Ships hit by U-boats


Wayfarer

British Steam merchant



Photo courtesy of the Allen Collection

NameWayfarer
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage5,068 tons
Completed1925 - C. Connell & Co Ltd, Glasgow 
OwnerT. & J. Harrison, Liverpool 
HomeportLiverpool 
Date of attack19 Aug 1944Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-862 (Heinrich Timm)
Position14° 30'S, 42° 20'E - Grid LT 8946
Complement62 (51 dead and 11 survivors).
Convoy
RouteColombo - Beira - Aden - Port Said - UK 
Cargo3000 tons of copper and 2000 tons of coal 
History Completed in August 1925 
Notes on event

In the evening of 19 Aug 1944 the unescorted Wayfarer (Master John Wales) was hit on port side between #4 and #5 holds by one torpedo from U-862 and sank about 150 miles east of Mozambique. 90 minutes earlier the U-boat had fired a spread of two torpedoes at the zigzagging ship that missed well ahead and detonated at the end of their run. The master, 44 crew members, five gunners and one passenger (DBS) were lost. On 30 August, nine crew members and two gunners made landfall on an uninhabited island in the Mozambique Channel, were rescued by a dhow and landed at Palfa, Portuguese East Africa.

 
On boardWe have details of 55 people who were on board


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