SS Pan Kraft
West Avenal, sister ship to Pan Kraft
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History | |
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Name | Pan Kraft |
Operator | Waterman Steamship Company |
Builder | Western Pipe & Steel |
Yard number | WPS Hull No. 11 |
Launched | July 2, 1919 |
Christened | West Kader |
Acquired | December 31, 1919 |
Homeport | Wilmington, Delaware |
Fate | Sunk by bombing, July 7, 1942 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | |
Length | 410 ft 6 in (125.12 m) |
Beam | 54 ft 0 in (16.46 m) |
Draft | 24 ft 1+1⁄2 in (7.353 m) |
Propulsion | triple expansion, 2,800 ihp (2,100 kW) |
Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h) |
Crew | 44 |
Pan Kraft was a cargo ship built in 1919 by the
Operational history
Pan Kraft was launched as West Kader on July 2, 1919, and delivered to the Shipping Board on December 31, 1919. She made her maiden voyage between Portland, Oregon, and the Far East on January 8, 1920, and in August 1920 made a trip to Cork, Ireland. From April 1920 to April 1928, West Kader continued to operate from Portland, Oregon, to China, Japan, Russia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.
On June 4, 1928, West Kader was sold by the U.S. Shipping Board to the States Steamship Company of Portland, Oregon, who renamed her New York. On September 10, 1936, the U.S.-flag
New York's home port remained Portland until 1937 when she was sold to the Everett Steamship Company of Mobile, Alabama, who renamed her Pan Kraft and home-ported her in Mobile.
Pan Kraft was acquired by Pan Atlantic Steamship Corporation in 1939. Her home port remained Mobile, but after
Convoy PQ 17
Following the outbreak of World War II and the entry of the
On July 4, the commander of PQ 17's naval escort was informed that the German battleship Tirpitz was on course to intercept. He made the fateful decision to scatter the convoy, with disastrous results. German U-boats and aircraft were able to pick off the isolated ships with ease, sinking 25 of the convoy's 36 merchant vessels and putting PQ 17 into the record books as the greatest Russia-bound convoy loss of the war.
Pan Kraft was not to be one of the fortunate few to escape. On July 5 she was attacked in the Barents Sea by Junkers Ju 88 bombers, and though she did not suffer a direct hit, her oil and steam lines were ruptured and she had to be abandoned. The British corvette HMS Lotus then attempted without success to sink the disabled vessel, but at 6:00 am on July 7, 1942, Pan Kraft finally sank after suffering an internal explosion.
Two more of the convoy's ships were sunk on the return journey.
References
- ^ "Casualty Reports". The Times. No. 47477. London. 11 September 1936. col E, p. 23.
- Mawdsley, Dean L. (2002): Steel Ships and Iron Pipe: Western Pipe and Steel Company of California, the Company, the Yard, the Ships, ISBN 1-889901-28-8, page 105.