Leopoldville
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Leopoldville
was laid down by John Cockerill in Hoboken and was
launched in September 1928 for Compagnie Maritime du
Congo. She was commissioned the year after and operated
the route between Antwerpen and Belgian Congo. After the
outbreak of World War Two she was chartered by the British
Admiralty as a troop transport. When the Germans launched
Operation Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, or the Battle of the
Bulge in English, in December 1944, she was hastily filled
up with soldiers from US 66th Infantry Division to be
delivered in France. 24. December 1944 she was spotted and
torpedoed outside Cherbourg by the German uboat U 486 under command of
Oberleutnant Gerhard Meyer. Under the rescue attempts and
evacuation of the doomed ship, everything that could, went
wrong. rescue craft were slow to the scene and calls for
help were mishandled. Not to mention the cold winter
weather in the English Channel. She sank 2,5 hours later
with the loss of 763 men. The wreck rest today on her port
side on a depth of 30 to 64 meter five nautical miles
north of Cherbourg. Also see the fate of HMT Lancastria.
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| 49° 45′ 57″ N, 1° 36′ 20″ W  Picture: Leopoldville Courtesy of Simplon Postcards Last updated: March 2018 |
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