Bristol City (1919)

Last updated

Bristol City (1920).jpg
Bristol City
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameBristol City
Namesake Bristol
Owner Bristol City Line
OperatorCG Hill & CL Hill
Port of registry Bristol
Builder Charles Hill & Sons
Yard number135
Launched1 November 1919
CompletedMarch 1920
Identification
Fatesunk 5 May 1943
General characteristics
Type cargo ship
Tonnage2,858  GRT, 1,713  NRT
Length316.5 ft (96.5 m)
Beam43.8 ft (13.4 m)
Draught32 ft 10 in (10.0 m)
Depth23.6 ft (7.2 m)
Decks2
Installed power357 NHP
Propulsion
Speed10 knots (19 km/h)
Crew37 + 7 DEMS gunners
Sensors and
processing systems
by 1932: wireless direction finding
Notes sister ship: Boston City

Bristol City was a British cargo steamship that was launched in 1919 and sunk in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943. She was the third of five ships of that name owned by Bristol City Line.

Contents

Building and identification

Bristol City Line lost four ships to enemy action in the First World War, including the second Bristol City. [1] In 1919 and 1920 Charles Hill & Sons of Bristol built a pair of new ships for company. Yard number 135 was launched on 1 November 1919 as Bristol City, and completed in March 1920. [2] Her sister ship was built as yard number 136, launched on 12 June 1920 as Boston City, and completed that August. [3]

Bristol City's registered length was 316.5 ft (96.5 m), her beam was 43.8 ft (13.4 m), her depth was 23.6 ft (7.2 m) and her draught was 32 ft 10 in (10.0 m). Her tonnages were 2,858  GRT and 1,713  NRT. She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine built by Richardsons Westgarth & Company of Hartlepool. It was rated at 357 NHP and gave her a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h).

Bristol City Line registered Bristol City at Bristol. Her UK official number was 134722 and her code letters were KDWC. [4] By 1930 her call sign was GDML, [5] and by 1934 this had superseded her code letters. [6] By 1932 she was equippped with wireless direction finding. [7]

Loss

Bristol City in Bristol in 1938 S.S. Bristol City in 1938.jpg
Bristol City in Bristol in 1938

In December 1940 Bristol City was damaged by a bomb dropped on Albion Dockyard during the Bristol Blitz.[ citation needed ] She was repaired and returned to service.

In April 1943 Bristol City left Bristol carrying 2,500 tons of general cargo, including china clay. Her Master was Captain Arthur Webb. He commanded a crew of 36, plus seven DEMS gunners: four Royal Navy and three British Army. Going via Milford Haven she joined Convoy ONS 5, [8] which left Port of Liverpool on 21 April and was bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. [9] U-boats wolf packs attacked ONS 5 from 27 April onward. The convoy lost only two ships until 5 May, when U-boats sank 11 ships in a single day, including Bristol City. [10]

HMS Loosestrife HMS Loosestrife FL5465.jpg
HMS Loosestrife

During the attack on 5 May, one torpedo fired by U-358 hit Bristol City. 15 of her complement were killed, including four DEMS gunners, and she sank in 20 minutes at position 54°00′N43°55′W / 54.000°N 43.917°W / 54.000; -43.917 . The corvette HMS Loosestrife rescued 29 survivors, including Captain Webb and three DEMS gunners. On 9 May Loosestrife landed the survivors at St. John's, Newfoundland. [8] [11]

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Cheshire</i> UK passenger liner, armed merchant cruiser, and troopship

HMS Cheshire was a passenger ship that was built in Scotland in 1927 and scrapped in Wales in 1957. She belonged to Bibby Line, which ran passenger and cargo services between Rangoon in Burma and various ports in Great Britain, via the Suez Canal and Gibraltar. The Admiralty requisitioned her in 1939 and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was converted into a troopship in 1943, and returned to civilian service in 1948.

SS <i>Ryūsei Maru</i> Japanese-owned cargo steamship that was sunk in WW2

Ryusei Maru was a cargo steamship that was built in England in 1911 and sunk off the coast of Bali in 1944. She was launched as Bra-Kar for Fred. Olsen & Co. of Norway. In 1916 she changed owners and was renamed Havø. In 1935 she changed owners again and was renamed Mabuhay II.

SS <i>Clearton</i> British cargo steamship

SS Clearton was a cargo steamship that was built in England in 1919 and sunk in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1940. The UK Shipping Controller ordered her, and she was built to War Standard design Type B. R Chapman and Sons of Newcastle upon Tyne operated her throughout her working life.

SS <i>City of Venice</i> Passenger vessel from 1924 to 1943

SS City of Venice was an intermediate ocean liner that was launched in 1924 in Northern Ireland for Ellerman Lines. In the Second World War she was a troop ship. In 1943 a U-boat sank her in the Mediterranean, killing 22 of the crew and troops aboard.

SS <i>Corinthic</i> (1924) British cargo ship that survived an attack by German forces in World War II before being sunk

SS Corinthic was a British cargo steamship. She was built on Teesside in 1924, sailed in a number of convoys in the Second World War, survived an overwhelming German attack on Convoy SC 7 October 1940, but was sunk by a German U-boat off West Africa in April 1941.

SS <i>Fiscus</i>

SS Fiscus was a UK cargo steamship that was built in 1928, served in the Second World War and was sunk by a U-boat in 1940.

SS Tregenna was a cargo steamship that was launched in England in 1919 and sunk by a U-boat in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1940 with the loss of 33 of her 37 crew. She was laid down as War Bulldog, but the Hain Steam Ship Co bought her before she was completed and renamed her Tregenna.

MV Domala was a British cargo liner that was launched in 1920 as Magvana, but completed in 1921 as Domala. She was the first major ocean-going passenger ship to be built in the United Kingdom as a motor ship.

SS <i>West Maximus</i> Steel-hulled US cargo ship

SS West Maximus was a steel-hulled cargo ship built for the United States Shipping Board's emergency wartime construction program during World War I. Completed too late to see service in the war, West Maximus spent the interwar years in commercial service.

SS Canonesa was a refrigerated cargo steamship that was built in Ireland in 1920 and sunk by a u-boat in the Atlantic Ocean in 1940.

SS Hertford was a refrigerated cargo steamship that was launched in Germany in 1917, seized by the United Kingdom in 1920 as World War I reparations, and sunk by a U-boat in 1942 with the loss of four members of her crew.

SS Aguila was a British steam passenger liner. She was built in Dundee in 1917 and was sunk by enemy action in the North Atlantic in 1941. She belonged to Yeoward Line, which carried passengers and fruit between Liverpool, Lisbon, Madeira and the Canary Islands.

SS <i>Avoceta</i> British steam passenger liner sunk during World War II

SS Avoceta was a British steam passenger liner. She was built in Dundee in 1923 and was sunk by enemy action in the North Atlantic in 1941. She belonged to Yeoward Line, which carried passengers and fruit between Liverpool, Lisbon, Madeira and the Canary Islands.

HMS <i>Agamemnon</i> (M10) Cargo ship that was converted into an auxiliary minelayer

HMS Agamemnon was originally the Blue Funnel Line refrigerated cargo ship Agamemnon. She was built in 1929, traded between the UK and the Far East, and was scrapped in 1963. During the Second World War she was converted into an auxiliary minelayer in 1940, and then into an amenities ship in 1943.

HMS <i>Menestheus</i> Cargo ship that was converted into a minelayer and amenities ship

HMS Menestheus was originally the Blue Funnel Line refrigerated cargo ship Menestheus. She was built in 1929, and traded between the UK and the Far East. She was an auxiliary minelayer from 1940 to 1943. In 1945, during the Second World War, she was converted into an amenities ship. She was scrapped in 1953 after being gutted by fire.

<i>Wentworth</i> (ship) UK cargo steamship sunk in the Second World War

Wentworth was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1919 as War Phlox. The UK Shipping Controller ordered her, and she was built to War Standard design Type A. The Dalgliesh Shipping Company of Newcastle upon Tyne bought her when new, renamed her Wentworth, and owned her throughout her working life. She was sunk in the North Atlantic in 1943 during the Battle of the Atlantic, with the loss of five of her 47 crew.

SS Benlomond was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1922 as Cynthiana, changed owners and names a number of times, and was sunk by a U-boat in 1942, with the loss of all but one of her 53 ship's company. The sole survivor, Poon Lim, drifted on a raft for 133 days before being rescued.

SS Tregarthen was a cargo steamship that was built in Scotland for the Hain Steam Ship Co in 1936. She was sunk with all hands by a U-boat in 1941 in the Battle of the Atlantic.

SS Hartlebury was a cargo steamship that was launched in Scotland in 1934 for J&C Harrison Ltd. A U-boat sank her in the Barents Sea in 1942 when Hartlebury was a member of the Arctic convoy Convoy PQ 17.

MV <i>Deucalion</i> British cargo ship that took part in two Malta convoys

MV Deucalion was a Blue Funnel Line refrigerated cargo ship that was built in England in 1930 and sunk in the Second World War in 1942. She survived being damaged in the Liverpool Blitz in December 1940 and took part in two Malta convoys to relieve the Siege of Malta. She survived air attacks during the first of these, Operation Substance, in July 1941 but was lost on her second Malta Convoy, Operation Pedestal, in August 1942. This was the third of five Blue Funnel ships to be named after Deucalion, a mythological king of Thessaly in Ancient Greece.

References

  1. "Bristol City (1899)". Shipping and Shipbuilding. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  2. "Bristol City (1920)". Shipping and Shipbuilding. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  3. "Boston City". Shipping and Shipbuilding. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  4. Lloyd's Register 1921, BRI.
  5. Mercantile Navy List 1930, p. 69.
  6. Lloyd's Register 1934, BRI.
  7. Lloyd's Register 1932, BRI.
  8. 1 2 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Bristol City". uboat.net. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  9. "Convoy ONS 5". Warsailors.com. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  10. Helgason, Guðmundur. "ONS–5". uboat.net. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  11. Malcolm 2013, p. 53.

Bibliography