HMS Laurentic - F 51
|
|||||||||||||||
|
The
second Laurentic was laid down by Harland & Wolff in
Belfast in 1926. She was the last steamship to be built
for White Star Line and was launched in June 1927. She
sailed on the route between Liverpool and Canada until
1936. After the merger of the White Star Line with Cunard
she was used as a cruise ship until she was laid up
in 1935. In August 1939 she was requisitioned by the
British Admiralty and was refitted as an armed merchant
cruiser. Responding to a distress call from the steamer
Casanere who had been torpedoed outside Ireland, she was late at
night 3. November 1940 spotted by the German uboat U-99
under command of Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer. An
engagement followed that lasted until the morning 4.
November. Laurentic was hit by three torpedoes before she
disappeared in the deep. 49 men lost their lives in the
sinking. The wreck rest today according to reports from
technical divers on a depth of 105 ( ? ) meter in open
waters west of Ireland. There might be some confusion
between the first HMS
Laurentic and this one. We have not been able to
verify the truth about this wreck location.
|
|||||||||||||||
| 54° 09'N, 13° 44'W - Grid AM 4796 ( Source: Uboat.net )  Picture: Laurentic Courtesy of Uboat.net Last updated: March 2014 |
|||||||||||||||