SS Uniwaleco - Misplaced Pages

History

Name	Mahronda (1905-1923) Sir James Clark Ross (1923-1930) Fraternitas (1923-1937) Uniwaleco (1937-1942)
Owner	Union Whaling Co. Ltd.
Port of registry	Durban, South Africa
Builder	Harland and Wolff
Yard number	369
Launched	17 June 1905
Completed	August 1905
Identification	ZSGR Official number: 120868
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk 7 March 1942
General characteristics
Type	Whale Factory ship
Tonnage	9,755 GRT
Length	147.5 metres (483 ft 11 in)
Beam	17.8 metres (58 ft 5 in)
Depth	9.5 metres (31 ft 2 in)
Installed power	1 x 4 cyl. Quadruple expansion steam engine
Propulsion	Two screw propellers
Speed	12 knots
Crew	51

SS Uniwaleco was a South-African Whale Factory ship that was torpedoed by the German submarine U-161 in the Caribbean Sea 45 nautical miles (83 km) west of the Saint Vincent Passage on 7 March 1942 while she was travelling from Curaçao to Freetown with a stopover in Trinidad while carrying a cargo of 8800 tons of fuel oil.

Construction

Uniwaleco was built at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom in August 1905. Where she was launched and completed that same year. The ship was 147.5 metres (483 ft 11 in) long, had a beam of 17.8 metres (58 ft 5 in) and had a depth of 9.5 metres (31 ft 2 in). She was assessed at 9,755 GRT and had 1 x 4 cyl. Quadruple expansion steam engine driving two screw propellers. The ship could generate 658 n.h.p. with a speed of 12 knots thanks to her two double boilers, two single boilers and 18 corrugated furnaces.

Sinking

Uniwaleco was travelling unescorted from Curaçao to Freetown with a stopover in Trinidad while carrying a cargo of 8800 tons of fuel oil when on 7 March 1942 at 17.59 pm, she was hit by one of two torpedoes from the German submarine U-161 in the Caribbean Sea 45 nautical miles (83 km) west of the Saint Vincent Passage. The damaged ship became uncontrollable and settled in the water while sailing in circles, but she did not sink. The U-boat fired a coup de grâce at Uniwaleco 15 minutes after the first attack and hit her in the aft of the ship which broke her in two and sank her within three minutes. The sinking took the lives of 18 crewmen with the 33 survivors taking to a lifeboat and landing on St. Vincent.

Wreck

The wreck of Uniwaleco lies at (13°23′N 62°04′W / 13.383°N 62.067°W / 13.383; -62.067).

References

^ "SS Uniwaleco (+1942)". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
^ "Uniwaleco". uboat.net. 1995. Retrieved 1 July 2020.

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in March 1942
Shipwrecks	1 Mar: USS Edsall, HMS Encounter, HNLMS Evertsen, HMS Exeter, USS Houston, USS Pecos, HMAS Perth, USS Pope, Rooseboom, U-656 2 Mar: HNLMS Banckert, USAT Don Esteban, Ha-13, HNLMS K X, HNLMS K XIII, HNLMS K XVIII, HNLMS Koning der Nederlanden, USS Pillsbury, USS Stewart, Toendjoek, Van Waerwijck, HNLMS Witte de With 3 Mar: USS Asheville, Koolama, SS Mary, USS Perch 4 Mar: HMAS Yarra 5 Mar: Auby 6 Mar: HNLMS Pieter de Bitter, Rononia 7 Mar: Arabutan, HNLMS Gouden Leeuw, Nyggjaberg, Uniwaleco 8 Mar: HNLMS Eland Dubois, HNLMS Jan van Amstel, Smyshlyony 10 Mar: Lady Nelson, Kongō Maru, Tenyo Maru, Yokohama Maru 11 Mar: HMS Naiad 12 Mar: Texan 13 Mar: Tama Maru No. 2, Tolten 14 Mar: U-133 15 Mar: U-503, HMS Vortigern 17 Mar: Île de Batz, San Demetrio 18 Mar: E.M. Clark 19 Mar: Papoose 20 Mar: HMS Heythrop 21 Mar: Vamar 23 Mar: British Prudence 24 Mar: HMS Southwold, U-655 26 Mar: HMS Jaguar, HMS Legion, HMS P39 27 Mar: USS Atik, U-587, Equipoise 28 Mar: HMS Campbeltown, Raceland 29 Mar: Hertford, Z26 30 Mar: U-585 Unknown: Emilia, Panay
Other incidents	2 Mar: Ruth Kellogg, HMS Walney 4 Mar: USS Sargo, HMAS Tambar 5 Mar: Takao Maru 10 Mar: China Maru, Tama Maru No. 2 11 Mar: Komintern 15 Mar: Olean 16 Mar: Irish Willow, U-753 22 Mar: Kingston 23 Mar: USS Gato 25 Mar: Imperial Transport Unknown date: USS Drum
1941 1942 1943 February 1942 April 1942

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