Helenus
| Name | Helenus | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 7.366 tons | ||
| Completed | 1913 - Scottīs Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Greenock | ||
| Owner | Alfred Holt & Co, Liverpool | ||
| Homeport | Liverpool | ||
| Date of attack | 3 Mar, 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-68 (Karl-Friedrich Merten) | ||
| Position | 06.01N, 12.02W - Grid ET 6685 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 82 (6 dead and 76 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Penang, Malaya - Capetown (20 Feb) - Freetown - Liverpool | ||
| Cargo | General cargo, including 4248 tons of rubber and 1350 tons of copper | ||
| History | | ||
| Notes on loss | At 17.21 hours on 3 Mar, 1942, the unescorted Helenus (Master Philip Walter Savery) was hit by two torpedoes from U-68 and sank in a short time about 200 miles south of Freetown. One crew member, four gunners and one passenger were lost. The master, 73 crew members, one gunner and one passenger were picked up by the British merchant Beaconsfield and landed at Freetown on 5 March. Large parts of the cargo of rubber were later washed ashore in Takoradi. The master Philip Walter Savery also lost his next ship, the Agapenor to an U-boat, when she was sunk by U-87 (Berger) on 11 Oct, 1942. | ||
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