Date of attack

17 Oct 1939

Fate

Sunk by U-48 (Herbert Schultze)

Position 44.57N, 13.40W - Grid BE 9153

Clan Chisholm was one of the Clan Line's Cameron-class steamships, built by the Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd, Greenock and launched on 5 August 1937. She was registered in Glasgow.

Complement

78 (4 dead and 74 survivors).

Convoy

HG-3

Route

Calcutta - Liverpool - Glasgow

Cargo

3300 tons of tea, 1900 tons of jute, 1750 tons of pig iron and 2600 tons of general cargo, including coconuts and cotton

Notes on loss  

At 20.35 hours on 17 Oct, 1939, the Clan Chisholm (Master Francis T. Stenson) in convoy HG-3 was hit aft by one torpedo from U-48 and sank about 150 miles northwest of Cape Finisterre.

The ship had been hit by a dud torpedo at 20.32 hours. Four crew members were lost.

The master and 41 survivors were picked up by the Swedish motor merchant Bardaland and landed at Kirkwall. 17 crew members were picked up by the Norwegian whaler Skudd and 15 others by the Warwick Castle.

Clan Chisholm had a pair of three-cylinder steam triple expansion engines and a pair of low pressure steam turbines, all built by J.G. Kincaid & Co of Greenock. Each turbine was powered by exhaust steam from the low-pressure cylinder of one of the piston engines. The combined power output of this plant was rated at 1,043 NHP.

She was propelled by twin screws, each driven by one triple-expansion engine and one turbine.

The SS Clan Chisholm was a British cargo steamer. She was torpedoed and sunk in the Second World War whilst carrying supplies from India to the United Kingdom.

The Clan Chisholm was one of the Clan Line's Cameron class of steam merchant ship, Built by the Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd, Greenock and launched on 5 August 1937. She was homeported in Glasgow.

She was used during the Second World War to bring supplies to Britain.

Her last voyage was in 1939 with convoy HG-3, from Calcutta to Glasgow, via Liverpool. She was under the command of her master, Francis T. Stenson and carried 9,550 tons of general cargo, including pig iron, jute and tea.