SS ''Fiscus'' was a UK cargo steamship that was built in 1928, served in 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 ...

and was sunk by 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 ...

in 1940.

Building

Northumberland Shipbuilding Co (1927) Ltd of

Howdon Howdon is a largely residential area in the eastern part of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. It consists of High Howdon and the smaller settlement of East Howdon. Much of the High Howdon area was formerly called Willington prior to post-World W ...

-on-Tyne built ''Fiscus'', completing her in April 1928. She had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of that heated three 180 lb_f/in² single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of . The boilers fed a three-cylinder

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

that was rated at 432

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 drove a single screw. The engine was built by the North Eastern Marine Engineering Co, Ltd of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. ''Fiscus'' was registered in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, managed by W.H. Seager & Co Ltd and owned by another of William Seager's companies, Tempus Shipping Co, Ltd.

Wartime career

''Fiscus'' was sailing in convoys by May 1940, when she sailed in Convoy OB 152 from

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of t ...

as far as Canada and then continued unescorted to Charleston, South Carolina. In July 1940 she brought a cargo of scrap iron across the North Atlantic to the UK ''via''

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, where she joined Convoy BHX 55 and Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, where BHX 55 joined Convoy HX 55. In September ''Fiscus'' again crossed to North America, this time in Convoy OB 208 from Liverpool to Canada.

Convoy SC 7 and sinking

Early in October 1940 ''Fiscus'' left

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, carrying a cargo of steel, timber and a deck cargo of crated aircraft bound for the River Clyde in Scotland. Her

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

was Ebenezer Williams. She went ''via'' Sydney, Nova Scotia, where she joined

Convoy SC 7 SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, ...

which was bound for Liverpool. SC 7 left Sydney on 5 October. At first the convoy had only one escort ship, the sloop . A wolf pack of

s found the convoy on 16 October and quickly overwhelmed it, sinking many ships over the next few days. At 2355 hours on 18 October SC 7 was east of

Rockall Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland. ...

in the

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

when the commanded by

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer an ...

Otto Kretschmer Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War. From September 1939 until his capture in March 1941 he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. For ...

torpedoed ''Fiscus''. The steamship sank almost immediately, killing Captain Williams, 36 crew members and one DEMS gunner were lost. One man survived. A lifeboat from the Norwegian cargo steamship , which had been sunk earlier by ''U-99'', sighted him standing on some débris and took him aboard. The rescued him and ''Snefjeld''s survivors on 23 October. ''Fiscus'' fatalities included two of the youngest killed in UK Merchant Navy service in the Second World War. Brothers Kenneth and Raymond Lewis from Wales were 14 and 15 years old respectively. They had joined ''Fiscus'' crew a few months earlier using a forged letter purporting to be from their father giving them permission to go to sea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiscus 1928 ships Maritime incidents in October 1940 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Tyne World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean