Primero
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| Name | Primero | ||
| Type: | Motor merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 4.414 tons | ||
| Completed | 1925 - Burmeister & Wain´s Maskin & Skibsbyggeri A/S, Copenhagen | ||
| Owner | S. Holter-Sørensen, Oslo | ||
| Homeport | Oslo | ||
| Date of attack | 25 Oct, 1942 | Nationality:  Norwegian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-67 (Günther Müller-Stöckheim) | ||
| Position | 13.38N, 53.55W - Grid EE 6847 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 42 (2 dead and 40 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Suez - Aden - Port of Spain - New York | ||
| Cargo | 1500 tons of salt as ballast | ||
| History | Built as Primero, 1929 renamed Sud Argentino, 1931 renamed Primero | ||
| Notes on loss | At 15.19 hours on 25 Oct, 1942, the unescorted Primero (Master Hjalmar Johansen) was hit by one of two torpedoes fired by U-67. The torpedo struck on the starboard side in the engine room and killed two men on watch below. The crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats but stayed near the vessel. A first coup de grâce at 15.34 hours proved to be a dud, but the second at 15.57 hours hit in the forepart of the ship that developed a list but did not sink. When U-67 on periscope depth turned to get to the other side of the vessel, the depth was not hold and as she was back on periscope depth they steered towards the ship that was only about 250 metres away. Despite of diving and steering with hard rudder the U-boat collided slightly with the ship as they passed underneath her. The U-boat then had to steer away from the ship because the periscope was jammed and surfaced at 00.14 hours in some distance. The tower hatch could only be opened partially and they had to clear the bridge from bent parts with a cutting torch before they could return. At 01.52 hours on 26 October, a coup de grâce was fired that hit in the stern, broke the ship in two and caused her to sink. About 19.00 hours, some of the crew had reboarded the Primero to assess the damage, but she had now a list of 40° and sank slowly by the stern, so the boats set sail for Trinidad. On 31 October, the survivors made landfall at Toco where the locals crowded around them, supplying the men with plenty of food and cigarettes before they were brought by bus to Port of Spain. | ||
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