Hertford (1920)

SS ''Hertford'' was a refrigerated cargo steamship that was launched in Germany in 1917, seized by the United Kingdom in 1920 as World War I reparations, and sunk by a U-boat in 1942 with the loss of four members of her crew.

She was launched as ''Rheinland'' for Hamburg America Line, but was completed in 1920 as ''Friesland''. The UK Shipping Controller seized her that same year, and in 1922 sold her to the Federal Steam Navigation Co Ltd, who renamed her ''Hertford''.

This was the first of two ships in the Federal Steam fleet to be called ''Hertford''. The second was a motor ship that was built in England in 1948, transferred to P&O in 1973, sold and renamed in 1976 and scrapped in 1985.

Building

Bremer Vulkan built ''Rheinland'' at Bremen-Vegesack, launching her in October 1917. Bremer Vulkan then built her sister ships ''Sauerland'' in 1918, ''Wendland'' in 1919 and ''Münsterland'' in 1920.

The First World War delayed ''Rheinland''s completion until June 1920, when HAPAG renamed her ''Friesland''. Her registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . As built, her tonnages were and . Her holds had of refrigerated cargo space. ''Rheinland'' had two screws, each driven by a triple expansion engine.

In 1920 the UK Government seized ''Friesland'' and her three sisters under Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles. ''Friesland'' was given the UK official number 145104 and code letters KGFB and registered in London. The Shipping Controller placed her under the management of Glen Line of London.

Federal Steam fleet

Federal Steam operated a cargo liner service between New Zealand, Australia and the UK, bringing refrigerated produce to the UK and general cargo to Australia and New Zealand. The company lost three cargo ships to enemy action in the First World War.

The UK Government supplied ''Friesland'' and her three sisters to Federal Steam as reparations. Federal Steam named its ships after English counties or county towns. ''Friesland'' became ''Hertford'', ''Sauerland'' became ''Norfolk'', ''Wendland'' became ''Cumberland'' and ''Münsterland'' became ''Huntingdon''.

By 1930 Bremer Vulkan had supplied ''Hertford'' with a pair of Bauer-Wach exhaust turbines. Each turbine was powered by the exhaust steam from the low-pressure cylinder of one of her piston engines, and drove the same propeller shaft as that piston engine via a Föttinger fluid coupling. The turbines increased ''Huntingdon''s fuel efficiency, raised her total power to 1,290 NHP and gave her a speed of .

Also by 1930 ''Hertford''s navigation equipment included wireless direction finding.

In 1934 the call sign GDKB superseded ''Hertford''s code letters. From 1937 her net register tonnage was repeatedly revised. By 1941 it was finally assessed as 6,776 tons.

Second World War service

In the Second World War ''Hertford'' continued her trade between Australasia and Britain. Occasionally she sailed in convoys, but mostly she sailed unescorted. In December 1939, May 1940 and March 1942 she passed through the Panama Canal. In August 1940 she called at Cape Town and Freetown en route from Fremantle to Liverpool.

Mine damage and repair

In November 1940 the planted three rows of mines across the mouth of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia. On 3 December ''Hertford'' left Fremantle carrying 6,000 tons of general cargo. On 7 December she struck one of ''Pinguin''s mines off Liguanea Island, about west-southwest of the Neptune Islands.

The mine blew a hole in ''Hertford''s side, ruptured her fuel oil bunkers and damaged her frame, but she remained afloat. She was towed to Port Lincoln for initial repairs. She was then towed to Outer Harbor, where divers made temporary repairs strong enough for her to steam to Sydney to be dry docked and permanently repaired.

Loss

''Hertford'' returned to service on 20 January 1942, loaded general cargo, and left Sydney two days later. She spent eight days in Brisbane loading further general cargo, followed by six days in Wellington loading lamb, pork and beef. She passed through the Panama Canal on 18–19 March and then set course for Halifax, Nova Scotia to join a convoy to Britain.

On 29 March 1942 ''Hertford'' was zigzagging at when fired two torpedoes at her about south of Halifax. One hit her number four hold near her engine room bulkhead, killing her seventh engineer, a stoker and a greaser who were on watch, and destroying one of her four lifeboats.

''Hertford'' settled rapidly by her stern, and her surviving crew abandoned ship in her remaining three lifeboats. At 2131 hrs a further torpedo from ''U-571'' hit her, and she sank four minutes later.

The lifeboats became separated. On 1 April the Glen Line cargo steamship ''Glenstrae'', en route from New York to Halifax, found one of the boats and rescued its 21 occupants. Two days later another lifeboat, commanded by ''Hertford''s Master, John Tuckett, and carrying 18 other members of her crew, reached land at Liverpool, Nova Scotia. One of its occupants, Chief Steward Benjamin McMahon, had caught pneumonia and died in hospital.

Five days later the Furness Red Cross coastal passenger liner ''Fort Townshend'' found the remaining boat and rescued its 18 occupants, who included two DEMS gunners. ''Fort Townshend'' landed the survivors at Halifax, where some of them were hospitalised with frostbite. One of the Second Engineer's legs was amputated, and both of the second refrigerating engineer's legs were amputated below the knee.

See also

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References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertford, SS
1917 ships
Maritime history of Australia
Maritime incidents in December 1940
Maritime incidents in March 1942
Ships built in Bremen (state)
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Steamships of Germany
Steamships of the United Kingdom
World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom
World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean