SS Tregenna

Last updated

History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameTregenna
Namesake Tregenna
Owner Hain Steam Ship Co
OperatorFoster, Hain & Read (until 1932)
Port of registry St Ives
Builder
Yard number915
Launched1 May 1919
CompletedJuly 1919
Identification
FateSunk 17 September 1940
General characteristics
Class and typeWar Standard type B
Tonnage5,242  GRT, 3,201  NRT
Length400.1 ft (122.0 m)
Beam52.3 ft (15.9 m)
Draught25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)
Depth28.4 ft (8.7 m)
Installed power517 NHP
Propulsion triple expansion steam engine
Speed11 knots (20 km/h)
Crew37
Sensors and
processing systems		wireless direction finding
Armament DEMS

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.

Contents

Building

William Gray & Company built Tregenna at its shipyard in West Hartlepool. She was built to the Shipping Controller's First World War standard design B. [1] She was launched on 1 May 1919 and completed that July. [2]

Gray's Central Marine Engineering Works in West Hartlepool built Tregenna's three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine. It was rated at 517 NHP [3] and gave her a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h). [4]

Peacetime service

In August 1921 Tregenna reported sighting the wreckage of a SNETA Farman Goliath aircraft that had ditched in the English Channel. [5]

On 7 August 1930 Tregenna ran aground at Alligator Pond, Jamaica. [6] She was refloated on 10 August 1930 and returned to service. [7]

In 1933–34 the call sign GCDX [8] superseded Tregenna's code letters KBSW. [3]

Second World War service

From November 1939 to February 1940 Tregenna sailed from New Zealand via New South Wales and South Africa to Freetown in Sierra Leone, where she joined Convoy SL 18 to return to Liverpool in England. In March and April 1940 she sailed to and from northern Norway. She left Ålesund with Convoy HN 25 on 9 April, the day after the German invasion of Norway began. [9]

From May 1940 Tregenna made transatlantic crossings to bring steel from Philadelphia to South Wales, sailing eastbound in HX convoys from Halifax, Nova Scotia to UK waters. That June she sailed in Convoy HX 49, and discharged her cargo in Swansea. [10]

Loss

On 1 September Tregenna left Philadelphia carrying 8,000 tons of steel bound for Newport. [11] On 5 September she joined Convoy HX 71 from Halifax. HX 91 had nine columns, and Tregenna was the first ship of the ninth column. [12]

On 17 September HX 71 was in the Western Approaches west of Scotland. At 1626 hrs that afternoon U-65 hit Tregenna with one torpedo 78 nautical miles (144 km) northwest of Rockall. Tregenna sank rapidly, killing her Master, 31 members of her crew and a DEMS gunner. Another member of HX 71, the cargo ship Filleigh, rescued four survivors and landed them at Avonmouth. [11]

See also

SS Tregarthen

Related Research Articles

SS <i>Akaroa</i> (1914)

SS Akaroa was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1914 in Ireland as Euripides for Aberdeen Line. When new, she was the largest ship in the Aberdeen Line fleet.

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

SS Clan Macwhirter was a British cargo steamship. She was built in 1918 as Ypresville in the First World War and sunk by enemy action in 1942 in the Second World War. In her 24-year career she also carried the names Halizones and Willcasino.

SS <i>City of Venice</i>

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 Beatus was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1925, sailed in a number of transatlantic convoys in 1940 and was sunk by a U-boat that October.

SS <i>Somersby</i>

SS Somersby was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1930, sailed in a number of convoys in the Second World War and was sunk by a U-boat in 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 <i>Scoresby</i>

SS Scoresby was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1923, sailed in a number of transatlantic convoys in 1940, and was sunk by a U-boat that October.

SS <i>Sarpedon</i> (1923)

SS Sarpedon was a UK steam turbine passenger and refrigerated cargo liner launched in 1923. She was the fourth of six ships to bear the name.

HMS <i>Hilary</i> (1940) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

SS Hilary was a British steam passenger liner that was built in 1931 and scrapped in 1959. She spent much of her career on a scheduled service between Liverpool in England and Manaus in Brazil.

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 <i>Westernland</i>

SS Westernland was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched as Regina in Scotland in 1917, renamed Westernland in 1929 and was scrapped in 1947. She began her career as a troop ship repatriating US troops after the Armistice of 11 November 1918. In the Second World War, Westernland served as a troop ship, repair ship and destroyer depot ship.

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.

SS Huntingdon was a refrigerated steam cargo liner that was built in Germany in 1920 as Münsterland. The United Kingdom took her as war reparations and sold her to the Federal Steam Navigation Company, who renamed her Huntingdon. She operated between Britain and Australasia until 1941, when an Italian submarine sank her in the Atlantic Ocean.

SS Jumna was a steam passenger liner that was built in Scotland in 1929 and sunk with all hands by a German cruiser on Christmas Day 1940. She was a ship in the fleet of James Nourse, Ltd, whose trade included taking indentured labourers from India to the British West Indies.

SS Florian was an Ellerman Lines cargo steamship that was launched in 1939 and completed in 1940. A U-boat sank her with all hands in 1941 in the Battle of the Atlantic.

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.

SS Algarve was a Danish cargo steamship that was built in 1921 for DFDS. After Germany invaded Denmark in April 1940 Algarve was transferred to the UK Ministry of War Transport. In 1941 an E-boat sank her with all hands in the North Sea.

SS Pennington Court was a British cargo steamship. She was launched in 1924 as Rochdale and renamed Pennington Court in 1927. In the Second World War she carried iron ore, grain and other supplies to Britain. She was sunk with all hands in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942.

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.

References

  1. ↑ "War A – War B". WW1 Standard Ships. Mariners. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Tregenna". Tees Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Steamers & Motorships". Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. I. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1932. Retrieved 10 April 2021– via Southampton City Council.
  4. ↑ Allen, Tony; Lettens, Jan (1 December 2018). "SS Tregenna (+1940)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Wreck of an air mail". The Times. No. 42810. London. 27 August 1921. col F, p. 9.
  6. ↑ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 45587. London. 9 August 1930. col F, p. 19.
  7. ↑ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 45589. London. 12 August 1930. col G, p. 15.
  8. ↑ "Steamers & Motorships". Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. I. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1934. Retrieved 10 April 2021– via Southampton City Council.
  9. ↑ Hague, Arnold. "Ship Movements". Port Arrivals/ Departures. Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Hague, Arnold. "Convoy HX.49". HX Convoy Series. Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  11. 1 2 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Tregenna". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Hague, Arnold. "Convoy HX.71". HX Convoy Series. Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 10 April 2021.

Coordinates: 58°22′N15°42′W / 58.367°N 15.700°W / 58.367; -15.700

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.