Italian submarine fates

Ships hit by Italian submarines


Veerhaven

TypeCargo ship
CountryDutch Dutch
Built1930GRT5,291

Date of attack11 Nov 1942Time0611
0315 (e)
FateSunk by submarine Leonardo da Vinci (T.V. Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia)
Position of attack3° 51'S, 29° 24'W
Complement45 (no casualties, 45 survivors)
Convoy
Notes At 0300 hours, a vessel was sighted steering 350°. Da Vinci took a position to meet her head on.

At 0611 hours, the submarine opened fire with her deck and Breda guns from a distance of 400 metres and immediately scored several hits.

This was the Dutch Veerhaven (5,291 GRT, built 1930) on passage from Buenos Aires to the United Kingdom via Trinidad. At 0315 GMT she had made an SOS signalling she was torpedoed in 03°51' S, 29°22' W. In fact, no torpedoes were used and she was sunk by gunfire.

There were no casualties. The forty-five survivors took to two lifeboats. Twenty-three were picked up by the Brazilian submarine chaser Gurupi (ex USS PC-547) in 06°11 S, 33°10' W on the 13th. Twenty-two were picked up after five days by the Argentinian tanker Juvenal.

Position of attack

Ships hit by Italian submarines