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.
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Fairport |
| Owner | Waterman Steamship Company[1] |
| Port of registry |  Mobile, Alabama[2] |
| Builder | |
| Yard number | 1[3] |
| Launched | 15 November 1941[3] |
| Completed | April 1942[3] |
| Fate | Sunk by U-161, 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 |
|
Career
editFairport 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′N 64°33′W / 27.167°N 64.550°W 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
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Browning, p. 187.
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Fairport (2241559)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
- ^ Colton, Time. "Halter Marine - Chickasaw, Chickasaw AL". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Companies. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
- ^ a b c Helgason, Guðmundur. "Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Fairport". Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
References
edit- 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.