SS ''Scoresby'' was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1923, sailed in a number of transatlantic

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 1940, 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 ...

that October.

Building

Robert Thompson & Sons Ltd of Bridge Dockyard,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

built ''Scoresby''. She was launched on 18 December 1922 and completed in January 1923. ''Scoresby'' had eight corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of that heated two 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 436 NHP and drove a single screw. The engine was built by the North Eastern Marine Engineering Co, Ltd, also of Sunderland. ''Scoresby'' owner was Rowland and Marwood's Steam Ship Co, Ltd, who registered her in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

. She was managed by another Rowland and Marwood's company, Headlam & Sons.

Second World War career

By January 1940 ''Beatus'' was sailing in convoys. That month she sailed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

with Convoy OB 77 as far as the coast of Canada, whence she continued to San Domingo. In March she returned to the UK with a convoy of sugar, sailing ''via'' 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 En ...

where she joined Convoy HX 28 that reached Liverpool on 2 April. In May 1940 ''Scoresby'' crossed the North Atlantic from Britain to

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...

. She sailed with Convoy OA 150G from

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, which merged with Convoy OA 150G off

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 i ...

to form Convoy OG 30 to Gibraltar. In June she returned to the UK with a cargo of

pit prop A pit prop or mine prop (British and American usage, respectively) is a length of lumber used to prop up the roofs of tunnels in coal mines. Canada traditionally supplied pit props to the British market. As coal mining declined in importance and ...

s, sailing ''via'' Halifax, Nova Scotia where she joined Convoy HX 53 that reached Liverpool on 10 July. ''Scoresby'' spent the rest of July and August in home waters, sailing in short-haul convoys around Britain. Then on 31 August she sailed from

Methil Methil (Scottish Gaelic: Meadhchill) is an eastern coastal town in Scotland. It was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to the Bishop of St Andrews. Two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as ov ...

in Scotland with Convoy OA 207 to Canada.

Convoy SC 7 and sinking

''Scoresby'' sailed from

Corner Brook Corner Brook ( 2021 population: 19,333 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador. ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

with a cargo of of pit props bound for the Clyde in Scotland. She sailed ''via''

St. Francis Harbour, Nova Scotia St. Francis Harbour, is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough in Guysborough County Guysborough County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Histo ...

and

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and disso ...

, 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, ...

. 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 Lawrence Zebedee Weatherill, and she carried the Convoy Vice-Commodore. SC 7 left Sydney on 5 October. At first the convoy had only one escort ship, the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

. A wolf pack of

s found the convoy on 16 October and quickly overwhelmed it, sinking many ships over the next few days. At 0553 hrs on 17 October SC 7 was about northwest 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. ...

when , 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 ...

Heinrich Bleichrodt Heinrich Bleichrodt (21 October 1909 – 9 January 1977) was a German U-boat commander during the Second World War. From October 1939 until retiring from front line service in December 1943, he was credited with sinking 25 ships for a total of . ...

, fired three torpedoes at the convoy. Two ships were hit and sunk: ''Scoresby'' and the French

tanker Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum ta ...

. Captain Weatherill and his entire crew successfully abandoned ship, were rescued by the , and on 20 October were landed at

Gourock Gourock ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is ...

in Scotland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scoresby 1923 ships Maritime incidents in October 1940 Ships sunk with no fatalities Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Wear World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean