SS Black Osprey

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Coordinates: 61°18′N 18°6′W / 61.300°N 18.100°W / 61.300; -18.100
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SS West Arrow underway in mid 1918
SS West Arrow underway in mid 1918
History
Name
  • 1918–1935: West Arrow
  • 1935–1941: Black Osprey
Owner
Operator
  • c. 1926–1940:
    American Diamond Lines
  • 1940–1941: Cairn Line
Port of registry
  • 1918–1940: United States United States
  • 1941–1944: United Kingdom United Kingdom
Builder
Yard number12[3]
Laid down20 September 1917 as Jas. G. Eddy[2]
Launched19 January 1918[2]
Completed26 February 1918[2]
Identification
Official Number 216012[1]
Fatetorpedoed and sunk, 1941[1]
General characteristics
TypeCargo ship
Tonnage
Length409 ft 5 in (124.79 m) (LPP)[1]
Beam54 ft 2 in (16.51 m)[1]
Propulsion1 ×
triple-expansion steam engine[1]
Speed10.5 knots (19.4 km/h)[1]

SS Black Osprey was a

launched for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) during World War I. The ship was inspected by the United States Navy for possible use as USS West Arrow (ID-2585) but was neither taken into the Navy nor ever commissioned
under that name.

West Arrow was built in 1918 for the USSB, as a part of the West boats, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the World War I war effort. Information about her early career is largely absent, but by the 1920s, news reports revealed that the ship was sailing on the North Atlantic. By the mid-1920s, West Arrow was sailing for American Diamond on their cargo service to Rotterdam and Antwerp. In 1935, American Diamond changed the ship's name to Black Osprey and the ship continued in Rotterdam service.

After the outbreak of

Isthmian Line in 1940, Black Osprey called at various ports in the Pacific Ocean. American Diamond sold Black Osprey to the British Ministry of War Transport in late 1940. During the ship's first transatlantic crossing under the British flag, she was sunk by German submarine U-96 on 18 February 1941, with the loss of 25 men. The 11 survivors were picked up by a Norwegian ship and landed in at Barry
.

Design and construction

The West ships were

launched as West Arrow on 19 January 1918, and completed on 26 February 1918.[2]

The ship was 5,802 

screw propeller, and moved the ship at a 10.5-knot (19.4 km/h) pace.[1]

Career

West Arrow was inspected by the

13th Naval District of the United States Navy after completion and was assigned the identification number of 2585. Had she been commissioned, she would have been known as USS West Arrow (ID-2585), but the Navy neither took over the ship nor commissioned her.[5]

Little is known of West Arrow's early career, with almost no information regarding her World War I activities. During that war, many of the West ships carried grain products to the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, but it is not known whether West Arrow did so or not.

American Diamond Lines[Note 2] in New York – Rotterdam service on a U.S. government-subsidized mail route.[8] In July 1932, the ship was moved to a new Baltimore – Antwerp route,[9] but by December 1934 was again sailing to Rotterdam.[10]

In 1935, American Diamond changed the name of West Arrow to Black Osprey,

Holland—speculated that Black Osprey was the ship that had been selected to carry $345,000 of gold for export.[11] On 24 March 1938,[12] Black Osprey was sailing in a dense fog off St. Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight when she struck the 311 GRT British cargo ship Chagford, which sank within five minutes. Three of Chagford's six-man crew were picked up by Black Osprey, whose crew searched in vain for three hours for the other three men. After the fog lifted, the Chagford survivors were transferred to a fishing vessel that landed the crewmen, and Black Osprey resumed her Rotterdam – Philadelphia journey.[13]

World War II

After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Black Osprey, still registered in the neutral-United States, was seized by British authorities on 6 September and detained at Weymouth. After carefully inspecting the ship for any contraband, the British released the ship after a week.[14] However, on 31 October, the British again seized Black Osprey, and had not yet released her by 8 November, when the U.S. State Department released a list of 40 American ships that had been detained by belligerents.[15]

The United States established a "Neutrality Zone"—a zone where American-flagged ships could not enter—in late 1939. As a result, American Diamond was unable to continue its Dutch route, and

Isthmian Line,[17] and made voyages in the Pacific, calling at ports such as Singapore and Honolulu in 1940.[18] After a typhoon with winds in excess of 115 miles per hour (185 km/h) hit Wake Island in early October, Black Osprey was diverted through heavy seas to check on the welfare of the 35 men on the island, all found to be safe.[19]

In November, American Diamond sought the permission of the

deadweight ton, or around $440,000.[17]

The deal was completed before Black Osprey's 10 December sailing from Philadelphia to Baltimore under the British flag. Black Osprey then sailed from Baltimore on 25 January 1941 for Halifax, where she arrived on 30 January.[21] Black Osprey, loaded with a cargo of steel,[22] joined convoy HX 107 that sailed from that port for Liverpool on 3 February.[21] After falling behind in the convoy, Black Osprey was torpedoed by U-96 under the command of Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock at 02:27 on 18 February south of Iceland, near position 61°18′N 18°6′W / 61.300°N 18.100°W / 61.300; -18.100. The ship's master and 24 crewmen died in the attack. Black Osprey's 11 survivors were picked up by the Norwegian refrigerated cargo ship Mosdale and landed at Barry.[23]

Notes

  1. ^ Skinner & Eddy was an emergency shipyard that only operated from 1916 until about 1920.
  2. American Diamond Lines was founded by the United States Shipping Board for cargo service between the United States and Rotterdam and Antwerp, and was managed from about 1920 by the Black Diamond Steamship Company of New York. See: de la Pedraja Tomán 1994
    , p. 80

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Miramar Ship Index.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Skinner & Eddy 1918, p. 143
  3. ^ a b c Colton 2008.
  4. ^ a b Crowell & Wilson 1921, pp. 358–59
  5. ^ Naval Historical Center. "West Arrow". DANFS.
  6. ^ "Teutons fete 23 U. S. lads". The Washington Post. 13 February 1921. p. 11.
  7. ^ "White Star Liner hits Ship Board freighter". The New York Times. 20 September 1923. p. 5.
  8. ^ Carter, John (21 March 1926). "Ships under American flag obtain federal assistance". The New York Times. p. X20.
  9. ^ "Baltimore port gets new Antwerp service". The New York Times. 5 July 1932. p. 28.
  10. ^ "Shipping and Mails". The New York Times. 3 December 1934. p. 35.
  11. ^ "$345,000 gold engaged here for shipment to Holland". The Wall Street Journal. 3 March 1936. p. 9.
  12. ^ List of shipwrecks in 1938
  13. ^ "London steamer sunk in fog". The Times. 20 September 1923.
  14. ^ "British free American ship". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 14 September 1939. p. A.
  15. ^ "Belligerents detain 40 ships". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 9 November 1939. p. 2.
  16. ^ de la Pedraja Tomán 1994, pp. 80–81
  17. ^ a b c "British seek ships of Black Diamond". The New York Times. 23 November 1940. p. 31.
  18. ^ "Arrivals and clearances at Pacific ports". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 20 September 1940. p. A14.
  19. ^ "Wake Island, clipper base, hit by typhoon". The New York Times. 19 October 1940. p. A.
  20. ^ "Cargo ship is sold by Diamond Line". The New York Times. 1 February 1941. p. 33.
  21. ^ a b "Port Arrivals/Departures: Black Osprey". Arnold Hague's Ports Database. Convoy Web. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  22. ^ "Convoy HX.107". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  23. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Black Osprey". The U-Boat War 1939–1945. uboat.net. Retrieved 2 September 2008.

Bibliography

External links

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