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Ainderby - a general history

Masters: 1934 E Bestell: 1941 George Robert Cobb.

October 1934 Ainderby was caught in a terrible North Atlantic storm. The huge seas stove in the No 1 hold & swept away the bridge & engine room telegraphs & rendered the man at the wheel unconscious. A young cadet was swept overboard & was not heard from again. Eventually the ship managed to reach the safety of Swansea.

Life lost October 1934: Baxter, Leonard, cadet, 15, Chester Road, West Hartlepool.

On 12 February 1941 Ainderby was damaged by gunfire from German cruiser (Admiral Hipper) & put into Funchal, Madeira for repair which took 3 months.

On a voyage from Santos for the Tyne with a cargo of iron-ore & a crew of 41 Ainderby was torpedoed by German submarine (U-552 Erich Topp) & sank 130 miles W by N of Bloody Foreland in the North Atlantic in 55.30N/12.10W on 10 June 1941. 29 survivors were picked up by HMS Veteran & landed at Greenock. 1 gunner & 11 of the crew lost.

Lives lost June 1941: Brincat, Carmel, greaser, 40, Hamrun, Malta; Chesney, John, greaser, 42; Deguara, Carmel, 36, Malta; Evans, Gordon James, fireman/trimmer, 21, Pontypridd, Glamorgan; Feeney, Thomas, able seaman, 57; LeCourt, James, able seaman (RNVR); Mogen, Simon, fireman/trimmer, 45; Murray, Patrick James, fireman/trimmer, 55 (son of Patrick James & Elizabeth); Russell, Patrick, able seaman, 50; Scicluna, Joseph, 31, b. Malta, resided Liverpool; Scott, Thomas, fireman/trimmer, 58; Tyldesley, Douglas Ronald, ordinary seaman, 18.

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