SS Clearton

Career
Name: SS Clearton
Operator: R. Chapman & Son, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Builder: Richardson, Duck & Co Ltd, Stockton-on-Tees
Completed: 1919
Fate: sunk on 1 July 1940
General characteristics
Tonnage: 5,219 tons
Capacity: 7,320 tons
Crew: 34

SS Clearton was a British steam merchant ship of 5,219 tons displacement. She was built in 1919 by Richardson, Duck and Company, Stockton-on-Tees for the shipping firm of R. Chapman & Son, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was homeported in Newcastle.

Career and loss

During the Second World War she was used on convoy duties, carrying vital food supplies to Britain. Her last convoy, SL-36, took her from Rosario, Argentina to Manchester, via Freetown, Sierra Leone, where she arrived on 15 June 1940. She was carrying a cargo of 7,320 tons of cereals, commanded by her Master, John Edward Elsdon.

At 11.55 hours on 1 July, 1940, the Clearton was torpedoed and damaged by U-102 about 180 miles west of Ushant. At 13.25 hours, the now straggling vessel was again torpedoed by the U-boat and sank 042° 240 miles from Smalls. Eight crew members were lost, out of a total complement of 34. The master, 24 crew members and one gunner were picked up by HMS Vansittart, which had sunk U-102 shortly after the last attack and brought the survivors to Plymouth.

References

SS Clearton at Uboat.net