SHIPS HIT BRITAIN 240 * - G H I
6)GRACEFIELD (RAIDER THOR)
Photo. www.photoship.co.uk
Built: 1928
Tonnage: 4,631 / 8,250 tons
Cargo: 7,430 tons of Wheat and Bran
Route: Montevideo – Freetown – London
Sunk 14 JUL 40 by Raider Thor on pos 13º 00”S 31º 00”W
0 Dead
36 Survivors taken as POW
Stopped off Trinidad on July 14, this 4,630-ton British freighter carrying 7,430 tons of wheat and bran from Montevideo to Freetown and London, was sunk by gunfire after only one of the two torpedoes fired managed to hit the target, and her crew of 36 were all brought on board Thor.
As the oncoming darkness hindered their transfer to the raider and delayed the delivery of the scuttling charges, Kähler was becoming anxious about attracting attention by setting off a ‘fireworks display’ in a busy sea-lane, and decided to use a torpedo to sink her.
After the first torpedo struck the Gracefield but did not sink her, and the second one went wildly off course and missed completely, circling around the ship, she had to be sunk by gunfire.
By www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer
