Diala
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| Name | Diala | ||
| Type: | Motor tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 8.106 tons | ||
| Completed | 1938 - Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack | ||
| Owner | Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co Ltd, London | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 23 Mar, 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-587 (Ulrich Borcherdt) | ||
| Position | 47N, 37W - Grid BD 4226 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 65 (57 dead and 8 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | ON-52 (dispersed) | ||
| Route | Stanlow - Panama - Los Angeles | ||
| Cargo | Ballast | ||
| History | In the early morning on 26 Feb, 1941, U-47 (Prien) attacked the convoy OB-290 in 55°50N/14°W (grid AM 4236) and reported four ships of 22.000 tons sunk. In fact, the Kasongo, Rydboholm and Borgland were sunk and the Diala was damaged. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 23.17 hours on 15 Jan, 1942, the Diala (Master Herbert John Adler Peters) was torpedoed and damaged by U-553 (Thurmann) about 300 miles east-southeast of Cape Race in 44°50N/46°50W (grid BC 8524). The vessel was proceeding at maximal speed (12 knots) after the convoy ON-52 was dispersed on 11 January. The bow was blown off and the superstructure was extensively damaged. The tanker was abandoned but remained afloat and was reported drifting northeast. 48 crew members and nine gunners were lost. The master, six crew members and one gunner were picked up by the British merchant Telefora de Larrinaga and landed at New York. Four survivors from the Athelcrown, which had been sunk by U-82 on 22 January, boarded the abandoned, drifting wreck of the Diala. They remained on board for eight days before they were rescued by the Swedish merchant Saturnus and landed on the Faroes Isles. On 19 March, the drifting wreck was last seen by Allied ships in position 47°N/37°W, after attempts to tow her were unsuccessful. The wreck of the Diala was sunk on 23 March by U-587. | ||
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