Fort Bellingham
British Steam merchant
| Name | Fort Bellingham | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant (Victory) | ||
| Tonnage | 7,153 tons | ||
| Completed | 1943 - Burrard Dry Dock Co, North Vancouver BC | ||
| Owner | Hain SS Co, London | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 26 Jan 1944 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-957 (Gerd Schaar) | ||
| Position | 73.25N, 25.10E - Grid AC 4562 | ||
| Complement | 73 (36 dead and 37 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | JW-56A (straggler) | ||
| Route | London - Loch Ewe (12 Jan) - Akureyre, Iceland (21 Jan) - Murmansk | ||
| Cargo | 4900 tons of military and general stores, including 5 tons of cordite | ||
| History | Completed in August 1943 for the Canadian Government, lend-leased on bareboat charter to British Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). | ||
| Notes on loss | At 00.16 hours on 26 Jan, 1944, U-360 (Becker) fired a spread of three FAT torpedoes at the convoy JW-56A in the Barents Sea north of North Cape in 73°45N/24°48E and heard three hits. In fact, only the ship of the convoy commodore Cmdr I.W. Whitehorn RN, the Fort Bellingham (Master James Ninian Maley) was hit and fell behind the convoy, where she was sunk by U-957 with a T-3 torpedo at 06.53 hours the same day. The master, the commodore, four naval staff members, 22 crew members and seven gunners were picked up by HMS Offa (G 29) (LtCdr R.F. Leonard, RN) and landed at Murmansk. Two crew members were taken prisoner by U-957. 18 crew members, 16 gunners and two naval staff members were lost. | ||
| Crewlists | We have listing of 31 people who were on this vessel | ||
Attack entries for Fort Bellingham
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Loss type | Tons | Nat. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Jan 1944 | U-360 | Kptlt. Klaus-Helmuth Becker | Damaged | 7,153 | |
| 26 Jan 1944 | U-957 | Oblt. Gerd Schaar | Sunk | 7,153 | |
Locations of attacks on Fort Bellingham.
ship sunk.
ship damaged.
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