page_title: SS California (1923)
section_title: Loss
hierarchical_section_title: SS California (1923) / Career / Loss
context_page_description: SS California was a British 16,792 GRT steam turbine ocean liner that was built in Glasgow in 1923 for Henderson Brothers and destroyed in the North Atlantic by a Luftwaffe air attack in 1943.
context_section_description: On 8 July 1943 the small fast Convoy Faith, comprising Port Fairy, the troopships Duchess of York and California, and escorted by the destroyer HMS Douglas and frigate HMS Moyola, sailed Port Glasgow, Scotland, for Freetown, Sierra Leone. On the evening of 10 July the convoy rendezvoused with the Canadian destroyer HMCS Iroquois 500 miles (800 km) WSW of Land's End. On 11 July 1943 when about 300 miles (480 km) west of Vigo, Spain, the convoy was attacked by three Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft of Kampfgeschwader 40 from Merignac near Bordeaux.
  Accurate high-altitude bombing left Duchess of York and California in flames. The attack cost the lives of 46 servicemen and crew, and both ships were abandoned. It was feared the flames from the ships would attract U-boats, so in the early hours of 12 July they were sunk by Royal Navy torpedoes in position 41°15′N 15°24′W.
caption: Focke Wulf Fw 200
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