SS City of Johannesburg

British cargo steamship sunk during World War II

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Find sources: "SS City of Johannesburg" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2021)

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History
United Kingdom
Name|

* Melford Hall
* City of Johannesburg

Operator| Ellerman Lines Ltd, London
Port of registry|  Liverpool
Builder| Barclay, Curle & Co, Whiteinch, Glasgow
Yard number| 581
Launched| 23 May 1920
Completed| 1920, as the Melford Hall
Identification| UK official number 143712
Fate| Sunk on 23 October 1942
General characteristics
Class and type| cargo steamship
Tonnage|

* 5,669 GRT
* tonnage under deck 5,394
* 3,583 NRT

Length| 417.2 ft (127.2 m)
Beam| 54.8 ft (16.7 m)
Depth| 29.0 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion| 2 steam turbines double-reduction geared onto a single shaft
Crew| 89

SS City of Johannesburg was a British cargo steamship that was sunk in 1942.[1] She was built by Barclay, Curle & Co, of Whiteinch, Glasgow in 1920, for Hall Lines of Liverpool, a subsidiary of Ellerman Lines, being launched as SS Melford Hall.[1] She was renamed SS City of Johannesburg in 1926.[1]

## Sinking

[edit]

Her final voyage was to take her from Calcutta to the United Kingdom, calling at Colombo on 6 October 1942 and later at Cape Town on the way.[citation needed] She carried 7,750 tons of general cargo, including pig iron, cotton, jute and tea, under the command of her master, Walter Armour Owen.[2]

At 2312 hours on 23 October she was travelling unescorted off East London South Africa, when she was sighted by German submarine U-504 commanded by Fritz Poske. The U-boat torpedoed the City of Johannesburg, and succeeded in sinking her.[2] Two of the 89 crew were lost, but the master and 12 crew members were rescued by the Dutch cargo ship Zypenberg, which took them to Durban. Another 54 crew members were rescued by the British cargo ship Fort George and landed at Port Elizabeth, with the final 20 crew members being picked up by King Edwin, which took them to Cape Town.[citation needed]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Screw Steamer MELFORD HALL built by Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd. in 1921 for Ellerman Lines Ltd. – Hall Line Ltd., Liverpool, Cargo". clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
2. ^ a b "City of Johannesburg (British Steam merchant) – Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII – uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

* Melford Hall at clydeships

33°20′S 29°30′E﻿ / ﻿33.333°S 29.500°E﻿ / -33.333; 29.500

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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in October 1942

Shipwrecks|

* 2 Oct: HMS Curacoa, Lisbon Maru, U-512
* 5 Oct: U-582, U-619, Larry Doheny
* 6 Oct: I-22
* 8 Oct: U-179, John Carter Rose
* 9 Oct: Pennington Court, U-171
* 10 Oct: Komintern, Camden, HMT Orcades
* 11 Oct: Fubuki, Furutaka, L-16
* 12 Oct: USS Duncan, Murakumo, Natsugumo, U-597
* 13 Oct: I-30, Loreto
* 14 Oct: Caribou, Komet, Shch-213
* 15 Oct: Drazki, USS Meredith, U-661
* 16 Oct: Primrose Hill, U-353
* 17 Oct: Empire Chaucer, Oboro
* 20 Oct: U-216
* 21 Oct: Palatia, S-7
* 22 Oct: U-412, Winnipeg II
* 23 Oct: City of Johannesburg, Empire Star
* 24 Oct: U-599
* 25 Oct: USS Seminole, Yura
* 26 Oct: Anne Hutchinson, USS Porter, President Coolidge
* 27 Oct: USS Hornet, U-627
* 29 Oct: Abosso
* 30 Oct: U-520, U-559, U-658
* 31 Oct: USS YP-345
* Unknown date: U-116, HMS Unique

Other incidents|

* 2 Oct: RMS Queen Mary
* 12 Oct: HMS Loyal
* 23 Oct: HMS Phoebe

1941 1942 1943
September 1942 November 1942
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