SS Kingston Hill
SS Kingston Hill was a cargo ship built by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. She was completed in December 1940.[1] She was managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London (CSM), an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company.[3] She was a sister ship of SS Lulworth Hill, SS Marietta E, SS Michael E and SS Primrose Hill, which were also managed by CSM but owned by other R&K companies.
History | |
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Name: | SS Kingston Hill |
Namesake: | Kingston Hill, south London |
Operator: | Counties Ship Management Co Ltd, London |
Builder: | William Hamilton & Co, Port Glasgow[1] |
Launched: | 17 October 1940 |
Completed: | December 1940[1] |
Out of service: | 8 June 1941[2] |
Identification: |
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Fate: | Sunk by torpedo |
General characteristics | |
Type: | cargo ship |
Tonnage: | |
Length: | 421.1 ft (128.4 m)[1] p/p |
Beam: | 60.4 ft (18.4 m)[1] |
Draught: | 35.8 ft (10.9 m)[1] |
Installed power: | 520 NHP[1] |
Propulsion: | triple-expansion steam engine; screw[1] |
Crew: | 62[2] |
Notes: | sister ships: SS Lulworth Hill, SS Marietta E, SS Michael E, SS Primrose Hill |
Kingston Hill had a single 520 NHP triple-expansion steam engine[1] driving a single screw. She had eight corrugated furnaces heating two 225 lbf/in2 single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 7,643 square feet (710 m2), plus one auxiliary boiler.[1]
On 22 February 1941 Luftwaffe aircraft bombed and damaged the ship.[2] She was repaired at Glasgow.[2]
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Sinking
In May 1941 Kingston Hill sailed from Cardiff and Glasgow laden with coal and general cargo for Alexandria in Egypt.[2] To avoid the enemy-controlled waters of the Mediterranean she was heading via Cape Town, South Africa, but was unescorted.[2] She was southwest of the Cape Verde Islands heading into the South Atlantic when the German submarine U-38 hit her with two torpedoes at 0108 hrs on 8 June 1941.[2] She sank at 0125 hrs with the loss of her Master and 13 crew.[2] 16 crew were rescued by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Achates and returned to Greenock.[2] 26 crew were rescued by the US tanker Alabama and landed at Cape Town.[2]
References
- Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1941. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2010). "Kingston Hill". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
- Fenton, Roy (2006). "Counties Ship Management 1934-2007". LOF-News. p. 1. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
Sources & further reading
- Sedgwick, Stanley; Kinnaird, Mark; O'Donoghue, K.J. (1993) [1992]. London & Overseas Freighters, 1948-92: A Short History. World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-68-1.
- Sedgwick, Stanley; Sprake, R.F. (1977). London & Overseas Freighters Limited 1949-1977. World Ship Society. ISBN 0905617037.