Ships hit by U-boats


Clarissa Radcliffe

British Steam merchant



Photo courtesy of SwissShips/MB-Archiv

NameClarissa Radcliffe
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage5,754 tons
Completed1915 - Craig, Taylor & Co Ltd, Stockton-on-Tees 
OwnerEvan Thomas Radcliffe & Co, Cardiff 
HomeportLondon 
Date of attack18 Mar 1943Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-663 (Heinrich Schmid)
Position52° 21'N, 27° 15'W - Grid AK 9655
Complement53 (53 dead - no survivors)
ConvoySC-122 (straggler)
RoutePepel - New York (5 Mar) - Barrow 
Cargo8450 tons of iron ore 
History Launched as Windsor, completed in November 1915 as Gwent for H. & D. Radcliffe, London. 1917 renamed Clarissa Radcliffe for Evan Thomas Radcliffe & Co, Cardiff. 
Notes on event

At 15.40 hours on 18 March 1943 the Clarissa Radcliffe (Master Stuart Gordon Finnes), a straggler from convoy SC-122 since a heavy storm in approx. 42°N/62°W on 9 March, was hit by one torpedo from U-663 and sank immediately about 700 miles southwest of Cape Farewell. At 15.35 hours, the ship had been missed with a spread of three torpedoes because Schmid apparently overestimated her speed. There were no survivors: the master, 42 crew members and ten gunners were lost.

 
On boardWe have details of 53 people who were on board


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