| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Ocean boarding vessel |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | F 77 |
| Built by | A. Stephen & Sons Ltd. (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 17 Apr 1915 |
| Commissioned | 26 Sep 1940 |
| Lost | 6 May 1941 |
| Loss position | 50° 15'N, 21° 16'W |
| History | Passenger/cargo (ref.) vessel completed in June 1915. Requisitioned by the Admiralty on 6 August 1940. Displacement: 6833 GRT. Dimensions: 129.9 x 16.5. Armament: 2 6" guns (2x1), 1 12pdr AA gun, 4 .303" MG AA (4x1) Speed: 14 knots. At 0240 hours on 6 May 1941 HMS Camito (Lt.Cdr. Avon Alexander Barnet, RNR) was hit aft of amidships by one torpedo from the German submarine U-97 west-southwest of Cape Clear. The U-boat had spotted the two ships at 1745 hours on 5 May and had problems to keep contact in heavy seas and bad visibility. The OBV was missed at 0202 hours with a spread of two torpedoes and three minutes later with a stern torpedo before being hit, but continued at slow speed. U-97 then chased the tanker, which caught fire after being hit by one torpedo at 0353 hours and afterwards returned to the first vessel. Heilmann thought that it is a Q-ship and left the badly damaged ship, which sank the next day in position 50°15'N, 21°16'W. Six officers and 22 ratings were lost. The survivors of both ships were picked up by HMS Orchis (Lt H. Vernon, RNR) and landed at Greenock. Hit by U-boat |
| U-boat Attack | See our U-boat attack entry for the HMS Camito |
Commands listed for HMS Camito (F 77)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Avon Alexander Barnet, RNR | 26 Sep 1940 | 6 May 1941 |
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Notable events involving Camito include:
30 Jan 1941
Convoy SLS 64.
This convoy departed Freetown on 30 January 1941 for the U.K.
The convoy was made up of the following merchant vessels; Anna Mazaraki (Greek, 5411 GRT, built 1913), Blairatholl (British, 3319 GRT, built 1925), Borgestad (Norwegian, 3924 GRT, built 1924), Bur (Norwegian, 4343 GRT, built 1917), Clunepark (British, 3491 GRT, built 1928), Derrynane (British, 4896 GRT, built 1938), Empire Energy (British, 6589 GRT, built 1923), Kalliopi (British, 4965 GRT, built 1910), Lornaston (British, 4934 GRT, built 1925), Margot (British, 4545 GRT, built 1926), Nailsea Lass (British, 4289 GRT, built 1917), Oswestry Grange (British, 4684 GRT, built 1935), Perseus (Greek, 5172 GRT, built 1919), Polyktor (Greek, 4077 GRT, built 1914), Shrewsbury (British, 4542 GRT, built 1924), Varangberg (Norwegian, 2842 GRT, built 1915), Volturno (British, 3420 GRT, built 1914), Warlaby (British, 4875 GRT, built 1927) and Westbury (British, 4712 GRT, built 1928).
The convoy was not escorted.
On 12 February 1941, the convoy was intercepted east of the Azores in approximate position 37°10'N, 21°20'W by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, which managed to sink the following merchant vessels; Borgestad, Derrynane, Oswestry Grange, Shrewsbury, Warlaby, Westbury, and Perseus. The Lornaston sustained heavy damage and Kalliopi sustained light damage. The Lornaston went to Ponta Delgada where she arrived on the 18th. The Kalliopi arrived at Gibraltar on the 18th.
The convoy scattered on being attacked.
The Ocean Boarding Vessels HMS Camito (Lt.Cdr. A.A. Barnet, RNR), HMS Cavina (Cdr. C.B. Osborne, RD, RNR), HMS Corinthian (A/Cdr. E.J.R. Pollitt, RNR) and HMS Maron (Cdr. (Retd.) J.H. Blair, DSC, RD, RNR) were ordered to the area to search for survivors.
Also the light cruiser HMS Sheffield (Capt. C.A.A. Larcom, RN) was ordered to the area to provide cover for the remaining ships.
On 24 February, the Nailsea Lass was torpedoed and sunk south-south-west of Ireland by the German submarine U-48.