SS Fairport (1941)

For other ships with the same name, see SS Fairport.

History
Name	Fairport
Owner	Waterman Steamship Company [1]
Port of registry	Mobile, Alabama [2]
Builder	Gulf Shipbuilding [3] Chickasaw, Alabama
Yard number	1 [3]
Launched	15 November 1941 [3]
Completed	April 1942 [3]
Fate	Sunk, 16 July 1942 [1]
General characteristics
Type	Type C2-S-E1 ship
Tonnage	6,165  GRT [3]
Length	445 ft 0 in (135.64 m) [2]
Beam	63 ft 0 in (19.20 m) [2]
Draft	31 ft 2 in (9.50 m) [2]
Propulsion	2 steam turbines, geared to a single screw propeller [2]
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h) [3]
Crew	10 officers, 33 men, 14 Naval Armed Guardsmen
Armament	1 × 4 in (100 mm) gun 4 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine gun 2 × .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine gun

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.

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. Browning, p. 187.
2. 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. "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. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Fairport". Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 July 2009.

References

• Browning, Robert M. (1996). U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   978-1-55750-087-8. OCLC   32310902.