SS Manistee (1920)
SS "Manistee" was an Elders & Fyffes Ltd banana boat that was launched in 1920. She was one of a numerous class of similar banana boats built for Elders & Fyffes in the 1920s. In 1940 the British Admiralty requisitioned "Manistee" and had her converted into an ocean boarding vessel. She was a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic until a U-boat sank her in 1941. None of her 141 crew survived. She was the second of four Elders & Fyffes ships called "Manistee". The first was built in 1904 and sunk by a U-boat in  1917. The third was built in 1932 as "Eros", bought in 1946 and renamed "Manistee", and scrapped in 1960. The fourth was built in 1972, transferred out of the Elders & Fyffes fleet in 1983, renamed "Fleet Wave" in 1984 and "Mimoza" in 1990. Building. Cammell Laird launched "Manistee" in Birkenhead on 28 October 1920 and completed her in January 1921. She was the third of 16 similar banana boats launched for Elders & Fyffes between 1919 and 1929. Ten were built by Cammell Laird, two by Workman, Clark in Belfast and four by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow. "Manistee"s registered  length was , her beam was and her depth was . Her tonnages were and . Her holds had of refrigerated cargo space. "Manistee" had a triple expansion engine that was rated at 447 NHP and gave her a speed of . "Manistee"s navigation equipment included submarine signalling and wireless direction finding. In 1934 an echo sounding device was added, and the call sign GDCX superseded her code letters KLBH. Civilian service. Elders & Fyffes' main route was from Central America and Jamaica to Bristol. It also served Avonmouth, Liverpool, Swansea, Barbados, Trinidad, Panama and Costa Rica. Elders & Fyffes ships carried mail, general cargo and  first class passengers as well as bananas. For the first year of the Second World War "Manistee" remained in merchant service. Between October 1939 and August 1940 she made trips from Britain to Jamaica, Santa Marta in Colombia, Freetown in Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and Sydney, Nova Scotia. On 7 July 1940 "Manistee" was in the Southwest Approaches southwest of Ireland, returning unescorted from Cameroon, when fired one torpedo at her. It missed, so "U-99" surfaced and opened fire with her 88 mm deck gun. "Manistee" returned fire with her DEMS armament. Neither vessel scored any hits, and "U-99" broke off  the attack. Naval service. The Admiralty requisitioned "Manistee" on 14 September 1940. She was armed with two QF 6-inch naval guns, one QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun and one anti-aircraft gun. In December 1940 she was commissioned into the Royal Navy with pennant number F 104. Her commander was Lt Cdr Eric Haydn Smith, RNR. HMS "Manistee" was one of the escorts of Convoy OB 288, which left Liverpool on 18 February 1941. OB 288 dispersed in the North Atlantic at 2100 hours on 23 February northwest of Ireland and south of Iceland due to U -boat activity in the area. At 2242 (Berlin Time) the fired two torpedoes at "Manistee" at position . One hit her in the engine room. At 2256 hrs the fired torpedoes at "Manistee", and claimed that one hit her stern. "Manistee" stayed afloat, so at 2258 hrs "U-107" fired at her again, but missed as "Manistee" got under way again. At 2342 hrs "U-107" fired a torpedo from one of her stern tubes, which also missed. "Manistee" made and zig-zagged as "U-107" chased her through the night. At 0758 hrs "U-107" fired two more torpedoes, one of which hit "Manistee"s  stern and sank her. The destroyer , corvette and Free French destroyer were sent to search for survivors, but none of her 141 crew was found.