Ships › GAND
S/S GAND
Lost during the Second World War
- Type
- Steam merchant
- Tonnage
- 5,086 GRT
- Built
- 1919 – Bartram & Sons Ltd, South Dock, Sunderland
- Owner
- Armement Deppe, Antwerp
- Home port
- Antwerp
- Date
- 10 May 1941
- Fate
- Sunk by U-556 (Herbert Wohlfarth)
- Attacker
- U-556 (Herbert Wohlfarth)
- Convoy
- OB-318 (dispersed)
- Voyage
- Liverpool → Sydney, Nova Scotia
- Cargo
- Ballast
- Position
- 57.9000, -37.5667 · grid AK 4640
Position of the attack. Click the map to enable zoom.
Crew list (43 names)
The voyage
- Departure
- Liverpool · 2 May 1941
- Destination
- Sydney, Nova Scotia · never reached
- Sunk
- 10 May 1941
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master (Kapitein) | Hostens Michel | Survived | |
| 1st Officer (1ste officier) | Jacobs Marc | Wounded | |
| 2nd Officer (2de officier) | Peeters Frans | Survived | |
| 3rd Officer (3de officier) | Nellens Jean | Survived | |
| Radio Officer (Marconist) | Dury Albert | Survived | |
| Carpenter (Timmerman) | Leyzen Jozef | Survived | |
| Boatswain (Bootsman) | Van Weynsberghe Jan | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Bury Emmanuel | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Joos William | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Notebaert Jules | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Pey Willem | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Rutten Theodore | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Schrijvers Jan | Survived | |
| Ordinary Seaman (Lichtmatroos) | Brouckmeersch Jozef | Survived | |
| Ordinary Seaman (Lichtmatroos) | Fendler Melluch | United States | Survived |
| Chief Engineer (Hoofdwerktuigk.) | Mathiesen Jan | Norway | Survived |
| 2nd Engineer Officer (2de mecanicien) | Krenkel Willem | Survived | |
| 3rd Engineer Officer (3de mecanicien) | Vervoort Jules | Survived | |
| 4th Engineer Officer (4de mecanicien) | Vandepas Karel | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | Braem Edmond | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | Dries Frans | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | Mewis Jozef | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Baetens Jozef | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Bervoets Pieter | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Bosch Fernand | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Coelst Gustaaf | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Dacherty John | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Desomer Frans | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Gavin Alexander | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Lagast Louis | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Mewis Antoon | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Mewis Theophiel | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Moller Axel | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Vekemans Jacob | Survived | |
| Steward | Bruyninckx Georges | Survived | |
| 1st Cook (1ste kok) | †Michel Leon | Lost | |
| 2nd Cook and Baker (2de kok-bakker) | Van De Graveele Roger | Survived | |
| Messroom Steward (Messroom-steward) | Moonens Henri | Survived | |
| Assistant Steward (Assistant-steward) | Van Lommel Jozef | Survived | |
| Gunner | De Ketelaere Kamiel | Survived | |
| Gunner | Holsters Jozef | Survived | |
| Gunner | Leblicq Jozef | Survived | |
| Gunner | Olyslaegers Georges | Survived |
The convoy OB-318
- Route
- Liverpool to North America
- Dates
- 7–10 May 1941
- Escort
- 7th Escort Group, relieved by the 3rd Escort Group
- Merchant ships
- 38
- Sunk
- 9 · 50,985 tons
- Damaged
- 2 · 10,955 tons
The dotted line follows the great circle the OB series ran, Liverpool to North America, with the coastal bends the fairway imposes. The red point is where the Belgian ship was hit, from the U-boat’s attack report.
About the line on this map
A convoy steered the great circle: the shortest way over the globe, not the straight line on the map. That is why the Atlantic crossing here runs so far north, and why ships on that route were hit around 55 to 58 degrees and not at 48. The bends closer to land follow the fairway – the North Channel above Ireland, round Land’s End, through the Strait of Gibraltar.
The line is the route of the series, not the track that one convoy actually steered. The Admiralty shifted convoys north or south from sailing to sailing, according to the season and where the U-boats were; ONS-154 was deliberately routed south past the Azores in December 1942. And a straggler or a dispersed ship was by definition no longer with the group. Where the red point sits far from the line, that is usually what you are looking at.
This is the convoy in which Fritz-Julius Lemp's U-110 was forced to the surface after her attack. The Broadway put a boarding party aboard and took off material that proved to be of the first importance; the boat was then sunk to keep the capture secret. The Gand was in that same convoy, torpedoed by U-556 on 10 May, the day after the capture.
Convoys (8)
From the Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Convoys only, not independent voyages: a ship sailing alone does not appear. See the convoy page.
| Convoy | Departed | Route | Sunk |
|---|---|---|---|
| BHX.51 | 16 June 1940 | Bermuda – -> HX.51 | |
| HX.51 | 17 June 1940 | Halifax – Liverpool | 1 sunk |
| FN.335 | 15 November 1940 | Southend – Methil | |
| FN.368 | 27 December 1940 | Southend – Methil | |
| EN.49/1 | 30 December 1940 | Methil – Oban | |
| OB.269 | 3 January 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed | 1 sunk |
| HX.115 | 17 March 1941 | Halifax – Liverpool | 3 sunk |
| OB.318 | 2 May 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed 60.12N 34.30W | 7 sunk |
Sources
Crew list from the printed source.