3 September 1939 requisitioned for Admiralty service as an Armed Merchant Cruiser

20 December 1939 commissioned as HMS Dunvegan Castle

17 May 1940 sailed Freetown in convoy SL32 - as one of the convoy escorts - to Dakar arriving 8 June 1940

15 June 1940 sailed Freetown in convoy SL36 - as one of the convoy escorts - to Liverpool arriving 3 July 1940

9 July 1940 sailed Freetown in convoy SL39 - as one of the convoy escorts - to Liverpool arriving 29 July 1940

27 August 1940 torpedoed by the German submarine U-46 west of Ireland 120 miles SW of Cape Clear in position 55.05N 11.00W while escorting convoy SL43 from Freetown to Belfast. She stopped in the water and caught fire

28 August 1940 foundered in position 54.54N 11.00W with the loss of 27 lives. 250 survivors were rescued by the destroyer HMS Harvester and the corvette HMS Primrose and were landed in Scotland

Date of attack

27 Aug 1940

Fate

Sunk by U-46 (Engelbert Endrass)

Position

55.05N, 11.00W - Grid AM 5482

Complement

277 (27 dead and 250 survivors).

Convoy

SL-43

Route

Freetown (11 Aug) - Belfast

History

Completed in August 1936 as motor passenger ship for Union-Castle Mail SS Co Ltd, London. On 7 Sep, 1939, requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to the armed merchant cruiser HMS Dunvegan Castle until 20 December.

Notes on loss  

At 21.47 hours on 27 Aug, 1940, HMS Dunvegan Castle (Capt H. Ardill (retired), RN), escorting convoy SL-43, was hit aft of the bridge by one torpedo from U-46 about 120 miles southwest of Cape Clear. As the ship continued, the U-boat fired two further torpedoes at 22.12 and 22.51 hours, which hit the engine room and just before the bridge. The vessel stopped, caught fire and foundered the next day in 54°54N/11°W. Three officers and 24 ratings were lost. The commander and 249 crew members (twelve of them wounded) were picked up by HMS Harvester (H 19) (LtCdr M. Thornton, RN) and HMS Primrose (K 91) and landed in Scotland.

Crewlists

We have listing of 31 people who were on this vessel