SS Clearton

The SS "Clearton" was a British steam merchant ship of 5,219 tons displacement. She was built in 1919 by Richardson, Duck & Co Ltd, Stockton-on-Tees for the shipping firm of R. Chapman & Son, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was homeported in Newcastle.

Career and loss

During the Second World War she was used on convoy duties, carrying vital food supplies to Britain. Her last convoy, SL-36, took her from Rosario, Argentina to Manchester, via Freetown, Sierra Leone, where she arrived on the 15th June 1940. She was carrying a cargo of 7,320 tons of cereals, commanded by her Master, John Edward Elsdon.

At 11.55 hours on 1 July, 1940, the "Clearton" was torpedoed and damaged by "U-102" about 180 miles west of Ushant. At 13.25 hours, the now straggling vessel was again torpedoed by the U-boat and sank 042° 240 miles from Smalls. Eight crew members were lost, out of a total complement of 34. The master, 24 crew members and one gunner were picked up by HMS "Vansittart", which had sunk U-102 shortly after the last attack and brought the survivors to Plymouth.

References

[http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/401.html SS Clearton at Uboat.net]