Ships hit by U-boats


Ruth I

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NameRuth I
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage3,531 tons
Completed1900 - C.S. Swan & Hunter Ltd, Wallsend 
OwnerBrummenęs & Torgersen, Haugesund 
HomeportHaugesund 
Date of attack6 Apr 1944Nationality:      Norwegian
 
FateSunk by U-302 (Herbert Sickel)
Position45.05N, 35.11W - Grid BD 7348
- See location on a map -
Complement39 (3 dead and 36 survivors).
ConvoySC-156
RouteHalifax (29 Mar) - Liverpool 
CargoSteel, lumber and pit props 
History

delivered in April 1900 as Ruth to Hagb. Waage, Christiania. 1927 sold to Brummenęs & Torgersen, Haugesund and renamed Ruth I in April 1932.

At 08.30 hours on 28 Jan, 1941, the Ruth I, a straggler from convoy SC-19, was attacked and slightly damaged by German Condor aircraft about 350 miles west of the Orkneys.

On 21 Jul, 1941, she left Oban in convoy OG-69 for Gibraltar, but after Inga I had been torpedoed and sunk by U-126 (Bauer) on 27 July, the Ruth I and two British ships were ordered to leave the convoy and reached the destination safely. In October 1941, Ruth I (Master Einar Haugland) returned to the UK in convoy HG-75

Notes on loss

On 6 Apr, 1944, U-302 fired torpedoes at the convoy SC-156 and sank Ruth I and South America, but was herself lost after the attack.

The Ruth I (Master Einar Haugland) broke in two and sank after 20 minutes. Three men on watch below were killed. 17 survivors abandoned ship in a damaged lifeboat and 19 others on an improvised raft. All survivors were picked up a few hours later by the HMS Chelmer (K 221). On 12 April, they were transferred to the British rescue vessel Goodwin and landed at Gourock the next day.

 


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