Miscellaneous Ship Histories

Tuscan Star

 

Tuscan Star was a refrigerated cargo ship that also carried a limited number of passengers. She was completed in 1930 and sunk by torpedo in 1942 giving her a service life of just 12 years.

 

Additional Basic Data

 

The refrigeration was provided by J&E Hall Ltd. It was based on Carbon Anhydride (CO₂) with brine and air coolant, and had insulation made from granulated and slab cork. She had three refrigeration units and 12 compression units.

 

She had three decks plus a fourth except in machinery spaces and a cruiser stern.

Basic Data: Tuscan Star

Type: Refrigerated Cargo/Passenger Ship

Registered owners, managers and operators:

Blue Star Line

Builders: Palmers               

Yard: Hebburn, Tyne and Wear

Country: UK

Yard number: 990

Registry:

Official number: 161395

Signal letters: N/K

Call sign: GKND

Classification society: N/K

Gross tonnage: 11,449 tons

Net tonnage: 7,075 tons

Deadweight: N/K

Length: 471 Feet

Breadth: 68.3 Feet

Depth: 35.1 Feet

Draught: N/K

Engines: Oil Engine 2S.C.SA, 16 cylinders,

26 ¾” bore, 47¼” stroke.

Engine builders: Sulzer Bros.

Works: Winterthur

Country: Switzerland

Power: 1,994 NHP

Propulsion: Twin screw

Speed: 15 knots

Cargo capacity: 595,00 cubic feet of refrigerated space in 65 compartments

Crew: 35, 4 DEMS gunners and Master at time of sinking

Passengers: 22 at time of sinking

Image 2 shows Tuscan Star in dock. Date and location are not known.

Image 2

Service Pre-WW2

 

Tuscan Star was one of several ships built to transport frozen meat and the first Blue Star Line motorship.

Hit by German Aircraft

 

Just a couple of months into WW2, Viking Star was targeted by a German plane on 17 December 1939. The attack took place off Folkestone in Kent.

 

The Master took evasive action which prevented any direct hits from bombs, but there was a “near miss”  and the ship was raked with machine-gun fire which resulted in two serious injuries. The DEMS gunners retailiated with shells from the 12 pounder that had been fitted. Overall damage was done to the Bridge wireless room, the gun platform and the boat deck. This attack took place before the convoy system was in full operation.

Images

 

1. Images #1, #2 and #5 from photos/postcards in possession of Webmaster

2. All other Images from The Times Archive.

Image 8

Struck by Torpedo

 

The website uboat.net - Ext. Ref. #4, provides this account:

 

At 23.23 hours on 6 Sep, 1942, the unescorted Tuscan Star (Master Edgar Newton Rhodes) was hit on the starboard side at the engine room and the #5 hold by two torpedoes from U-109 and sank after 16 minutes about 300 miles southwest of Cape Palmas. 40 crew members, eight gunners and three passengers were lost. The master, 35 crew members, four gunners and 22 passengers abandoned ship in three lifeboats and were questioned by the Germans and they told them that the master went down with the ship and were provided with food for the women and children in one of the boats. Calls for help were heard aboard the U-boat so they searched the area and picked up the second wireless operator Gordon Herneth Gill, who was taken prisoner, landed at Lorient on 6 October and was taken to the POW camp Milag Nord. The survivors were picked up by the British passenger ship Otranto and landed at Freetown on 10 September.

 

There is an eye-witness report of the sinking of Viking Star by Mr Wells on the website HERE.

Image 8 is from The Times on 19 December 1939 and reports the bombing of Tuscan Star.

Image 9 is from The Times on 5 January 1940 and also reports the bombing of Tuscan Star. She was at this time in Panama so it appears that the damage from the bombing must have been relatively slight.

Image 9

Service During WW2

 

Tuscan Star took part in a number of convoys according to information shown in the table below which is provided courtesy of Convoyweb - see  Ext. Ref. #5. The table also includes various independent voyages undertaken by this ship during the wartime period. The shaded boxes indicate in most cases that Tuscan Star continued independently after taking part in a convoy.

Tuscan Star made Blue Star’s first journey from New Zealand to the UK in 1933 leaving Wellington 2 December 1933.

Image 3 is from The Times of 29 October 1930 and reports that Tuscan Star had arrived in London with a cargo of meat from South America.

Image 3

Image 4 is from The Times of 11 May 1931. Tuscan Star is advertised for voyages to South America

Image 4

Loss of Eusebia Del Valle

 

Tuscan Star was “standing by” following receipt of a distress call from Eusebia Del Valle.

Image 6 is from The Times of 3 March 1932.

Image 6

Blue Star service to Santos 

 

Blue Star commenced a service to Santos in Brazil in 1932. Tuscan Star was the first of their ships to make this call.

Image 7 is from The Times of 10 November 1932.

Image 7

Rescue of Prins Willem (II)

 

The website uboat.net - Ext. Ref. #4, provides this account of how Tuscan Star assisted survivors of Prins Willem (II):

 

At 02.16 hours on 9 Apr, 1941, the Prins Willem II (Master C.A. van der Eijk) was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-98 and sank by the stern within three minutes. The ship was straggling from the convoy HX-117 since the night of 7/8 April due to thick mist and heavy weather. Three crew members were lost. The survivors abandoned ship in both lifeboats and were questioned by the Germans, but this proved to be difficult due to the strong winds. They apparently misunderstood the name of the vessel and reported their victim as Dutch merchant Willemsplein (5500 grt). The master and 12 men in the first boat were picked up the same day by the Swedish steam merchant Klipparen, which unsuccessfully searched for the other boat and landed them at Thorshavn on 11 April. The survivors in the second boat were rescued by Tuscan Star.

Image 1 shows Tuscan Star in transit. Date and location are not known.

Image 1

Image 5 is a scan of a postcard showing Tuscan Star. Location and date are not known.

Image 5

Roll of Honour

 

The table below lists those who died as a result of the sinking of Tuscan Star.

 

The information about the RN lives lost are from Ext. Ref. 37 and the remainder has kindly been provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.