“Clan Fraser” ( born SS Clan Fraser ) - British cargo ship. He served during the Second World War . Sunk by German aircraft as a result of the bombing of the port of Piraeus , Greece , April 6, 1941.
| Clan Fraser | |
|---|---|
| SS "Clan Fraser" | |
| Service | |
 Great Britain | |
| Class and type of vessel | cargo ship |
| Port of registry | Glasgow [1] |
| Organization | Clan Line Steamers Ltd, London [1] |
| Manufacturer | Greenock Dockyard Co., Greenock , Scotland [1] |
| Launched | December 20, 1938 [2] |
| Commissioned | February 1939 [1] |
| Withdrawn from the fleet | April 7, 1941 [2] |
| Status | sunk by German aircraft [2] |
| Main characteristics | |
| Length | 141.3 meters (between perpendiculars) [1] |
| Width | 19.2 meters [1] |
| Height | 9.1 meters [1] |
| Draft | 8.6 meters [1] |
| Engines | 2 PM triple expansion |
| Power | 1370 l. with. [one] |
| Mover | 2 |
| Speed | 17.5 knots [2] |
Content
Construction
Clan Fraser was one of the ships of the Clan Line company and belonged to a series of ships of the Cameron type, with a capacity of 7529 register tons (BRT) and 3524 HPT [1] . Built at Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd Shipyard, Greenock [1] , under building number 435 [2] . Launched on December 20, 1938 [2] . The construction was completed in February 1939 [1] . The ship was registered and assigned to Glasgow [1] . Received the GPPY Call Sign and British Number 165960.
Clan Fraser had 5 boilers with a total heating area of 1652 m². 220 psi steam was supplied to a pair of triple expansion three-cylinder steam engines. Two low-pressure steam recovery turbines were also installed on the vessel [1] . All machines were manufactured by JG Kincaid & Co of Greenock [1] . The total rated power (NHP) of the machine installation reached 1043 liters. with. [one]
Service during the war years
Clan Fraser made unaccompanied flights in the first year of World War II. The ship operated between the Indian subcontinent, South Africa, Australia, Britain and the Mediterranean Sea, without entering the convoys [3] , until September 5, 1940, when the ship transported general cargo from the Firth of Clyde to the city of Metil in Fife County as part of convoy WN 13 [4] . At the end of September, the ship returned from Methyl to Clyde with convoy OB 222 [5] .
Clan Fraser was one of three high-speed merchant ships that took part in Operation Collar, the convoy that supplied Malta and Alexandria . An attempt by the Italian forces to intercept the convoy vessels led to the battle at Cape Spartivento , after which Clan Fraser and the same type SS "Clan Forbes" continued their flight to Malta.
Clan Fraser and Clan Forbes returned to Gibraltar as part of the MG 1 [6] convoy, and Fraser then continued its voyage to Clyde, accompanied by the destroyer [3]. The ship again began to conduct unaccompanied voyages, first to South Africa and then, via Indian ocean in aden . Here, the ship joined convoy BN 21 to Suez , carrying supplies [7]. The ship passed through the Suez Canal .
Ship
In October 1940, the Italian army invaded Greece . To the surprise of enemies and friends, the Greek army repelled the Italian invasion and transferred hostilities to the territory of Albania. This was the first victory of the countries of the anti-fascist coalition against the Axis forces. The Italian spring offensive of 1941 was the last attempt by Italians to turn the tide of the war. The offensive was repulsed by the Greek army. The probability of a complete Greek victory loomed, but also the likelihood that Nazi Germany would come to the rescue of her unlucky ally. In anticipation of the German invasion, and after the agreement of the Greek and British governments, a small British corps arrived in Greece. The corps did not take part in the battles and took the second line of defense, north of Olympus .
In Port Said , the Clan Fraser, carrying a load of ammunition, joined the convoy ANF 24, which arrived in Piraeus Greece on April 4 [8] .
On April 6, 1941, German troops invaded Greece from Bulgaria's allied Germans. Luftwaffe bombers, led by Hans Joachim 'Hayo' Hermann , attacked the port of Piraeus. Clan Fraser still remained in port, unloading weapons and 200 tons of trinitrotoluene . At 03:15, the ship was hit by a bomb and destroyed after a TNT cargo explosion [9] . The ship sank in port. At the same time, 6 crew members were killed and 9 were injured [2] . The ship's captain , J.G. Giles, was among the survivors. [2] The shock wave from the explosion was noticeable at a distance of 9 km in the center of Athens , and even in the northern suburbs of Psychicon , where glass windows were broken [9] . White hot ash caused an explosion of trinitrotoluene on other nearby vessels, putting them and buildings on the shore to fire [9] . By morning, large port areas were severely destroyed [9] . After the war, the municipality of Piraeus erected a marble slab in memory of the steamer in the square near the church of St. Spyridon, near a tree into which a fragment of the casing of the exploding steamer was wedged from a long distance.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Lloyd's Register, Steamers and Motorships . - London: Lloyd's Register, 1940–41.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Clan Fraser . Clydebuilt database . Clydesite.co.uk (2002–2013). Date of treatment November 10, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 Hague, Arnold Ship Movements . Port Arrivals / Departures . Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Date of treatment November 10, 2013.
- ↑ Hague, Arnold Convoy WN.13 . WN Convoy Series . Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Date of treatment November 10, 2013.
- ↑ Hague, Arnold Convoy OA.222 . OA Convoy Series . Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Date of treatment November 10, 2013.
- ↑ Hague, Arnold Convoy MG.1 . Shorter Convoy Series . Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Date of treatment November 10, 2013.
- ↑ Hague, Arnold Convoy BN.21 . BN Convoy Series . Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Date of treatment November 10, 2013.
- ↑ Hague, Arnold Convoy ANF.24 . Shorter Convoy Series . Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Date of treatment November 10, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Tomkinson, John L The Occupation (1941–1944) . Athens under the Nazis . Date of treatment November 10, 2013.