El Capitan (ship, 1917)
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El Capitan , 1917
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The El Capitan was an American cargo ship , which the First and Second World War made on behalf of the United States military service. It was bombed on July 9, 1942 as part of the Northern Sea Convoy PQ 17 by several Junkers Ju 88s of Kampfgeschwader 30 . After the entire crew could disembark in an orderly manner, U 251 sank the abandoned ship on July 10, 1942 . ( Location )
history
The Southern Pacific Company had commissioned the El Capitan from Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Before she was even delivered, the state-owned United States Shipping Board took control of the ship. The reason for this was the imminent entry of the United States into the First World War.
During the Second World War, she had been traveling under the Panamanian flag for the state-owned US Lines Inc. New York since June 26, 1941. On July 8, 1942, Captain John E. Therik steered her as part of the convoy PQ 17 when she took 19 survivors of the freighter John Witherspoon in the Barents Sea , which had been sunk by U 255 two days earlier . On July 9, 1942, the convoy was attacked by German aircraft 65 miles northeast of Iokanga . Three bombs fell on and near the El Capitan , causing compartments 4 and 5 to fill with water. The ship had to be abandoned and all 37 crew members, 11 members of the army and 19 castaways were taken over by the HMS Lord Austin , while the ship was left to its further fate. After the crew had been rescued, attempts were made to sink the ship with gunfire. After this failed, the wreck was sunk on July 10, 1942 at 0.45 a.m. by torpedo fire from U 251 .
During the Second World War she took part in the following convoy trains.
| Convoy | time | Port of departure | Destination port |
|---|---|---|---|
| HX 156 | October 1941 | Halifax ( location ) | Liverpool ( location ) |
| PQ 3 | November 1941 | Hvalfjörður | Arkhangelsk ( location ) |
| QP 4 | January 1942 | Arkhangelsk | Seyðisfjörður |
| WN 238 | January 1942 | Oban ( location ) | Methil ( location ) |
| FS 715 | February 1942 | Methil | Southend ( location ) |
| FN 642 | February 1942 | Southend | Methil |
| EN 53 | March 1942 | Methil | Oban |
| SC 81 | April 1942 | Halifax | Liverpool |
| UR 25 | May 1942 | Loch Ewe | Reykjavík |
| PQ 17 | July 1942 | Reykjavík |
literature
Sawyer, LA, Mitchell, WH: The Empire Ships . Lloyd's of London Press Ltd, London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong 1995, ISBN 1-85044-275-4 , pp. 86, 286, 396 .
Web links
- Sinking of El Capitan (English)
Footnotes
- ^ Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed May 9, 2017.
Map with all coordinates: