Hopecastle
| Name | Hopecastle | ||
| Type: | Motor merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,178 tons | ||
| Completed | 1937 - Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend, Sunderland | ||
| Owner | Stott, Mann & Fleming Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne | ||
| Homeport | Newcastle | ||
| Date of attack | 29 Oct 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-203 (Hermann Kottmann) | ||
| Position | 31.39N, 19.35W - Grid DH 5142 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 45 (5 dead and 40 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | SL-125 (straggler) | ||
| Route | Cochin - Freetown (16 Oct) - Mersey | ||
| Cargo | 2500 tons magnesite and ilmenite (black ore of titanium) and 3000 tons general cargo, including tea | ||
| History | | ||
| Notes on loss | Between 22.00 and 22.09 hours on 28 Oct, 1942, U-509 (Witte) fired five torpedoes at the convoy SL-125 northwest of the Canary Islands in 31°39N/19°23W (grid DH 4958) and heard two detonations on unintended targets within the convoy and then observed two hits on two ships. Another torpedo fired at 22.10 hours missed. In fact, the Nagpore was sunk and the Hopecastle damaged. At 04.52 and 04.58 hours on 29 October, the abandoned Hopecastle (Master Dugald McGilp) was hit by one torpedo from U-203, but the ship stayed afloat and had to be sunk at 10.10 hours by 2cm gunfire. | ||
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