Court Line - the company and its ships

Arlington Court (2)

 

Court Line used the name Arlington Court for three ships:

· Arlington Court (1) - a cargo ship launched in 1905

· Arlington Court (2) - a cargo ship launched in 1924

· Arlington Court (3) - a cargo ship launched in 1962

 

Arlington Court (2) was launched in 1924, had a fifteen year service life and was torpedoed and sunk in 1939.

Basic Data

Type: Cargo ship

Registered owners,managers and operators:

United British Steamship Co. Ltd.

Managers Haldin & Philipps Ltd. London

Builders: Workman, Clark & Co. Ltd.

Yard: Belfast

Country: UK

Yard number: 469

Registry: N/K

Official number: 147644

Signal letters: N/K

Call sign: GKCN

Classification society: N/K

Gross tonnage: 4,915

Net tonnage: 2,985

Deadweight: N/K

Length: 396.6 ft

Breadth: 53.1 ft

Depth: 26.5 ft

Draught: N/K

Engines: 3 cylinder triple-expansion steam engine

Engine builders: William Doxford & Sons. Ltd.

Works: Sunderland

Country: UK

Power: N/K

Propulsion: N/K

Speed: N/K

Cargo capacity: N/K

Crew: N/K

Service Pre-WW2

 

 

No detailed information about her service prior to WW2 is known other than that she was laid up on the Tyne for a number of years during the 1930s depression.

Participation in WW2 Convoys

 

Arlington Court (2) took part in just one convoy in WW2 and was sunk while taking part in it. Convoy SL7 Departed Freetown on 31 October 1939 and arrived in Liverpool on 16 November 1939.

According to Ext. Ref  #5, the convoy consisted of 39 merchant ships and 2 escorts. She was carrying 7,340 tons of maize, straggled and was sunk by German submarine U-43.

 

According to Ext. Ref. #7:

 

Arlington Court under Captain Hurst took two torpedoes from U-43 in the homeward convoy SL7 from Freetown. The radio room and bridge were wrecked with three dead in the explosion and Captain Hurst reluctantly gave the order to abandon ship as he had already survived three WW1 torpedoings. The crew took to the lifeboats and 22 from one boat were rescued although the Chief Engineer died from exposure, and six survived in the second boat after wallowing for six bitterly cold days and nights with a 18-year old apprentice in charge to give encouragement and set course.

 

Based on examination of information recorded in Ext. Ref. #3, U-43 was very successful and sank 21 Allied ships and damaged two more. Arlington Court (2) was her first victim and this was in fact U-43's first patrol. She left Wilhelmshaven under the command of Wilhelm Ambrosius on 6th Nov 1939 and arrived at return on 14th Dec 1939 after five and a half weeks.

 

According to Ext. Ref. #4:

 

At 14.07 hours on 16 Nov, 1939, the Arlington Court (Master Charles Hurst), a straggler from convoy SL-7A, was hit by a G7a torpedo from U-43 320 miles 248° from Start Point. At 14.55 hours, the ship was hit in the foreship by a coup de grâce and sank in 30 minutes. Six crew members were lost and the chief engineer died from exposure in one of the lifeboats. The master and 21 crew members were picked up by the Dutch steam merchant Algenib and landed at Queenstown (Cork). Six crew members in a lifeboat were picked up after six days by Spinanger and landed at Dover.

 

Loss of Life

 

The table below lists five of those who are known to have died due to the sinking of Arlington Court (2).

Postscript

 

 

U-43 sank 21 ships totalling 117,036 grt, damaged a further ship of 10,350 grt and caused the total loss of another of 9,131 grt.

 

U-43 was herself sunk on 30 July, 1943 south-west of the Azores, in position 34.57N, 35.11W, by a Fido homing torpedo from an Avenger aircraft of the US escort carrier HMS Santee with 55 dead (all hands lost).

 

Images

 

1. From The Allen Collection

 

Image 1