''Irish Pine'' was a cargo ship which was built in 1919 for the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

(USMC) and named ''West Hematite''. She was chartered in 1941 by Irish Shipping Ltd and renamed ''Irish Pine''. On 16 November 1942, ''Irish Pine'' was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

ed and sunk by .

Description

The ship was built to Design 1013 by J. F. Duthie & Company,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, was launched on 26 April 1919 and completed in June of that year. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was propelled by a

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 ...

which had cylinders of , and bore and stroke. It was built by the Llewellyn Iron Works,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. She could make . ''Irish Pine'' was recorded in

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

as being long, with a beam of and a depth of .

History

''West Hematite'' was built for the USMC. She was initially chartered to Cosmo Shipping Co and was used on the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

–

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

–

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

– New York route. On 16 February 1923, she ran aground in the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

. The American cargo ship went to her assistance and also ran aground. By 1933, she had passed to the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

(USSB). She was later withdrawn from service and placed in the reserve fleet. The Seamen's Memorial - Limerick City (35173970954)

On 26 September 1941, ''West Hematite'' was chartered from the USSB by Irish Shipping Ltd and renamed ''Irish Pine''. was also chartered from the USSB. On 4 August 1942, the Union-Castle Line's was torpedoed and sunk by off Cape Farewell. ''Irish Pine'' rescued 15 of the 50 survivors and landed them at Kilrush. At 00:15 on 16 November 1942, ''Irish Pine'' was hit by a single torpedo from ''U-608''. Although the 33 crew started to take to the

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

, the ship sank at 00:17, costing everyone on board their life. Her position was , in the North Atlantic south of Cape Breton Island, Canada.

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 ...

had not declared war on

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and therefore ''Irish Pine'' was a neutral vessel.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owne ...

s. ''West Hematite'' had the United States Official Number 218111. Irish Pine had the United Kingdom Official Number 159843. ''West Hematite'' used the Code Letters LRGF from 1930 and KLCS from 1934. ''Irish Pine'' used the Code Letters EINQ.

References

External links

Irishships - Irish Shipping Ltd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Pine 1919 ships Ships built by J. F. Duthie & Company Steamships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the Republic of Ireland World War II merchant ships of the Republic of Ireland Independent Ireland in World War II Maritime history of Ireland Maritime incidents in 1923 Maritime incidents in November 1942 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships lost with all hands Design 1013 ships