Africa Shell (1938)

Builder:
George Brown & Company
Greenock, Scotland
Ordered:
N/A
Keel Laid:
N/A
Year Built:
1938
Launched:
November 10, 1938
Type:
Tanker
Completed:
February 1939
Fate:

Captured and sunk Nov. 15, 1939 by the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee.
Sunk with 2 charges.

Location: Indian Ocean, off Dacambe, Mozambique, Africa.
(24.48S - 35.01E)

Captain Patrick G. G. Dove taken POW, the other 29 crewmen were released and landed
later in the day. No casualties.



Owner
Shell Company of East Africa Ltd.
London, England


Dimensions, machinery and performance
Length:
184' 4"
Engines:
Werkspoor oil engine
Beam:
29' 6"
Boilers:
N/A
Draft:
11' 5" (depth)
Shafts:
1
Gross Tons:
706
HP:
N/A
DWT:
N/A
Speed:
10.7 knots
Crew:
N/A
Funnels:
1


Masters
From
To
Name
N/A
Nov. 15, 1939
Patrick G. G. Dove


Notes
Nov. 15, 1939:
Africa Shell was stopped with a shot across the bow, when boarded captain Dove
protested that he was in Portuguese waters and being stopped was a violation of
international law. The ship was traveling in ballast and was sunk with 2 charges.
The crew were put into lifeboats and landed later in the day. When the survivors landed
they reported to the authorities that they had been sunk by the Admiral Scheer.

Capt. Patrick G. G. Dove remained a POW aboard the Admiral Graf Spee until the ship
arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay Dec. 14, 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
In press interviews following his release he said of Kapitän zur See Hans Langsdorff,
the commanding officer of the Admiral Graf Spee;

"There is no mercy from Langsdorff when he has fighting to do, but when he is not
fighting he is a fine gentleman."

"Langsdorff was a strict disciplinarian aboard the Graf Spee, he enforced fair and equal
treatment. British prisoners received the same food as the German crewmen, even when
supplies ran low."

He also told a reporter from the Argentinean newspaper La Libertad that when he was
captured off Africa he had only a tropical uniform, but when they moved into northern
waters Langsdorff had the ship's taylor make him a complete set of clothes out of wool.
Langsdorff also gave him a pipe as his had been lost on the Africa Shell. He was given a
receipt for other personal belongings, including the sextant from the Africa Shell.


Additional information for this page was provided by General Enrique R. Dick and Hugo R. Sochi.



   
Page published May 12, 2008