Ashkhabad
| Name | Ashkhabad | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,284 tons | ||
| Completed | 1917 - Harland & Wolff Ltd, Govan, Glasgow | ||
| Owner | Sovtorgflot, Moscow | ||
| Homeport | Odessa | ||
| Date of attack | 30 Apr 1942 | Nationality:  Soviet | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-402 (Siegfried von Forstner) | ||
| Position | 34.19N, 76.31W - Grid DC 1221 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 47 (0 dead and 47 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | New York (26 Apr) - Matanzas, Cuba | ||
| Cargo | Ballast | ||
| History | Completed in December 1917 as British steam tanker War Hostage for The Shipping Controller (Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co), London. 1919 sold to Italy and converted to the steam merchant Milazzo for Soc Italiana di Navigazione Transoceanica, Naples. 1922 sold to Navigazione Generale Italiana, Naples. 1924 sold to Britain and renamed Aldersgate for City Gate Line (H.W. Dillon & Sons), London. 1925 renamed Mistley Hall for Charles G. Dunn & Co Ltd, Liverpool. 1934 sold to the Sovietunion and renamed Kutais for Sovtorgflot, Moscow. 1935 renamed Dneprostroy and 1938 renamed Ashkhabad. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 03.36 hours on 30 Apr, 1942, the Ashkhabad (Master Alexey Pavlovitch), escorted by HMS Lady Elsa (FY 124), was hit on the starboard side in the #4 hold by one G7e torpedo from U-402 18 miles south of Cape Lookout. The ship settled fast by the stern when the #4 hold, the deep tank and the engine rooom flooded until hitting the bottom in the shallow water. The crew, including three women, abandoned ship one hour after the hit and were picked up by the escort which prevented the U-boat of finishing off the ship with artillery and later took the survivors to Morehead City, North Carolina. The Ashkhabad did not sink completely and after an inspection the American salvage tug Relief was sent out, but USS Semmes (AG 24) and HMS St. Zeno (FY 280) (Lt J.K. Craig, RNVR) were not aware of the planned salvage and scuttled the wreck with gunfire as a menace to navigation on 3 May. | ||
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