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SHIPS HIT BRITAIN 239 * - D E F

38)ENA DE LARRINAGA U-105




Photo. www.photoship.co.uk


 


Built 1925


Tonnage: 5,200 / 8,130 tons


Cargo:  5,607 tons of coal and general cargo


Route:  Hull - Buenos Aires


Sunk 05 APR 41 by U-105 on pos. 01° 10'N 26° 00'W


5 Dead


38 Survivors


At 03.38 hours on 5 April 1941 the unescorted Ena de Larrinaga (Master Reginald Sharpe Craston) was hit aft by one G7a torpedo from U-105 and sank slowly on an even keel 205 miles east of St. Paul Rocks. The U-boat had spotted the ship about 10 hours earlier and decided to wait for the night to attack. Five crew members of 39 crew members, two military and two naval gunners were lost. The master and 18 survivors were rescued after 13 days and landed at Rio de Fogo near Touros, Brazil. The chief officer and 18 survivors were picked up by the Brazilian steam passenger ship Almirante Alexandrino and landed at Recife Pernambuco. The master Reginald S. Craston was awarded an OBE and the Lloyd’s War Medal for bravery at sea. The master Reginald S. Craston was awarded an OBE and the Lloyd’s War Medal for bravery at sea.


By  https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/863.html



Above, Brazilian merchant Almirante Alexandrino which fished out nineteen survivors from Ena de Larrinaga. Photo https://tokdehistoria.com.br/



Survivors from Ena de Larrinaga seen at Recife following their arrival at Natal. Photo https://tokdehistoria.com.br/



Above, the headlines of a Brazilian Newspaper reporting the rescue of survivors from British Ena de Larrinaga. It reads: They roamed adrift in the mid of Atlantic. Photo https://tokdehistoria.com.br/


Supplement to The London Gazette of  Friday, the 2 November, 1941


The ship was torpedoed at night and sank in fifteen minutes. The Master ordered the crew to the boats and to stand by. He then searched the ship and stepped from the rail into one of the two boats just before the ship sank. The boats kept together through the night. At dawn the Master determined to make for an island about 500 miles away. The crew was divided, nineteen to each boat.  After five days sailing one boat was met by a ship. On the eleventh day the Master sighted the island but, owing to wind, sea and current, could not make it. He then made for the mainland 200 miles away and reached it two days later. The Master set a fine example.


His powers of command were shown in the organization and discipline that prevailed .when abandoning the ship, and during the thirteen days voyage in the boat. His courage and good seamanship saved the lives of his companions.


 

 

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