Saleier
Photo Courtesy of arendnet.com
| Name | Saleier | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 6,563 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow | ||
| Owner | NV Stoomvaart Mij “Nederland“, Amsterdam | ||
| Homeport | Batavia | ||
| Date of attack | 10 Apr 1941 | Nationality:  Dutch | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-52 (Otto Salman) | ||
| Position | 58.04N, 30.48W - Grid AK 2852 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 63 (0 dead and 63 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | OB-306 (dispersed) | ||
| Route | Newcastle (30 Mar) - Loch Ewe - Durban - Port Said | ||
| Cargo | Coal | ||
| History | | ||
| Notes on loss | At 19.12 hours on 10 Apr, 1941, the Saleier (Master J. Riedel), dispersed from convoy OB-306 on 9 April, was hit by two torpedoes from U-52 and sank by the bow in 15 seconds after being hit by a coup de grāce at 19.55 hours. All crew members, some of them wounded, abandoned ship in three lifeboats and were picked up by USS Niblack (DD 424) the next day and brought to Reykjavik. En route, the USS Niblack (DD 424) attacked a sonar contact with three depth charges. This action is often mentioned as first military action between Germany and the USA in the Second World War, but no U-boat reported being under attack on that day in the area, so the contact was probably false. | ||
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