SS Fairport (1941)

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History
NameSS Fairport
Owner Waterman Steamship Company [1]
Port of registry Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Mobile, Alabama [2]
Builder
Yard number1 [3]
Launched15 November 1941 [3]
CompletedApril 1942 [3]
FateSunk by U-161, 16 July 1942 [1]
General characteristics
Type Type C2-S-E1 ship
Tonnage6,165  GRT [3]
Length445 ft 0 in (135.64 m) [2]
Beam63 ft 0 in (19.20 m) [2]
Draft31 ft 2 in (9.50 m) [2]
Propulsion2 steam turbines, geared to a single screw propeller [2]
Speed15.5 knots (28.7 km/h) [3]
Crew10 officers, 33 men, 14 Naval Armed Guardsmen
Armament

SS Fairport was a Type C2-S-E1 cargo ship built by Gulf Shipbuilding for the Waterman Steamship Company. She was sunk by U-161 on 16 July 1942. All hands were rescued by an American destroyer.

Contents

Career

Fairport was laid down as the first ship constructed at Gulf Shipbuilding of Chickasaw, Alabama. [3] Constructed under a United States Maritime Commission contract (MC hull number 849) on behalf of the Waterman Steamship Company of Mobile, Alabama, [3] [4] she was launched on 15 November 1941. [3] After Fairport's April 1942 completion, she was registered at Mobile and armed with a 4-inch (100 mm) deck gun and six machine guns, and took on fourteen Naval Armed Guardsmen to man the guns. [1]

On 13 July 1942, Fairport departed New York with convoy WS 4 for the Persian Gulf. [1] She was carrying a cargo of 8,000 long tons (8,128.375 t) of materiel which included a deck load of tanks, [5] (fifty-two tanks, eighteen self-propelled guns and other supplies) and also carried 66 passengers. [1] The convoy consisted of six other merchant ships and an escort of three destroyers; Fairport's station in the convoy was in position #12, the second ship in the port column. [1]

At 09:45 on 16 July, [1] near position 27°10′N64°33′W / 27.167°N 64.550°W / 27.167; -64.550 or about 500 nautical miles (930 km) northwest of the Virgin Islands, Fairport was struck by two torpedoes launched by Korvettenkapitän Albrecht Achilles, the commander of U-161. [5] The first torpedo struck the cargo ship's #4 cargo hold on the port side, starting a fire that was quickly extinguished by inrushing seawater. The second torpedo struck ten seconds after the first, and opened a 30-by-25-foot (9.1 by 7.6 m) hole near the #1 hold. The engines were secured and the vessel ordered abandoned five minutes later. Fifteen minutes after the attack, Fairport sank by the stern. [1] All 123 persons aboard the ship (10 officers, 33 men, 14 Naval Armed Guardsmen, 66 passengers) were rescued by destroyer Kearny, [1] and landed at New York on 21 July. [5]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Browning, p. 187.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Register of Ships (1941–42 ed.). London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Scan of page "F" (pdf) hosted at Plimsoll Ship Data Archived 2012-02-18 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 6 July 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Fairport (2241559)" . Miramar Ship Index . Retrieved 6 July 2009.
  4. ↑ Colton, Time. "Halter Marine - Chickasaw, Chickasaw AL". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Companies. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Fairport". Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 July 2009.

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