SS ''Manistee'' was an Elders & Fyffes Ltd

banana boat Banana Boat is a Polish a cappella sextet, authoring and performing original songs representing the genre of neo-shanties. Being one of the pioneers of the new genre, the group retains its simultaneous focus on contemporary interpretations of ...

that was launched in 1920. She was one of a numerous class of similar banana boats built for Elders & Fyffes in the 1920s. In 1940 the British Admiralty requisitioned ''Manistee'' and had her converted into an

ocean boarding vessel Ocean boarding vessels (OBVs) were merchant ships taken over by the Royal Navy during the Second World War for the purpose of enforcing wartime blockades by intercepting and boarding foreign vessels. Ships See also *Armed boarding steamer � ...

. She was a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic until a

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

sank her in 1941. None of her 141 crew survived. She was the second of four Elders & Fyffes ships called ''Manistee''. The first was built in 1904 and sunk by a U-boat in 1917. The third was built in 1932 as ''Eros'', bought in 1946 and renamed ''Manistee'', and scrapped in 1960. The fourth was built in 1972, transferred out of the Elders & Fyffes fleet in 1983, renamed ''Fleet Wave'' in 1984 and ''Mimoza'' in 1990.

Building

Cammell Laird launched ''Manistee'' in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

on 28 October 1920 and completed her in January 1921. She was the third of 16 similar banana boats launched for Elders & Fyffes between 1919 and 1929. Ten were built by Cammell Laird, two by Workman, Clark in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and four by

Alexander Stephen and Sons Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Glasgow, on the River Clyde and, initially, on the east coast of Scotland. History The co ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. ''Manistee''s registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . Her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...

s were and . Her holds had of refrigerated cargo space. ''Manistee'' had a

triple expansion engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tr ...

that was rated at 447

NHP Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

and gave her a speed of . ''Manistee''s navigation equipment included submarine signalling and wireless

direction finding Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio stati ...

. In 1934 an

echo sounding Echo sounding or depth sounding is the use of sonar for ranging, normally to determine the depth of water (bathymetry). It involves transmitting acoustic waves into water and recording the time interval between emission and return of a pulse; ...

device was added, and the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

GDCX superseded her code letters KLBH.

Civilian service

Elders & Fyffes' main route was from

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. It also served

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Es ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, Swansea,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and Costa Rica. Elders & Fyffes ships carried mail, general cargo and first class passengers as well as bananas. For the first year of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

''Manistee'' remained in merchant service. Between October 1939 and August 1940 she made trips from Britain to Jamaica, Santa Marta in Colombia,

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, British Cameroon, Cameroon, and Sydney, Nova Scotia. On 7 July 1940 ''Manistee'' was in the

Southwest Approaches The Southwest Approaches is the name given to the offshore waters to the southwest of Great Britain and Ireland. The area includes the Celtic Sea, the Bristol Channel and sea areas off southwest Ireland. The area is bordered on the north by the S ...

southwest of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, returning unescorted from Cameroon, when fired one torpedo at her. It missed, so ''U-99'' surfaced and opened fire with her 88 mm deck gun. ''Manistee'' returned fire with her DEMS armament. Neither vessel scored any hits, and ''U-99'' broke off the attack.

Naval service

The Admiralty requisitioned ''Manistee'' on 14 September 1940. She was armed with two

QF 6-inch naval gun The QF 6-inch 40 calibre naval gun ( Quick-Firing) was used by many United Kingdom-built warships around the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century. In UK service it was known as the QF 6-inch Mk I, II, III guns.Mk I, II and II ...

s, one

QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun The QF 12-pounder 12-cwt gun (abbreviated as Q.F. 12-pdr. (12-cwt.)Gun ...

and one anti-aircraft gun. In December 1940 she was commissioned into the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

with pennant number F 104. Her commander was Lt Cdr Eric Haydn Smith,

RNR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

. HMS ''Manistee'' was one of the escorts of Convoy OB 288, which left Liverpool on 18 February 1941. OB 288 dispersed in the North Atlantic at 2100 hours on 23 February northwest of Ireland and south of Iceland due to U-boat activity in the area. At 2242 (

Berlin Time The time zone in Germany is Central European Time (, ''MEZ''; UTC+01:00) and Central European Summer Time (, ''MESZ''; UTC+02:00). Daylight saving time is observed from the last Sunday in March (02:00 CET) to the last Sunday in October (03:00 CES ...

) the fired two torpedoes at ''Manistee'' at position . One hit her in the engine room. At 2256 hrs the fired torpedoes at ''Manistee'', and claimed that one hit her stern. ''Manistee'' stayed afloat, so at 2258 hrs ''U-107'' fired at her again, but missed as ''Manistee'' got under way again. At 2342 hrs ''U-107'' fired a torpedo from one of her stern tubes, which also missed. ''Manistee'' made and zig-zagged as ''U-107'' chased her through the night. At 0758 hrs ''U-107'' fired two more torpedoes, one of which hit ''Manistee''s stern and sank her. The destroyer , corvette and

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

destroyer were sent to search for survivors, but none of her 141 crew was found.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manistee (1920) 1920 ships Maritime incidents in February 1941 Ships built on the River Mersey Ships lost with all hands Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean