Mendoza
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Mendoza | ||
| Type: | Troop transport | ||
| Tonnage | 8.233 tons | ||
| Completed | 1919 - Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend, Sunderland | ||
| Owner | Alfred Holt & Co, Liverpool | ||
| Homeport | Glasgow | ||
| Date of attack | 1 Nov, 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-178 (Hans Ibbeken) | ||
| Position | 29.20S, 32.13E - Grid KP 8611 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 406 (26 dead and 380 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Mombasa (26 Oct) - Durban | ||
| Cargo | 253 military including naval personnel and 287 bags of mail | ||
| History | Built as French steam passenger ship Mendoza for Société Générale de Transports Maritimes à Vapeur SA, Marseilles. On 18 Feb, 1942, captured by the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Asturias, transferred to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and used as troop transport. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 15.33 hours on 1 Nov, 1942, the unescorted Mendoza (Master Basil T. Batho) was torpedoed and sunk by U-178 about 70 miles east-northeast of The Bluff near Durban. The master, 19 crew members, three gunners and three passengers were lost. 127 crew members, three gunners and 250 passengers were picked up by the South African armed whaler HMSAS Nigel (T 40) and the American merchant Cape Alava and landed at Durban. | ||
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