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Clement (1934) |
Builder: |
Cammell Laird & Compamy Ltd. Birkenhead, England |
Ordered: |
N/A |
Keel Laid: |
N/A |
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Year Built: |
1934 |
Launched: |
October 11, 1934 |
Type: |
Freighter |
Completed: |
December 1934 |
Fate: |
Captured and sunk Sept. 30, 1939 by Admiral Graf Spee (Kapitän zur See Hans Langsdorff) (a) Location: South Atlantic, 90mi SE of Recife, Brazil. (09.05S - 34.05W) 47 crewmen abandoned in 4 lifeboats, 2 crewmen taken POW. No casualties. |
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Notes |
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(a): |
Sunk with five 11" (288mm) and twenty five 5.9" (150mm) shells after opening the seacocks and scuttling charges failed to sink the ship. Two torpedoes were also fired but both missed. |
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Dimensions, Machinery and Performance (as built) |
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Length: |
412' 2" |
Engines: |
Triple expansion (a) |
Beam: |
55' 7" |
Boilers: |
3 single ended, 220 lb. working pressure |
Draft: |
26' (depth) |
Shafts: |
1 |
Gross Tons: |
5,051 |
HP: |
652 nhp |
DWT: |
N/A |
Speed: |
13 knots |
Notes |
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(a): |
With low pressure turbine and double reduction gear by Cammell Laird. |
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Owner |
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As built: |
Booth Steamship Company Ltd. Liverpool, England |
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Masters |
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From |
To |
Name |
N/A |
Sept. 30, 1939 |
Captain Frederick Charles Pearce Harris, RNR (a) |
Notes |
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(a): |
Awarded O.B.E. (CD) in 1943 for brave conduct while he was master of Benedict during Operation Avalanche. |
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Ship's History |
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Pre 1939: |
Information not available. |
Sept. 30, 1939: |
The Arado 196 from Admiral Graf Spee was launched and signals were sent warning the ship not to transmit a distress signal, however this was ignored and the radio officer continued to transmit her position and that they were being attacked. The Arado fired several bursts of machine gunfire at the Clement. After warning shots were fired at the Clement the transmissions stopped and the captain had the ship's papers thrown overboard. One man was injured by the gunfire from the aircraft and was treated by medical staff of the Admiral Graf Spee. |
Captain Harris and Chief Engineer W. Bryant were taken aboard the Admiral Graf Spee as POW's and questioned. The other crewmen were given directions to Pernambuco, Brazil. Captain Harris and Chief Bryant were put aboard the Greek steamship Papalemos, which was stopped and searched later the same day, they were landed in the Cape Verde Islands on Oct. 9. The remaining crewmen were in four lifeboats, one boat with 16 on board was picked up by the Brazilian ship Itatinga on Sept. 30, the other 31 crewmen landed at Maceio, Brazil on Oct. 1. (Note: Clement was the first ship sunk by Admiral Graf Spee.) |
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Page published Mar. 14, 2008 |