SS Somersby SS " Somersby " was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1930 , sailed in a number of convoys in the Second World War and was sunk by a U - boat in 1941 . Building . W . Gray & Co Ltd of West Hartlepool built " Somersby " , completing her in 1930 . She had a three - cylinder triple expansion steam engine that was built by the Central Machine Engineering Works , also of West Hartlepool . The engine was rated at 369 NHP and drove a single screw . " Somersby " s owner was Ropner Shipping Co , Ltd , which registered her in West Hartlepool . Second World War career . By the end of 1939 " Somersby " was sailing in convoys . That December she sailed from Liverpool to Halifax , Nova Scotia , with Convoy OB - 53 , and in late January 1940 she returned carrying a cargo of grain to the UK with Convoy HX - 17 . In March 1940 " Somersby " left Liverpool with Convoy OB - 103 , which merged with Convoy OA - 103 west of Land ' s End to form Convoy OG - 21F to Gibraltar . In April she brought a cargo of iron ore to the UK , sailing with Convoy HG - 26F from Gibraltar to Liverpool . In June " Somersby " again brought iron ore to the UK , sailing with Convoy HG - 33F from Gibraltar to Liverpool . In July " Somersby " left Liverpool for Canada , sailing with Convoy OB - 180 until it dispersed in the North Atlantic . She returned in August with a cargo of grain , sailing with Convoy SHX - 63 from Sydney , Nova Scotia to Halifax where SHX - 63 joined Convoy HX - 63 to Liverpool . In September " Somersby " left Britain for Canada , sailing with Convoy OA - 209 from Methil in Scotland until it dispersed in the North Atlantic . She returned in October with a cargo of flour , sailing " via " Sydney , Nova Scotia , where she joined Convoy SC - 7 bound for the UK . SC - 7 left Sydney on 5 October . At first the convoy had only one escort ship , the . A wolf pack of U - boat s found the convoy on 16 October and quickly overwhelmed it , sinking many ships over the next few days , but " Somersby " was one of the few that survived . She reached the Firth of Clyde , where she joined Convoy WN - 25 that took her around Cape Wrath to Methil . " Somersby " sailed again across the North Atlantic to Canada " via " Convoy EN - 30 from Methil to Oban at the end of November and then Convoy OB - 253 at the beginning of December from Liverpool until it dispersed in the North Atlantic . In January and February 1941 she brought a cargo of grain to Britain , crossing the North Atlantic with Convoy SC - 21 from Halifax and then joining Convoy WN - 89 from the Clyde to Methil . In April 1941 " Somersby " again sailed from Britain to Canada , sailing with Convoy OB - 308 from Liverpool until it dispersed in the North Atlantic . Convoy SC - 30 and sinking . At the end of April 1941 " Somersby " left Canada carrying 8 , 300 tons of grain destined for Hull . Her Master was John William Thompson . She went " via " Halifax , where she joined Convoy SC - 30 . SC - 30 was bound for Liverpool , but " Somersby " was to leave the convoy off Scotland and proceed to Loch Ewe to join a convoy around Cape Wrath to the east coast of Britain . " Somersby " left Halifax with SC - 30 on 29 April but failed to maintain convoy speed and fell behind . On the morning of 13 May she was southwest of Reykjavík when the , commanded by Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Kleinschmidt , sighted her at 1141 hrs and fired two torpedoes . One struck the freighter amidships but she remained afloat . At 1246 hrs the U - boat fired a " coup de grâce " that hit " Somersby " s bow , causing her to capsize and sink . Captain Thompson , his 38 crew and four DEMS gunners all successfully abandoned ship . They survived and were rescued by the Greek cargo steamship , which landed them at Loch Ewe .