SS AVOCETA Yeoward Line Liverpool
Torpedoed and sunk by U-boat U203 September 25th 1941

PART ONE

My name is Grahame Morris and in 1941, as a 19 year old, I was serving as Third Radio Officer aboard the passenger-cargo ship, SS AVOCETA, when on the 18th August 1941 we sailed, as Commodore Ship of Convoy OG72 (outward to Gibraltar), from the Port of Liverpool bound for Gibraltar. On board , as Convoy Commodore, was Rear Admiral Sir Kenelm Creighton KBE MVO RNR. Our track lay around the north of Ireland then well out into the Atlantic before altering course to the southward. Instead of 1200 miles direct, our journey would be twice as far, and at a convoy speed of around 7 knots, would take about 14 days. This large detour was essential as more and more U-boats were operating from the Biscay ports. However, the outward voyage, fortunately for us, passed without any serious incident and we eventually steamed into the Bay at Gibraltar unmolested by the enemy.
From there we sailed, this time alone and unescorted, to Lisbon, in Portugal, where we were to take on board some cargo and passengers. The latter were mostly European women, with their young children, who had married men of British nationality. They had been stranded when German forces overran France and had made their way by various means into Spain and Portugal. Both these countries refused to allow them to stay, therefore arrangements had been made to ship them to the UK.
Part of our cargo was to be bulk cork, which was to play an important part in my survlval at a later date. We also carried 573 Bags of Mail and some Diplomatic Bags which were all locked away in the strongroom. When all our cargo and a total of 87 passengers were finally aboard, we returned to Gibraltar and anchored out in the Bay until such time as a convoy was formed for our return passage to the UK.
During brief shore leave in Gibraltar we heard the tragic news about our sister ship SS AGUILA, which had been sailing in Convoy OG71. She was also Commodore ship of the convoy and was torpedoed and sunk on the 18th August - the very day on which we left Liverpool on an identical trip. There was a large loss of life among both crew and passengers, a party of 22 young WRNS on a posting to Gibraltar among them. The German U-boat U201 commanded by Kap/Lt. Adalbert Schnee being responsible. Between the 19th and 23rd August, Convoy OG 71 lost 10 ships, including two escort vessels, the Norwegian destroyer BATH and the Flower Class Corvette HMS ZINNIA. The few survivors from AGUILA were to be given passage back to the UK on SS AVOCETA.
The majority of North Atlantic convoys at this time usually had only a small number of escort vessels available to them. Allied shipping losses were very high, due mainly to the effectiveness of the Wolf Pack technique devised by German Admiral Karl Doenitz, whereby U-boats would converge on a particular convoy to carry out combined mass attacks at night. Our convoy, designated HG73 (homeward from Gibraltar), was now ready to sail and left port on the afternoon of 17th September 1941.
It was made up of 25 ships, sailing in 7 columns, our position as commodore ship being No 51 - the leading ship in column 5.
On board we carried a total of 164 people made up of crew, passengers, survivors from AGUILa, Rear Admiral Creighton, his staff of 6 and 6 Royal Navy gunners. The convoy had been provided with an unusually powerful anti-submarine escort of 10 Corvettes and Destroyers and also one of the newly introduced Fighter Catapult Ships, a converted merchantman, HMS SPRINGBANK, carrying a Fulmar fighter aircraft. She also had a heavy armament of ant-aircraft guns and was commanded and manned by Royal Navy Officers and Ratings. It was her first voyage as a convoy escort.
One of the first indications we had of potential trouble ahead was off Tangier, when our convoy passed through a fleet of Spanish fishing trawlers who would, we were sure, pass on details of our course speed and escorts etc. to the enemy for a suitable fee. Meanwhile, German U-boats U201 and U124, which had lost contact with convoy OG74, now rendezvoused with U371 and Italian submarines TORELLI and MOROSINI west of Gibraltar on 18th September. During the evening of 20th Sept. the TORELLI made contact with our convoy, HG73.
On the night of the 21/22 Sept. while still shadowing us, TORELLI was driven off by a depth charge attack by one of our escorting destroyers, HMS VIMY. We now knew full well that we would be shadowed until a Wolf Pack assembled before attacking us and I decided from then on to sleep fully clothed out on deck at night when off watch rather than go to my cabin.
On the 23rd Sept. another Italian submarine, DA VINCI, made and maintained contact with our convoy. Also on the 23rd, a Focke Wulf 200 (Kondor) long-range reconnaissance bomber plane found us and circled the convoy at a discreet distance before being driven off by by the Fulmar fighter launched from HMS SPRINGBANK. The Fulmar failed in the attempt to destroy the Kondor and, as he could not land back on SPRINGBANK, the pilot was fortunate to be able to get back to Gibraltar. Admiral Creighton, meanwhile, was moving the convoy further westward into the Atlantic in the hope that by zig-zagging and various course changes we would escape the attentions of the shadowing enemy planes and submarines. Needless to say, a Focke Wulf Kondor found us each day from then on.
The attacks began in earnest on the night of 24/25 Sept. when first the German U-boat U124, commanded by the notorious Kap/Lt. Johan Mohr sank the British steamer EMPIRE STREAM owned by the Ministry of War Transport (J.S.Stranahan Managers). Then U203, Kap/Lt. Rolf Mutzelburg, joined the others and on the night of 25/26 Sept. he sank three ships - VARENBERG Norwegian, CORTES and our ship, AVOCETA owned by Yeoward Brothers.
When the torpedo struck us astern at 2336BST on the 25th, I was off watch and, as I had previously decided, was sleeping out on deck. AB Les Swinbourne (North Wales) was making his way up to the bridge where he was due to take over the wheel at midnight. My immediate reaction was to rush up to the boat deck where a shipmate and I tried unsuccessfully to lower a lifeboat already slung out on its davits on the starboard side.
The ship was already starting to go down by the stern, and as the bow reared up in the air, we found the boat gear had jammed. During the next few minutes it was, literally, every man for himself and as I swung myself, Tarzan fashion, back down to the Promenade deck below me, I found myself being sucked down into the water with the ship as she now started to sink quickly in a near vertical position. After what seemed an age, I popped up to the surface due to the fact that I was already wearing my full, waistcoat type, Kapok-filled lifejacket, was a fairly strong swimmer and had, most importantly, the natural will to survive.
From the moment the torpedo struck until I found myself floating on the surface must have been no more than a few minutes before the ship was gone! It was later confirmed at an Enquiry held in Liverpool on 3rd October 1941 that SS AVOCETA sank in two minutes in Position 47deg57minN 24deg5minW.


PART TWO

Finding myself alone in the water after seeing my ship disappear beneath the waves, I took stock and looked around for anything that might help me stay afloat for however long it might be before help arrived. Strangely, I just did not consider the probability that help may not be forthcoming. Most ships carried life rafts, in addition to lifeboats, and as these were kept loose on deck they were in effect self-launching. AVOCETA had three of these rafts, two were for'ard and there was a larger one aft.
It is surprising how well one can see in the "darkness" and I was able to spot and get hold of a large chunk of solid cork from our cargo which had been blown out of the ship in the explosion. This helped me considerably and I now felt even more confident of survival. Some time later I saw a raft, a distance away, and decided to swim for it. As I drew closer I could make out figures lying on the raft who appeared to be in a bad way. So, with no help from them available, I made the difficult solo effort - my uniform was sodden and as heavy as lead and I was tired from the exertion of my swim - to haul myself out of the water and up on to it. Once on the raft I, too, lay down to recover, and we all managed to hang on for two or three hours, but I then saw the bow of a ship edging slowly and cautiously towards the raft. At that moment I had no idea if it was friend or foe, but it turned out to be one of our escorting Corvettes which had been ordered to drop back and search for survivors. She was HMS JASMINE, commanded by Lt. Commander C.D.B.Coventry RNR and was a most welcome sight. As she came alongside the raft, I lost no time in climbing the scramble nets they had put over the side and when I reached the top I found myself being hauled quickly and unceremoniously over the rail by willing hands and was then treated to an extra large tot of rum! I have since learned that Rear Admiral Creighton, our Master Captain Harold Martin, Captain Frith of the AGUILA, our Chief Officer Malcolm Robertson and AB Les Swinbourne were rescued in a similar way by another searching Corvette, HMS PERIWINKLE.
On the 26th Sept., U124 sank the British steamers PETREL and LAPWING both owned by the General Steam Navigation Co. Later that night, U124 also sank CERVANTES owned by McAndrews & Co. On the 27th. U201 commanded by Kap/Lt. Adalbert Schnee, hit HMS SPRINGBANK with two torpedoes, but she did not sink. U201 did however sink the Norwegian ship SIREMALM. SPRINGBANK lost one Officer and 31 ratings in the attck but still stayed afloat.
The C. in C. Western Approaches, Liverpool informed the Captain of our Escort Group that a deep-sea tug would be sent to tow SPRINGBANK back to the UK, but this decision was later countermanded. Instead, orders were given to HMS JASMINE to stand by her and take off all survivors and after so doing, was to sink her.
So, JASMINE took off all survivors, which was in itself a superb feat of seamanship, and then proceeded to make the first of three depth charge attacks firing from two starboard throwers running at speed alongside SPRINGBANK at a distance of about fifty feet. The depth charges were aimed and timed to explode just below the waterline, and we on JASMINE also felt the effect of this. After three attempts, SPRINGBANK still refused to go down, so JASMINE stood off her and used her 4" for'ard gun and eventually one of the rounds started a fire which burned all afternoon giving off dense yellowish smoke. Jasmine had been circling at a safe distance, zig-zagging at about 14 knots, as submarines were known to be still in the vicinity. At 1950hrs, there was a huge explosion and SPRINGBANK slowly heeled over and, it seemed reluctantly, finally sank. We were about 4 miles away and closed rapidly to find wreckage and a lot of oil on the surface but no sign of further survivors. JASMINE then headed off to rejoin the convoy. During the 27th, U203 and U205 still maintained contact with the convoy, but U205 was attacked by an aircraft from a base in Cornwall and was believed to have sustained damage. In the evening, however, U201 was again at work and torpedoed and sank the Finnish steamer MARGARETA to the SW of Ireland.
After sinking SPRINGBANK, the JASMINE, now seriously overloaded with more than 60 survivors aboard, was ordered to make best speed for Milford Haven where all survivors were to be put ashore. Survivors from AVOCETA who were landed there numbered: 24 of the original crew of 71, 12 only of the 87 passengers and Rear Admiral Creighton and two of his staff. The rest were officially listed as "Missing presumed drowned". The ladies of the WVS looked after us whilst we were each issued with a set of civilian clothing and Rail Travel Warrants. We must have looked a grim sight with our budles of personal possessions as we departed for our various home destinations.
During our voyage home from Gibraltar, the convoy lost a total of 10 ships, but no U-boats were reported sunk! Admiral Sir Percy Noble, C. in C. Western Approaches at the time, headed a Board of Enquiry, held in Liverpool on 3rd October 1941, into the enemy attacks on Convoy HG73. This was not to lay blame but to try to discover why the enemy achieved such spectacular success without the escorting warships being able to sink a single U-boat! The wholesale failure of the escorts' early type Radar equipment was accepted as being one of the contributary factors leading to the heavy loss of valuable tonnage and precious lives.
Having been fortunate myself to suffer only slight physical injuries, after an all too short spell of shore leave, I returned to sea. Although I was later involved in Operation TORCH (North African Landings) and after that in Hawaii and the Philippines in the Pacific Theatre of War, I had many close calls, but no other ship in which I sailed was sunk - that is while I was serving on her. I was still out in the Pacific in 1946, where we had all celebrated the real end of World War 2.

Grahame Morris (Ex Radio Officer. MN) North Wales

Enemy submarines involved at some stage in the Wolf Pack attacks on Convoy HG73 were: German U-boats U124, U201, U203, U205, U371 and Italian submarines Torelli, Morosini and Da Vinci.

British warships involved in escorting HG73, some for the whole and some for part of the voyage were: HMS Farndale,Duncan, Fowey, Periwinkle, Stonecrop, Myosotis, Hibiscus, Jasmine, Larkspur, Begonia, Gentian, Wild Swan, Vimy, Highlander, Wolverine, Coxwold, Starling and Springbank.
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