Rio Azul
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| Name | Rio Azul | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 4,088 tons | ||
| Completed | 1921 - Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Co Ltd, Blyth | ||
| Owner | Thompson Steamshipping Co Ltd, London | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 29 Jun 1941 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-123 (Reinhard Hardegen) | ||
| Position | 29N, 25W - Grid DG 8316 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 42 (33 dead and 9 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | SL-78 | ||
| Route | Pepel - Freetown (18 Jun) - Middlesbrough | ||
| Cargo | 6700 tons of iron ore | ||
| History | Completed in July 1921 | ||
| Notes on loss | At 19.36 hours on 29 Jun, 1941, the Rio Azul (Master Thomas Vickers Sutherland) in convoy SL-78 was hit near the bridge by one stern torpedo from U-123 about 200 miles southeast of the Azores. Hardegen assumed that the ship was a Q-ship but this was not the case. She broke in two and sank in a short time. The master, 31 crew members and one gunner were lost. Six crew members and three gunners were picked up by HMS Esperance Bay (F 67) (Capt G.S. Holden (retired), RN) and landed at Scapa Flow, Orkneys. | ||
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