Allied Warships

HMS Masterful (W 20)

Rescue Tug of the Favourite class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeRescue Tug
ClassFavourite 
PennantW 20 
Built byLevingston Shipbuilding Co. (Orange, Texas, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down 
Launched5 Jun, 1942 
Commissioned28 Aug, 1942 
End service 
Loss position
 
HistoryReturned to the US Navy in March 1946
Sold into mercantile service in 1948 and renamed Eugenia M. Moran
Renamed Comanche in 1960 
Former nameBAT-6

Noteable events involving Masterful include:

1 Jun, 1943
HMRT Masterful picks up 75 survivors from the Dutch mechant Salabangka that was torpedoed and damaged by the German submarine U-178 off Durban, South Africa in position 31º08'S, 30º18'E. The Masterful also takes the ship in tow but it later sinks in position 31º09'S, 29º13'E.

2 Aug, 1943
The British merchant City of Oran was torpedoed and damaged by the German submarine U-196 about 100 nautical miles northeast of Memba Bay, Tanganyika in position 13º45'S, 41º16'E. The wreck of the City of Oran was later scuttled by gunfire of the British rescue tug HMRT Masterful. The 86 survivors were also picked up by this tug.


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