ROYAL NAVY SOUTH ATLANTIC COMMAND - BRITISH ROYAL NAVY LOSSES SOUTH ATLANTIC

Completed 1942

Displacement  545 tons

Length 164 ft

Beam 27, 8 ft

Draught 11 ft

Propulsion 1 triple expansion reciprocating engine, 1 shaft, 850 ihp (634 kW

Speed 14 kts Max

Complement 34

Armament One 12-pounder gun and three or four 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns with 30 depth charges

Sunk 21/Oct/43 by U-68 when enroute from Lagos for Freetown on pos. 05º58”N 11º30”W.

34 Dead

No survivors

During the night on 21 Oct, 1943, the SS Litiopa heard twice that depth charges were dropped by her sole escort, HMS Orfasy (T 204) (Lt Skipper G.A. Whichello, DSC, RNR), but then a heavy explosion nearby shook the tanker. At 23.53 hours, the trawler had been hit by one torpedo from U-68, exploded and sank with all hands about 185 miles southeast of Freetown. The U-boat later sunk the tanker with gunfire after missing with several torpedoes.

By https://uboat.net/allies/