Norvana
Norvana under her former name York
| Name | Norvana | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 2,677 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - Saginaw Shipbuilding Co, Saginaw MI | ||
| Owner | North Atlantic & Gulf SS Co, New York | ||
| Homeport | New York | ||
| Date of attack | 19 Jan 1942 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-123 (Reinhard Hardegen) | ||
| Position | Grid CA 7668 - See estimated map location (36.08N75.32W) * | ||
| Complement | 29 (29 dead - no survivors) | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Nuevitas, Cuba (14 Jan) - Philadelphia | ||
| Cargo | 3980 tons of ore | ||
| History | Laid down as Lake Eaglerock, completed in November 1920 as Lake Gatun for US Shipping Board (USSB). 1926 sold to Stanley Hillier Inc and apparently sold for scrapping to Ford Motor Co, River Rouge MI in 1927, but withdrawn by US Shipping Board. 1929 transferred to Merchants & Miners Transportation Co, Baltimore MD and renamed York. 1941 sold to North Atlantic & Gulf Steamship Co, New York and renamed Norvana. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 05.16 hours on 19 Jan, 1942, the unescorted and unarmed Norvana (Master Ernest Jefferson Thompson) was hit just aft of the stack by one torpedo from U-123 south of Cape Hatteras after a first torpedo fired at 04.41 hours had missed. The explosion caused the ship to sink by the stern within one minute, leaving no survivors among the eight officers and 21 crewmen on board. The US Navy later found an empty lifeboat from the Norvana off Wimble Shoals. | ||
* Estimated position shown here is based on positions of losses in a roughly the same German grid code. It may be a bit off but should give a good idea as to where the attack took place.
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