SS Gasfire

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Coordinates: 52°20′N 1°57′E / 52.33°N 1.95°E / 52.33; 1.95
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

History
United Kingdom
NameGasfire
OwnerGas Light and Coke Company
OperatorStephenson, Clarke & Assoc Cos
Port of registryUnited Kingdom London
RouteTyneside — London
Builder
Sunderland
Yard number338
CompletedOctober 1936
Identification
FateSunk by mine, 21 June 1941
General characteristics
Tonnage
  • 1936–40:
  • 2,972 GRT
  • tonnage under deck 2,268
  • 1,747 NRT
  • 1940–41:
  • 3,001 GRT
  • tonnage under deck 2,269
  • 1,753 NRT
Length318.4 ft (97.0 m)
Beam45.7 ft (13.9 m)
Draught19 ft 10+1⁄2 in (6.06 m)
Depth20.0 ft (6.1 m)
Installed power259 NHP
Propulsion
Armament(as
DEMS
)
Notessister ship: Mr. Therm

SS Gasfire was a

Sunderland in 1936, survived severe damage from being torpedoed in 1940 and was sunk by a mine in the North Sea
in 1941.

Building and peacetime service

In 1936

Sunderland on the River Wear built a pair of colliers for the GLCC, completing Mr. Therm in May[1] and her sister ship Gasfire in October.[2] At more than 2,970 GRT[3] each they were as large as many ocean-going cargo ships, but they were built for a North Sea coastal route, bringing coal from the Great Northern Coalfield of North East England to the GLCC's Beckton Gas Works on the River Thames
.

Gasfire had six corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of 82 square feet (8 m2) that heated two single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 3,732 square feet (347 m2). These fed steam at 200

lbf/in2 to a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine built by North East Marine Engineering Co of Newcastle upon Tyne. The engine was rated at 259 NHP and drove a single screw.[2]

The GLCC contracted management of the two ships to Stephenson, Clarke and Associated Companies,[2] which had managed all of the GLCC fleet since before the First World War.

Wartime service

In the Second World War,

Methil on the Firth of Forth; FS convoys did the reverse. From January to October 1940 Gasfire made up to three round trips a month between Beckton and the Tyne, leaving each FN convoy and joining each FS convoy off the Tyne Estuary.[4]

Damaged and repaired

On 17 October 1940 Gasfire left Southend with Convoy FN 11. E-boats tended to attack off the coast of

pontoon,[5] removed the damage and built a new stern onto her. The repair slightly increased each of her tonnages.[3]

Final voyage and loss

SS Gasfire is located in England
SS Gasfire
class=notpageimage|
Approximate position of Gasfire's wreck

Gasfire returned to service on 3 May 1941.

EC 36 which would continue around Cape Wrath to Oban. Later that day, 11 nautical miles (20 km) east of Southwold,[5] she struck a mine and sank. All 26 crew were rescued.[5]

A donkeyman (i.e. crewman in charge of a donkey engine) from Gasfire's crew, T.A. Umpleby, was awarded the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct and Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1938. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1938. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  3. ^ a b Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1941. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  4. ^ Hague, Arnold. "32 convoys found containing Gasfire". Convoy Web. Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e Searle, Peter. "Page 042: Shipbuilders – Page 3". The Sunderland Site. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  6. ^ de Neumann, Bernard (19 January 2006). "Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea (Part Two)". WW2 People's War. BBC. Retrieved 20 December 2013.

52°20′N 1°57′E / 52.33°N 1.95°E / 52.33; 1.95

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