| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | SS Kingston Hill |
| Namesake: | Kingston Hill, south London |
| Operator: | Counties Ship Management Co Ltd, London |
| Builder: | William Hamilton & Co, Port Glasgow[1] |
| Launched: | 1940 |
| Completed: | 1941 |
| Out of service: | 8 June 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk by torpedo |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | cargo ship |
| Tonnage: | 7,628 long tons (8,543 ST; 7,750 t) gross tonnage |
| Length: | 421 ft (128 m) |
| Beam: | 61 ft (19 m) |
| Draught: | 35 ft (11 m) |
| Crew: | 62[1] |
SS Kingston Hill was a cargo ship completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in December 1940[1] She was managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London (CSM), an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company.[2]
On 22 February 1941 she was bombed by Luftwaffe aircraft and damaged.[1] She was repaired at Glasgow.[1]
In May 1941 Kingston Hill sailed from Cardiff and Glasgow laden with coal and general cargo for Alexandria in Egypt.[1] To avoid the enemy-controlled waters of the Mediterranean she was heading via Capetown in South Africa, but was unescorted.[1] She was southwest of the Cape Verde Islands heading into the South Atlantic when the German submarine U-38 hit her with two torpedoes at 0108 hrs on 8 June 1941.[1] She sank at 0125 hrs with the loss of her Master and 13 crew.[1] 16 crew were rescued by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Achates (H12) and returned to Greenock.[1] 26 crew were rescued by the US tanker Alabama and landed at Capetown.[1]