SHIPS HIT NETHERLANDS 30 - DUTCH SHIPS LOST/DAMAGED/CAPTURED
8)BODENGRAVEN U-547
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Photo. www.photoship.co.uk
Built 1929
Tonnage 5,593 / 9,320 tons
Cargo: 4,589 tons of general cargo and food and 2,512 tons of copper.
Route: Beira - Durban - Freetown - UK
Sunk 02 JUL 44 by U-547 on pos. 04º14’N 11º 00’W
9 Dead
1 POW
101 Survivors
At 01.30 hours on 2 Jul, 1944, the unescorted Bodegraven (Master B.A. Molenaar) was hit on the port side in the engine room by a torpedo from U-547 about 200 miles south of Monrovia. The ship stopped and settled by the stern, sinking after 12 minutes. One lifeboat had been destroyed by the explosion, so the 63 crew members and 48 passengers had to abandon ship in the three remaining lifeboats.
The Germans then questioned the survivors and took the master as prisoner on board. The survivors in one lifeboat made landfall at the coast of Grand Bassa, Liberia and the others were rescued by the frigate HMS FAL, a frigate on patrol who had been sent to search for survivors. One week later they landed at Freetown. Three crewmen on watch below and six passengers were lost
By Bodegraven (Dutch Steam merchant) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net
Above, the region of Grand Bassa, Liberia where the survivors made ashore.
