Avoceta is Spanish for avocet. Yeoward Brothers had a previous ship called Avocet that was built in 1885 and sunk by U-50 in 1917.
On August 13, 1941 Avoceta 's sister ship Aguila left Liverpool in OG 71. On August 19, 1941 Avoceta followed, leaving Liverpool with Convoy OG 72. On August 18-23 OG 71 became the first Allied convoy to be attacked by a U-boat wolfpack. OG 72 safely reached Gibraltar on September 4, but there received news that OG 71 had been attacked, 10 ships sank, and they included Aguila which had been lost with 152 dead and only 16 survivors.
From Gibraltar Avoceta made her usual round trip to Lisbon and back (September 2-15). In Lisbon she embarked dozens of refugees from German-occupied Europe: UK subjects who had escaped the fall of France and had been denied leave to remain by the authorities in neutral Spain and Portugal. Most were women and children, some of them of French or Spanish origin, several following their husbands to the UK. Once back in Gibraltar Avoceta also embarked survivors rescued from the loss of Aguila. Her cargo included cork, 573 sacks of mail and some diplomatic bags.
Avoceta was one of 25 merchant ships that formed Convoy HG 73, which left Gibraltar on September 17 bound for Liverpool. HG 73's Commodore, Rear Admiral Sir Kenelm Creighton, KBE, MVO, traveled on Avoceta. In response to the new wolfpack tactic, HG 73's initial escort included three destroyers, one sloop, 8 corvettes and the fighter catapult ship HMS Springbank. At first this was successful: on September 18 a Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor found HG 73 and signaled its position and course, but on the moonless night of September 21-22 the destroyer HMS Vimy damaged the Italian submarine Luigi Torelli with depth charges and drove her away. On September 22 another destroyer, HMS Highlander, rendezvoused with the convoy and reinforced its escort. On September 24 an Fw 200 patrol aircraft again sighted HG 73, but a Fairey Fulmar aircraft from Springbank drove it off.
The next morning the German submarine U-124 sank the cargo ship Empire Stream. Then on the night of September 25-26 the attack increased. Avoceta was in the first row of the convoy, with the Norwegian cargo ship Varangberg in the position astern of her. At 0031 hrs U-203 fired a spread of four torpedoes from their port side. One hit Avoceta close to her engine room and two hit Varangberg. Admiral Creighton was on Avoceta 's bridge, and later recalled that when hit "She staggered like a stumbling horse".
Both ships sank quickly, and Varangberg had no time to launch her lifeboats. Avoceta sank by the stern, and her bows quickly rose to such an angle that her lifeboats could not be lowered. However, the liner had three life rafts mounted so as to float clear in the event of a shipwreck, and one of her radio officers survived by clinging to a large piece of her cork cargo that had floated free from one of her holds.
The next morning the German submarine U-124 sank the cargo ship Empire Stream. Then on the night of September 25-26 the attack increased. Avoceta was in the first row of the convoy, with the Norwegian cargo ship Varangberg in the position astern of her. At 0031 hrs U-203 fired a spread of four torpedoes from their port side. One hit Avoceta close to her engine room and two hit Varangberg. Admiral Creighton was on Avoceta 's bridge, and later recalled that when hit "She staggered like a stumbling horse".
Both ships sank quickly, and Varangberg had no time to launch her lifeboats. Avoceta sank by the stern, and her bows quickly rose to such an angle that her lifeboats could not be lowered. However, the liner had three life rafts mounted so as to float clear in the event of a shipwreck, and one of her radio officers survived by clinging to a large piece of her cork cargo that had floated free from one of her holds.
123 people from Avoceta and 21 crew from Varangberg were lost. Avoceta 's dead included 43 crew, nine Navy staff, four DEMS gunners and 67 civilian passengers, including 32 women and 20 children. The youngest victims were four one-year-old babies. The Barker family, six children under 16 and their mother Ida, died together. Three victims were in their early 70s; the oldest was Ernest Andrews, aged 73. The Reverend Edward Stanley and his sister Elizabeth, both in their 60s, had been returning from missionary work in Vichy France. A Jewish couple in their 60s, Semtov Jacob Yahiel and his wife Luna, had been living in Paris but the husband was a British subject so they were trying to reach relative safety in Britain. Two victims were from British India: Musserwanji Marshall, aged 72, and a young graduate, Saraswati Kitchlu.
The Flower-class corvettes HMS Jasmine and Periwinkle rescued 40 survivors from Avoceta. Jasmine also saved six of Varangberg's crew who were clinging to rafts and floating wreckage. The merchant ship Cervantes saved another three of Avoceta 's crew. Avoceta 's survivors were Admiral Creighton and five of his Royal Navy staff, her Master Harold Martin and 22 of his crew, two DEMS gunners and 12 passengers. A day later U-201 sank Cervantes, killing eight people, but the merchant ship Starling rescued 32 including Cervantes ' three survivors from Avoceta. Jasmine and Periwinkle landed their survivors at Milford Haven, Wales.
Click HERE for details of 124 people who were on board.
Click HERE for details of 124 people who were on board.
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