Date of attack
3 Jan 1944
Fate
Sunk by U-744 (Heinz Blischke)
Position
60° 50'N, 22° 07'W - Grid AE 7877
Complement
46 (1 dead and 45 survivors).
This is not Empire Housman but a vessel of identical design
Torpedoed and Sunk in The North Atlantic - 1944
Empire Housman
Left Tyne
For New York
Lost 3 January 1944 |
Fate
|
|
Master
|
D J Lewis
|
Survived
|
|
Second Officer
|
L Bambrough
|
Lost
|
Convoy
ON-217 (straggler)
Route
Tyne - Loch Ewe (24 Dec) - New York
Cargo
Ballast
History
Built for Ministry of War Transport (MoWT)
Notes on event
On 30 Dec 1943, U-545 (Mannesmann) fired four torpedoes at convoy ON-217 in 60°30N/24°35W and heard four detonations. Mannesmann claimed hits on four ships and observed one ship sinking on 1 January. However, the only ship hit was Empire Housman (Master David John Lewis), which did not sink after this attack.
At 03.55 hours on 3 Jan 1944 the Empire Housman, now straggling from convoy, was hit by two torpedoes from U-744 and foundered two days later. One crew member was lost.
The master, 37 crew members and seven gunners were picked up by HMS Elm (T 105) (Lt K.A. Grant) and HMS Earner (W 143) and landed at Reykjavik.
