HMS ''Niger'' was a of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. She was launched in 1936 and was sunk during 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. On 5 July 1942, the vessel sailed into a

minefield A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

while escorting

Convoy QP 13 Convoy QP 13 was an Arctic convoy of the PQ/QP series which ran during the Second World War. It was the thirteenth of the numbered series of convoys of merchant ships westbound from the Arctic ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk to the United Kingd ...

and struck one of the mines, later sinking with only eight survivors.

Service history

In fog on 5 July 1942 ''Niger'' mistook an iceberg for

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

's North Western Cape and led six merchant ships of

Murmansk Murmansk ( Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. " Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ ...

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 pop ...

convoy QP 13 Convoy QP 13 was an Arctic convoy of the PQ/QP series which ran during the Second World War. It was the thirteenth of the numbered series of convoys of merchant ships westbound from the Arctic ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk to the United Kingd ...

into

Northern Barrage The Northern Barrage was the name given to minefields laid by the British during World War II to restrict German access to the Atlantic Ocean. The barrage stretched from the Orkney to the Faroe Islands and on toward Iceland. Mines were also lai ...

minefield SN72 laid one month earlier at the entrance to the

Denmark Strait The Denmark Strait () or Greenland Strait ( , 'Greenland Sound') is an oceanic strait between Greenland to its northwest and Iceland to its southeast. The Norwegian island of Jan Mayen lies northeast of the strait. Geography The strait connec ...

. Every ship detonated British

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging * Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

. There were no crewmen lost aboard the Soviet freighter ''Rodina'' (4,441 GRT), the

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 ...

nian-flagged freighter ''Exterminator'' (6,115 GRT), or the American freighter ''Hybert'' (6,120 GRT); but 46 civilian crew and 9

Naval Armed Guard United States Navy Armed Guard units were established during World War II and headquartered in New Orleans.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 2 ...

s died aboard the American

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost constr ...

''John Randolph'' (7,191 GRT) and freighters ''Hefron'' (7,611 GRT) and ''Massmar'' (5,825 GRT); and there were only eight survivors of the 127 men aboard ''Niger''. Only ''Exterminator'' could be salvaged. The value of the Northern Barrage was questioned following the accident.

References

External links

UBoat.net HMS ''Niger'' page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niger (J73) Halcyon-class minesweepers Ships built on the Isle of Wight 1936 ships World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in July 1942 Ships sunk by mines