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Allied Ships hit by U-boats


Comayagua

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NameComayagua
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage2.493 tons
Completed1921 - Newburgh Shipyards Inc, Newburgh NY 
OwnerUnited Fruit SS Co, New York 
HomeportPuerto Cotez 
Date of attack14 May, 1942Nationality:      Honduras
 
FateSunk by U-125 (Ulrich Folkers)
Position19.00N, 81.37W - Grid DM 8727
- See location on a map -
Complement42 (7 dead and 35 survivors).
Convoy 
RoutePuerto Barrios, Guatemala - Niquero, Cuba 
CargoBallast 
History  
Notes on loss At 18.12 hours on 14 May 1942, the unescorted Comayagua (Master Peter J. Larsen) was hit by one torpedo from U-125 about 14 miles west by south of Georgetown, Grand Cayman. The torpedo struck just forward midships in the boiler room, killing six crew members on watch below. At 18.30 hours a second torpedo hit about 20 feet from the stern and blew it off, causing the ship to sink immediately. The rest of her crew of 38 men and four armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in gun aft and two .30cal guns, one on each bridge wing) abandoned ship in boats and rafts. U-125 surfaced and the master was questioned by Folkers and he told him that land was only 10 miles away. Apparently Folkers did not understand the name of the ship correctly, he misidentified the vessel as the British steam merchant Cayuga. 15 minutes later a US Navy aircraft appeared and tried to locate the U-boat without success. It then flew off to Georgetown where the pilot dropped a note in the Commissioner´s garden, informing him of the survivors. The motor schooner Cimboco was sent to pick up the survivors and returned them to Georgetown. The Jr. Engineer had been badly burned and died later in the hospital at Georgetown. One armed guard was also badly burned but survived. 


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