Fort Bellingham
British Steam merchant
| Name | Fort Bellingham | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant (Victory) | ||
| Tonnage | 7,153 tons | ||
| Completed | 1943 - Burrard Dry Dock Co, North Vancouver BC | ||
| Owner | Hain SS Co, London | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 26 Jan 1944 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-957 (Gerd Schaar) | ||
| Position | 73° 25'N, 25° 10'E - Grid AC 4562 | ||
| Complement | 75 (37 dead and 38 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | JW-56A (straggler) | ||
| Route | London - Loch Ewe (12 Jan) - Akureyri, Iceland (21 Jan) - Murmansk | ||
| Cargo | 4900 tons of military and general stores, including 5 tons of cordite | ||
| History | Completed in August 1943 for the Canadian Government, lend-leased on bareboat charter to British Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). | ||
| Notes on event | At 00.16 hours on 26 January 1944 U-360 (Becker) fired a spread of three FAT torpedoes at convoy JW-56A in the Barents Sea north of North Cape in 73°45N/24°48E and heard three hits. In fact, only the Fort Bellingham (Master James Ninian Maley), the ship of convoy commodore, was hit and fell behind convoy where she was sunk by U-957 with a T-3 torpedo at 06.53 hours the same day. The master, the commodore, four naval staff members, 23 crew members and seven gunners were picked up by HMS Offa (G 29) (LtCdr R.F. Leonard, RN) and landed at Murmansk. Two gunners were taken prisoner by U-957. 21 crew members, 14 gunners and two naval staff members were lost. | ||
| On board | We have details of 75 people who were on board. | ||
Attack entries for Fort Bellingham
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Loss type | Tons | Nat. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Jan 1944 | U-360 | Kptlt. Klaus-Helmuth Becker | Damaged | 7,153 | |
| 26 Jan 1944 | U-957 | Oblt. Gerd Schaar | Sunk | 7,153 | |
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