SS ''Somersby'' was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1930, sailed in a number of

convoys A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

in the Second World War 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 1941.

Building

W. Gray & Co Ltd of

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

built ''Somersby'', completing her in 1930. She had 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 built by the Central Machine Engineering Works, also of West Hartlepool. The engine was rated at 369

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. ''Somersby''s owner was Ropner Shipping Co, Ltd, which registered her in West Hartlepool.

Second World War career

By the end of 1939 ''Somersby'' was sailing in convoys. That December she sailed from

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 ...

to 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 ...

, with Convoy OB 53, and in late January 1940 she returned carrying a cargo of grain to the UK with Convoy HX 17. In March 1940 ''Somersby'' left Liverpool with Convoy OB 103, which merged with Convoy OA-103 west of

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

to form Convoy OG-21F to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. In April she brought a cargo of iron ore to the UK, sailing with Convoy HG-26F from Gibraltar to Liverpool. In June ''Somersby'' again brought iron ore to the UK, sailing with Convoy HG-33F from Gibraltar to Liverpool. In July ''Somersby'' left Liverpool for Canada, sailing with Convoy OB 180 until it dispersed in the North Atlantic. She returned in August with a cargo of grain, sailing with Convoy SHX 63 from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Halifax where SHX 63 joined Convoy HX 63 to Liverpool. In September ''Somersby'' left Britain for Canada, sailing with Convoy OA-209 from Methil in Scotland until it dispersed in the North Atlantic. She returned in October with a cargo of flour, sailing ''via'' Sydney, Nova Scotia, where she joined Convoy SC 7 bound for the UK. 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, but ''Somersby'' was one of the few that survived. She reached the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

, where she joined Convoy WN-25 that took her around Cape Wrath to Methil. ''Somersby'' sailed again across the North Atlantic to Canada ''via'' Convoy EN-30 from Methil to Oban at the end of November and then Convoy OB 253 at the beginning of December from Liverpool until it dispersed in the North Atlantic. In January and February 1941 she brought a cargo of grain to Britain, crossing the North Atlantic with Convoy SC 21 from Halifax and then joining Convoy WN-89 from the Clyde to Methil. In April 1941 ''Somersby'' again sailed from Britain to Canada, sailing with Convoy OB 308 from Liverpool until it dispersed in the North Atlantic.

Convoy SC 30 and sinking

At the end of April 1941 ''Somersby'' left Canada carrying 8,300 tons of grain destined for Hull. 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 John William Thompson. She went ''via'' Halifax, where she joined Convoy SC 30. SC 30 was bound for Liverpool, but ''Somersby'' was to leave the convoy off Scotland and proceed to

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notab ...

to join a convoy around Cape Wrath to the east coast of Britain. ''Somersby'' left Halifax with SC 30 on 29 April but orders were given to scatter the convoy, due to the presence of German U boats in the area. On the morning of 13 May she was southwest of

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

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 ...

Wilhelm Kleinschmidt, sighted her at 1141 hrs and fired two torpedoes. One struck the freighter amidships but she remained afloat. At 1246 hrs the U-boat fired a ''coup de grâce'' that hit ''Somersby''s bow, causing her to sink nose first and her rudder was out of the water. She sank fast. Captain Thompson, his 38 crew and four DEMS gunners all successfully abandoned ship. The conditions were calm with a slight swell. They survived and were rescued by the Greek cargo steamship Marika Protopapa, which landed them at Loch Ewe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somersby 1930 ships Maritime incidents in May 1941 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Steamships Ships built on the River Tees World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean