Tarifa
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Tarifa | ||
| Type: | Motor merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 7.229 tons | ||
| Completed | 1936 - F. Schichau GmbH, Elbing, Danzig | ||
| Owner | Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Oslo | ||
| Homeport | Tønsberg | ||
| Date of attack | 7 Mar, 1944 | Nationality:  Norwegian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-510 (Alfred Eick) | ||
| Position | 12.48N, 58.44E - Grid MQ 6751 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 149 (3 dead and 146 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | El-Quseir - Suez - Aden (2 Mar) - Melbourne | ||
| Cargo | General cargo, including 8240 tons of phosphate, 1290 tons of crude oil and 500 bags of mail | ||
| History | Completed in November 1936 | ||
| Notes on loss | On 7 Mar, 1944, the unescorted Tarifa (Master Hans Bjønness) was hit between #3 and #4 holds and near #5 hold by two torpedoes from U-510 about 250 miles east of Socotra. The ship had joined a convoy on 3 March, but continued alone on a zigzag course three days later near Ras al Hadd. The explosions destroyed the radio station and a lifeboat, so the master, 46 crew members, 101 military personnel from Australia and New Zealand (Capt A.I.F.S.R. Dawson) and one passenger on board abandoned ship in five lifeboats within 5 minutes and a few minutes before the ship sank. An Australian soldier and a gunner had been killed and another gunner fatally injured who was later buried at sea. The survivors were distributed between the boats that each took a raft in tow and then set sail for Socotra. The boat of the master with 22 men went ahead and made landfall at the RAF base on Socotra in the evening on 12 March. The next day, aircraft were sent out and located the remaining survivors within an hour. They were picked up by HMS Avon (K 97) (LtCdr P.G.A. King, DSC, RD, RNR) on 14 March and landed at Aden. | ||
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