- NORWEGIAN SHIPS CARGO LOST
31)SARITA UA*
https://www.naval-history.net/Maps1939-08RNStations.GIF
Photo. www.sjohistorie.no
Built: 1914
Tonnage: 5,824 / 8,300 tons
Cargo: Ballast
Route: St. Vincent - Trinidad
Sunk 14 JUL 40 by UA in pos. 15° 22'N 26° 28'W
0 Dead
29 Survivors
Completed in May 1914 as British Melania for Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co Ltd, London. 1930 sold to Norway and renamed Sarita.
At 11.45 hours on 14 July 1940 the unescorted Sarita (Master Carsten Grøm) was hit on the port side in the #7 tank by one stern torpedo from UA and was abandoned by the crew in one lifeboat and two rafts. After one hour, the U-boat surfaced and fired 34 rounds from the deck gun at the tanker of which 11 were hits. The ship developed a list to port and did not sink because the empty starboard tanks kept her afloat, but the U-boat fired with the 2cm AA gun holes into the hull and she sank at 13.38 hours.
The Germans then came alongside of the lifeboat and took the master on board with the ship´s papers. He was allowed to go back to the boat and after they took care of two injured men the U-boat left the area. The survivors distributed themselves on the rafts, but on 16 July after three ships had passed by without spotting them, all returned to the lifeboat and set sail for Barbados. They were picked up two days later by the British steam merchant Dunstan in 15°31'N 30°04'W and taken to Recife harbor, Pernambuco.
By Sarita (Norwegian Steam tanker) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net
