MV Henry Stanley

Last updated

History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHenry Stanley
Namesake Henry Morton Stanley
Owner
Operator
  • 1929: Elder Dempster & Co Ltd
  • 1935: Elder Dempster Lines Ltd
Port of registry
RouteLiverpool – West Africa
BuilderArdrossan Dockyard Ltd, Ardrossan
Yard number342
Launched21 June 1929
CompletedAugust 1929
Identification
FateSunk by torpedo, 6 December 1942
General characteristics
Class and typeExplorer-class cargo ship
Tonnage4,028  GRT, 2,188  NRT
Length370.5 ft (112.9 m)
Beam51.6 ft (15.7 m)
Depth20.1 ft (6.1 m)
Decks2
Installed power650 NHP
Propulsion8-cylinder 4-stroke diesel
Speed12.5 knots (23 km/h)
Capacity12 passengers
Crew44 crew plus 8 DEMS gunners
Notes lead ship of eight sister ships

MV Henry Stanley was a UK cargo motor ship that traded between Liverpool and West Africa. She was launched in 1929 in Scotland and sunk in 1942 in the North Atlantic.

Contents

Henry Stanley was built for the African Steamship Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Elder, Dempster & Company Ltd. In 1932 the parent company was reorganised as Elder Dempster Lines and in 1935 the African Steamship Co fleet was absorbed into the main Elder Dempster fleet.

Explorer-class motor ships

Henry Stanley was launched on 21 June 1929 and completed that August. She was the lead ship of the "Explorer" class of eight cargo ships built for companies owned by Elder, Dempster & Co. [1] Four were built for the African SS Co and four were built for the British & African Steam Navigation Co Ltd. The Elder Dempster Lines fleet absorbed all eight ships in 1935.

The class was built in four pairs. The Ardrossan Dockyard Ltd built Henry Stanley and Mary Kingsley at Ardrossan in Ayrshire. [1] [2] Archibald McMillan & Son built David Livingstone and Mary Slessor at Dumbarton. [3] [4] D. and W. Henderson and Company built William Wilberforce and Macgregor Laird in Glasgow. [5] [6] Harland and Wolff built Edward Blyden and Alfred Jones in Govan. [7] [8]

Henry Stanley, David Livingstone and Mary Slessor were launched in 1929. [1] [3] [4] Their five sisters were launched in 1930. [2] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Each of the eight ships had a single screw, driven by an eight-cylinder, single-acting, four-stroke diesel engine. John G. Kincaid & Company built Burmeister & Wain-type engines under licence for Henry Stanley and Mary Kingsley. [1] [2] Harland and Wolff built the engines for the other six ships of the class. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Service

Henry Stanley's trade was general cargo to West Africa and West African produce to Liverpool.

In 1934 the call sign GSJV [9] superseded her code letters LFRC. [10]

In the Second World War Henry Stanley continued to trade between Britain and West Africa, sailing in SL and other convoys when possible, but also unescorted. Her ports of call included Bathurst, Cape Coast, Dakar, Freetown, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Takoradi. [11]

Loss

Colonel Lionel Beaumont-Thomas Lionel Beaumont-Thomas.jpg
Colonel Lionel Beaumont-Thomas

On 26 or 28 November 1942 Henry Stanley left Liverpool carrying 11 or 12 passengers, including a British Army Colonel and former MP, Lionel Beaumont-Thomas; two Royal Navy officers; and a Blue Funnel Line Captain, Ramsay Brown. Brown had survived the sinking of two of his commands that year: Glenshiel in April, and Deucalion in August when taking part in Operation Pedestal. On 10 November, Brown had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross [12] for his actions aboard Deucalion, and the King's Commendation for his actions aboard Glenshiel. [13] [14] Henry Stanley carried 4,000 tons of general cargo, plus a small amount of gelignite. [15] [16]

For the first week she sailed with Convoy ON 149, which was bound for New York. [16] On 5 December, when the convoy dispersed, Henry Stanley set course unescorted for Freetown. She maintained a speed of 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) on a zigzag course. [17]

On the night of 6/7 December German submarine U-103 torpedoed Henry Stanley, hitting her starboard side in number one hold, forward of the bridge. [18] Her Master, Henry Jones, immediately gave orders to stop her engine and abandon ship. Her passengers and crew were embarked in her four lifeboats, which were launched and stood off at a safe distance from the ship. U-103 then hit Henry Stanley with a second torpedo, which exploded in number three hold aft of the bridge. The explosion detonated the gelignite in the cargo and Henry Stanley quickly sank about 580 nmi (1,070 km; 670 mi) west or north-west of the Azores. [17] [18]

Sources disagree as to the position where U-103 sank Henry Stanley. A British account gives it as 48°50′N39°30′W / 48.833°N 39.500°W / 48.833; -39.500 . [17] U-103 recorded it as 40°35′N39°40′W / 40.583°N 39.667°W / 40.583; -39.667 . [18]

U-103's foredeck and 105 mm gun Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-3930-23A, U-Boot U-103 in See.jpg
U-103's foredeck and 105 mm gun

About 45 minutes later U-103 surfaced and approached within 30 ft (9 m) of the lifeboats. U-103's commander, ' Oberleutnant zur See Gustav-Adolf Janssen, ordered Captain Jones to come alongside U-103. Jones was commanding lifeboat number two, whose occupants included Captain Brown, Colonel Beaumont-Thomas and the RN lieutenant commander. Jones feared his passengers could be taken prisoner, so he claimed that the swell was too heavy and that the boat could be damaged were he to bring it alongside the u-boat. [17]

Janssen replied "I don't care a damn about your crew". Jones took off his coat and gave it to Captain Brown, putting him in command of the boat. Jones swam to U-103, was taken prisoner and was given a dry set of underwear. [17] Janssen questioned Jones, who claimed Henry Stanley carried only general cargo. having witnessed the explosion in number three hold Janssen did not believe him. Janssen convinced himself the ship had come from Halifax, Nova Scotia and was bound for French North Africa with supplies for Operation Torch. [19]

During the day a gale blew up, so Janssen looked for the lifeboats to see if their occupants needed help. In the heavy sea U-103 shipped water over her stern, which flooded her engine room to a depth of 0.5 metres (20 in). Janssen was forced to submerge to get out of the gale, which continued for three days and nights. U-103 returned to Lorient Submarine Base, where Captain Jones was landed on 29 December as a prisoner of war. He was taken to Germany, interrogated at Wilhelmshaven naval base and held in solitary confinement for 17 days. For the rest of the war he was held prisoner at Marlag und Milag Nord. None of Henry Stanley's four lifeboats or their occupants was seen again. Richard Jones was the sole survivor. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elder Dempster Lines</span> Shipping company

Elder Dempster Lines was a UK shipping company that traded from 1932 to 2000, but had its origins in the mid-19th century.

SS <i>Clan Alpine</i> (1918)

SS Clan Alpine was a UK steam cargo liner. She was launched in 1918 and sunk by a U-boat in 1943.

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.

Cameron-class steamship

The Cameron-class steamships were a class of UK cargo twin-screw steamships. They were designed for Clan Line and were also used by Scottish Shire Line and the Royal Navy.

SS Manistee was an Elders & Fyffes Ltd banana boat that was launched in 1920. She was one of a numerous class of similar banana boats built for Elders & Fyffes in the 1920s.

Ramón Alonso R. was a merchant steamship that was built in Scotland in 1898 and scrapped in Spain in 1959. Its original name was Montclair. It was renamed José Gallart in 1901, Balmes in 1911 and Ramón Alonso R. in 1929. Its first owner was the British Elder Dempster Lines, but it spent most of its career with a succession of Spanish owners. It was built as a transatlantic ocean liner with some cargo capacity, but in 1927 it was refitted as a cargo ship. In 1913, when it was called Balmes, the ship survived a serious cargo fire in mid-Atlantic.

MV Nottingham was a refrigerated cargo motor ship that was built in Scotland in 1941 for the Federal Steam Navigation Co. On her maiden voyage a u-boat torpedoed her, sinking her with all hands.

SS Mantola was a British India Steam Navigation Company (BI) steamship that was built in 1916 and sunk by a German U-boat in 1917. She belonged to BI's "M" class of cargo liners. She was carrying an estimated 600,000 ounces of silver bullion when she was sunk. In 2017, 526 bars of silver were salvaged from the wreck and taken to the United Kingdom, in circumstances that remain undisclosed.

SS Iron Chieftain was a bulk carrier that was built in Scotland in 1937 for the Australian Broken Hill Pty, Ltd (BHP) to carry iron ore. A Japanese submarine sank her by torpedo off the coast of New South Wales in 1942, killing 12 of her crew. Her wreck is protected by the Australian federal Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018.

MV Abosso was a passenger, mail, and cargo liner, the flagship of Elder Dempster Lines. In peacetime she ran scheduled services between Liverpool and West Africa. In the Second World War she was a troop ship, running between the United Kingdom, West Africa, and South Africa.

SS Clan Macarthur was a British refrigerated cargo steamship. She was built for Cayzer, Irvine and Company's Clan Line Steamers Ltd as one of its Cameron-class steamships. She was launched in Greenock in 1936 and sunk in the Indian Ocean by enemy action in August 1943.

MV Glenartney was a Glen Line cargo twin-screw motor ship that was launched in Scotland in 1915 as Montezuma, renamed Glenartney when she changed owners, and sunk by a U-boat in 1918.

SS Sagaing was a British passenger and cargo steamship that was launched in Scotland in 1924. Her peacetime route was a scheduled service between Glasgow or Liverpool, and Rangoon. In 1942, Japanese aircraft damaged her in Trincomalee Harbour in the Easter Sunday Raid on Ceylon. In 1943 she was scuttled to form a pier. In 2018 her wreck was raised, removed from the harbour, and scuttled in deeper water.

SS City of Bedford was a British cargo steamship. She was launched in 1924 in Sunderland for Hall Line Ltd of Liverpool, a member of the Ellerman Lines group.

MV Seaforth was an Elder Dempster Lines cargo motor ship that traded between Liverpool and West Africa. She was launched in 1938 in Scotland and sunk in 1941 in the North 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.

SS Verdala was a cargo and passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1913. Several times she changed owners and was renamed: as Mongolian Prince in 1917, Istok in 1928 and finally Maycrest in 1940.

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.

HMS Salopian was a motor ship that was built in 1926 as the passenger ship Shropshire. 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 Shropshire in 1939, had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC), and renamed her Salopian. A German U-boat sank her in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941.

SS <i>Falaba</i> British passenger and cargo ship sunk in 1915

SS Falaba was a British cargo liner. She was built in Scotland in 1906 and sunk by a U-boat in the North Atlantic in 1915. The sinking killed more than 100 people, provoking outrage in both the United Kingdom and United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Henry Stanley". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Mary Kingsley". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "David Livingstone". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Mary Slessor". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "William Wilberforce". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "Macgregor Laird". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 "Edward Blyden". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 "Alfred Jones". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  9. ↑ "Steamers & Motorships". Lloyd's Register (PDF). Vol. I. London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. Retrieved 19 December 2020– via Plimsoll Ship Data.
  10. ↑ "Steamers & Motorships". Lloyd's Register (PDF). Vol. I. London: Lloyd's Register. 1933. Retrieved 19 December 2020– via Plimsoll Ship Data.
  11. ↑ Hague, Arnold. "Ship Movements". Port Arrivals / Departures. Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  12. ↑ "The Distinguished Service Cross". The London Gazette (Supplement). No. 35780. 10 November 1942. p. 4880.
  13. ↑ "Commendations". The London Gazette (Supplement). No. 35778. 10 November 1942. p. 4874.
  14. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ramsay Brown". uboat.net. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Cowden 1981, p. 66.
  16. 1 2 Hague, Arnold. "Convoy ON.149". ON Convoy Series. Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Cowden 1981, p. 67.
  18. 1 2 3 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Henry Stanley". uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  19. 1 2 Cowden 1981, p. 68.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.