SS Corinthic

The SS "Corinthic" was a steam merchant ship that sailed under the British flag during the Second World War. She was involved in a number of convoys before being sunk by a German U-boat whilst travelling unescorted off the West African coast.

Early career

"Corinthic" was built in 1924 by Irvine's Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co Ltd, Middleton Shipyard, West Hartlepool. She entered service with W.H. Cockerline & Co, of Hull and was homeported in that city. [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/875.html Uboat.net] ] During the Second World War she sailed in a number of convoys for protection against the U-boat threat. She started off making short trips between UK ports, followed by sailings into the Atlantic as part of the OB convoys. These would be escorted out of British waters before proceeding independently to North American ports. She was also part of the ill-fated convoy SC-7, which sailed from Sydney, Nova Scotia on 5 October 1940. The convoy was overwhelmed by U-boats in a wolf pack attack, losing 20 out of the 35 merchants. [ [http://uboat.net/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=SC-7 Convoy SC-7] ] "Corinthic", carrying a cargo of steel and scrap metal, was one of the few to escape unscathed. [ [http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/sc/index.html?sc.php?convoy=7!~scmain SC-7's composition] ]

inking

"Corinthic" shifted operations to the South Atlantic in early 1941. Her final voyage was to take her from Rosario to the UK via Freetown. She carried a cargo of 7,710 tons of grain and was under the command of her master, Townson Ridley. On 13 April 1941 she was spotted by "U-124" whilst sailing southwest of Freetown. The "U-124", under the command of Georg-Wilhelm Schulz was on her fourth, and most successful patrol, having already sunk ten merchants. She torpedoed the "Corinthic" at 22.29 hours, which sank shortly after with the loss of two of her crew members. The master, 36 crew members and two gunners abandoned ship and survived to be picked up by the Dutch tanker "Malvina" and were landed at Freetown.

References

* [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/875.html SS Corinthic at Uboat.net]
* [http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html Corinthic's convoys at the convoy web]