - Baltimore 
CargoManganese ore and 2000 tons of copper 
History Completed in October 1925 as French Solon for Cie de Navigation d’Orbigny, La Rochelle. On 17 July 1940 the ship was seized at Swansea by Britain and renamed Solon II by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). 
Notes on event

At 23.56 hours on 3 December 1942 the unescorted Solon II (Master John Robinson) was hit by one torpedo from U-508 and sank within 20 seconds northeast of Georgetown, British Guiana. The U-boat had spotted the ship four hours earlier and missed with a first torpedo at 21.08 hours. Before leaving the area, the Germans questioned the fourth engineer Alexander Macfarlane in the only boat that the crew was able to launch. The survivors made landfall at Weldad, 12 miles west of the River Berbice, British Guiana on 7 December. The master, 68 crew members and six gunners were lost.

 
On boardWe have details of 74 people who were on board


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