ROYAL NAVY SOUTH ATLANTIC COMMAND - ROYAL NAVY C D 30 SHIPS *
13)COPINSAY (ARMED TRAWLER)
Photo. www.iwm.org.uk Sister ship HMS Ailsa Craig
Completed: 1940
Displacement: 545 tons
Length: 164 ft
Beam: 27 ft
Draught: 11 ft
Propulsion: 1 triple expansion reciprocating engine, 1 shaft, 850 ihp (634 kW)
Speed: 12 kts
Complement: 40
Armament: One 12-pounder gun and three or four 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns with 30 depth charges.
At 21.31 hours on 3 Apr, 1942 HMS Copinsay escorted US Merchant West Irmo when the same was attacked by U-505 some 300 miles southwest of Takoradi in pos. 02º 10’N 05º 35’W. In the following Day HMS Copinsay rescued 99 survivors while made strenuous effort to tow the ship stern first but stopped as her rudder and propeller came out of the water because she settled by the bow and dropped a depth charge to hasten the sinking at 21.10 hours in 02°17N/05°25W
