SS Marietta E

History
United Kingdom
Name	SS Marietta E
Owner	Leith Hill Shipping Co Ltd [1]
Operator	Counties Ship Management Co Ltd, London [1] [2]
Builder	William Hamilton & Co, Port Glasgow [1] [2]
Completed	June 1940 [2]
Out of service	4 March 1943 [2]
Identification	UK official number 167596 [1]
Fate	Sunk by torpedo [2]
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	7,628  GRT tonnage under deck 7,217 [1] 5,595  NRT [1]
Length	421.1 ft (128.4 m) [1] p/p
Beam	60.4 ft (18.4 m) [1]
Draught	28 ft 2+1⁄2 in (8.60 m)
Depth	35.8 ft (10.9 m) [1]
Installed power	520 NHP [1]
Propulsion	triple-expansion steam engine; single screw [1]
Crew	45 [2]
Notes	sister ships: SS Kingston Hill, SS Lulworth Hill, SS Michael E, SS Primrose Hill

SS Marietta E was a British cargo ship completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in June 1940. ^[1] She had a single 520 NHP triple-expansion steam engine built by David Rowan and Company of Glasgow, ^[1] that drove a single screw. She had eight corrugated furnaces heating two 225 lb_f/in² single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 7,643 square feet (710 m²), plus one auxiliary boiler. ^[1]

She was owned by Leith Hill Shipping Co Ltd and managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London ^[1] (CSM), both of which were offshoots of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company. ^[3] She was named after Marietta Eustathiou, a member of Nicholas Eustathiou shipping concerns that had a major shareholding in her. ^[3]

Marietta E was a sister ship of SS Michael E, SS Lulworth Hill and SS Primrose Hill, which also were managed by CSM and owned by companies associated with R&K.

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Position of Marietta E's wreck off the coast of South Africa

Sinking

Early in 1943 she sailed from New York, bound for Alexandria in Egypt via Durban and Aden. ^[2] She was laden with a cargo of government and commercial stores and deck cargo of eight LCPL landing craft. ^[2] In Durban she joined convoy DN-21 to Alexandria via Aden. ^[2] At 0346 hrs on 4 March in the Indian Ocean east of East London, German submarine U-160 fired two torpedoes at the convoy, one of which sank the Marietta E killing four crew and one DEMS gunner. ^[2] South African Navy rescue launch R8 rescued the Master, 33 crew and six DEMS gunners and landed them at Durban. ^[2]

References

1. Lloyd's Register, Steam Ships and motorships (PDF). Lloyd's Register. 1943. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
2. Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2010). "Marietta E." uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
3. Fenton, Roy (2006). "Counties Ship Management 1934-2007". LOF-News. p. 1. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.

Further reading

• Sedgwick, Stanley; Kinnaird, Mark; O'Donoghue, K.J. (1993) [1992]. London & Overseas Freighters, 1948-92: A Short History. World Ship Society. ISBN   0-905617-68-1.
• Sedgwick, Stanley; Sprake, R.F. (1977). London & Overseas Freighters Limited 1949-1977. World Ship Society. ISBN   0905617037.

31°29′S31°07′E / 31.49°S 31.11°E / -31.49; 31.11