Napier Star (ship, 1926)
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The Napier Star (I) was a 1927 commissioned cargo and passenger ship of the British shipping company Blue Star Line , which was built for the transatlantic liner service. The ship was sunk by the German submarine U 100 in December 1940 , killing 84 passengers and crew.
The ship
The motor ship Napier Star was built in 1926 for the British shipping company Blue Star Line based in London at the Lithgows shipyard in Port Glasgow (Scotland) and was launched there on August 5, 1926 under the name Raleighstar . In March 1927, the ship was completed under the name Napierstar . The combined passenger and cargo ship was 145.08 meters long, 20.51 meters wide and had a maximum draft of 11.16 meters. The Napierstar measured 10,583 GRT and 6527 NRT when completed. It had a chimney, two masts, two screws and was powered by four sets of Parsons turbines , which made 1582 nominal horsepower. She belonged to a quartet of sister ships that the Blue Star Line put into service in the mid-1926-27 years. The others were the Afric Star (Bj. 1926, 11,900 GRT), the Stuart Star (Bj. 1926, 10,646 GRT) and the Rodney Star (Bj. 1927, 10,583 GRT). She was the last of these four ships to be completed, two of which were built by Lithgows in Port Glasgow and Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company in Jarrow. The cost of construction was £ 210,000 .
In 1929 the name of the ship was changed from Napierstar to Napier Star . In 1932 she collided with the tug Hercules on the Tyne , which capsized and sank in the middle of the river. Three people drowned. In 1935, the ship, like many others of the Blue Star Line, with a bow of Maier form provided -type. The length of the ship thus increased from 145.08 to 156.45 meters. However, the tonnage decreased slightly to 10,116 GRT / 6187 NRT.
On August 18, 1935, the Napier Star collided on a crossing from Glasgow to Liverpool with the much larger Laurentic of the White Star Line . The accident occurred about 40 miles in front of the Mersey Bar lightship in thick fog. Six crew members were killed in the collision on the Laurentic . After the Napier Star's cargo had been reloaded onto the Fresno Star in Liverpool , it was brought to the Tyne for repairs.
Sinking
On Sunday, December 15, 1940, the Napier Star left Liverpool under the command of Captain William Walsh for a crossing to New Zealand via the Panama Canal . On board were 82 crew members, 17 passengers (including three women) and 8,200 tons of cargo. Due to her top speed of 15 knots, the Napier Star drove through other ships without an escort . The ship was on a very north-facing course that brought it close to the coast of Iceland . At this time, German submarines were already operating in very remote areas and were also using pack tactics . This led to ever increasing losses of allied shipping space.
On the afternoon of December 18, the Napier Star was steaming about 300 nautical miles south of Iceland in a westerly direction at a speed of 13 knots . The wind was strong from the south-southwest, the sea was churned, it was raining heavily and the sky was overcast. 321 nautical miles from the Rockall rock, the Napier Star was hit by a torpedo from U 100 (Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke ). The torpedo hit the port side and triggered a violent explosion that threw a column of water into the air that destroyed one of the lifeboats . The ship heeled to port and began to sink over the stern . Captain Walsh ordered the ship to be abandoned. Shortly thereafter, a second torpedo hit the ship, which is 20 minutes later at the position 58 ° 58 ' N , 23 ° 13' W went down.
The lifeboat, which was under the command of Second Officer John Wilson Thompson, was the only one that survived the rough seas and stormy weather. It had a total of 14 crew members and six passengers, including the three women, on board. Only four of the crew members were seafarers. Thompson could make out three other boats in the vicinity, but the rough seas prevented him from reaching them. During the first night the wind and waves increased more and more; Waves broke over the boat and filled it with water, so that the occupants had to constantly exhaust it. Almost everyone got seasick. Once the boat almost capsized after the temporary anchor was torn away. Four people died on the first night; their bodies were handed over to the lake the following morning.
On the morning of December 20, the boat was sighted by the 3406 GRT Swedish motor ship Vaalaren . There were now only 15 people left, including the three women. They were picked up by the Vaalaren and brought ashore in Liverpool on December 23rd . No other survivors were found. 84 people were killed in the sinking of the Napier Star , including the captain.
The Napier Star was the last ship sunk by the U 100 . The submarine was sunk by a British destroyer three months later .