HMS Edgehill (X 39)
West Lynn before her conversion to HMS Edgehill (X 39). Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | HMS Edgehill (X 39) | ||
| Type: | Special service vessel | ||
| Tonnage | 4,724 tons | ||
| Completed | 1928 - Napier & Miller Ltd, Old Kilpatrick, Glasgow | ||
| Owner | The Admiralty | ||
| Homeport | Cardiff | ||
| Date of attack | 29 Jun 1940 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-51 (Dietrich Knorr) | ||
| Position | 49.27N, 15.25W - Grid BE 3476 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 39 (15 dead and 24 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | |||
| Cargo | Ballast | ||
| History | Built as motor merchant West Lynn (4702 tons), 1931 renamed Willamette Valley for Sir William Reardon Smith & Sons Ltd, Cardiff. On 17 Sep, 1939 requisitioned by the Royal Navy and converted to a decoy ship, commissioned as special service vessel (SSV) HMS Edgehill (X 39). The ship had a concealed armament of nine 4in guns and four torpedo tubes and carried a buoyant cargo to help keep her afloat if hit. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 00.12 hours on 29 Jun, 1940, the HMS Edgehill (X 39) was hit by one torpedo from U-51 amidships and stopped but did not sink due to her buoyant cargo. The U-boat surfaced and fired a coup de grāce at 01.06 hours, but it needed a third torpedo at 01.24 hours to let the vessel sink slowly by the stern. | ||
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