Fort Franklin

A typical design of a Vancouver built Fort class

Date of attack

16 Jul 1943

Fate

Sunk by U-181 (Wolfgang Lüth)

Position

22° 36'S, 51° 22'E - Grid KF 9759

Complement

55 (5 dead and 50 survivors).

Route

Port Said - Aden (1 Jul) - Lourenco Marques - Durban

Cargo

1500 tons of salt as ballast

Fort Franklin Left Port Said For Durban via Aden & lourenco Marques Lost 16 July 1943		Fate
Master	T W Trott	Survived
Deck Officer	F Leary	Survived
Radio Officer	P A Colling	Survived
Chief Engineer	D Shaw	Lost
Third Engineer	L G Morgan	Survived
Greaser	M Lynch	Lost
Greaser & Cleaner	M Lynch	Lost
Fireman & Trimmers	C Andrew R W Armitage C N Thompson	All Lost
Firemen & Trimmer	N W Preece	Survived
Crew Member	W Pugh	Survived

History

Completed December 1942 for US War Shipping Administration (WSA), lend-leased on bareboat charter to British Ministry of War Transport (MoWT).

Notes on event

At 15.58 hours on 16 July 1943 the unescorted Fort Franklin (Master Thomas Witney Trott) was torpedoed and sunk by U-181 southwest of Reunion.

Four crew members were lost and another later died of injuries.

The master, 40 crew members and nine gunners made landfall after six days at Manajara, Madagascar.

Vessel

Built

Service

Tonnage

Fort Franklin

1942

1942 Managed by Dodd, Thompson

1943 Torpedoes and sunk in Indian Ocean

7135

Official Number

Ship Builder

Engine Builder

Engine Type

Screws

616071

West Coast Shipbuilders

Vancouver

John Inglis

Toronto

Steam 3 Cyl