Wayfarer
British Steam merchant
Photo courtesy of the Allen Collection
| Name | Wayfarer | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,068 tons | ||
| Completed | 1925 - C. Connell & Co Ltd, Glasgow | ||
| Owner | T. & J. Harrison, Liverpool | ||
| Homeport | Liverpool | ||
| Date of attack | 19 Aug 1944 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-862 (Heinrich Timm) | ||
| Position | 14° 30'S, 42° 20'E - Grid LT 8946 | ||
| Complement | 62 (51 dead and 11 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Colombo - Beira - Aden - Port Said - UK | ||
| Cargo | 3000 tons of copper and 2000 tons of coal | ||
| History | Completed in August 1925 | ||
| Notes on event | In the evening of 19 Aug 1944 the unescorted Wayfarer (Master John Wales) was hit on port side between #4 and #5 holds by one torpedo from U-862 and sank about 150 miles east of Mozambique. 90 minutes earlier the U-boat had fired a spread of two torpedoes at the zigzagging ship that missed well ahead and detonated at the end of their run. The master, 44 crew members, five gunners and one passenger (DBS) were lost. On 30 August, nine crew members and two gunners made landfall on an uninhabited island in the Mozambique Channel, were rescued by a dhow and landed at Palfa, Portuguese East Africa. | ||
| On board | We have details of 55 people who were on board. | ||
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