Ships › INDIER
S/S INDIER
Lost during the Second World War
- Type
- Steam merchant
- Tonnage
- 5,409 GRT
- Built
- 1918 – Sir John Priestman & Co Ltd, Southwick, Sunderland
- Owner
- Compagnie Maritime Belge (Lloyd Royal) SA, Antwerp
- Home port
- Antwerp
- Date
- 3 April 1941
- Fate
- Sunk by U-73 (Helmut Rosenbaum)
- Attacker
- U-73 (Helmut Rosenbaum)
- Convoy
- SC-26
- Voyage
- Philadelphia → Glasgow
- Cargo
- 6,300 tons of steel and general cargo
- Position
- 58.2167, -27.6000 · grid AK 3687
Position of the attack. Click the map to enable zoom.
Crew list (46 names)
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master (Kapitein) | Onghena Joseph | Survived | |
| 1st Officer (1ste officier) | †Alloncius Pierre | Lost | |
| 2nd Officer (2de officier) | †Caufriez Robert | Lost | |
| 3rd Officer (3de officier) | Zonnekeyn Roger | Survived | |
| Radio Officer (Marconist) | †Van De Spiegele Norbert | Lost | |
| Cadet (Kadet) | †Poncelet Paul | Lost | |
| Cadet (Kadet) | †Focan Nestor | Lost | |
| Boatswain (Bootsman) | †Brummer Stefaan | Lost | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Chablot Laurence | Canada | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Crossley Maynard | Canada | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Mc Neil John | Canada | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Maurin Ludovic | France | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Schildknecht Arnold | Canada | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Smith Stanley | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Ordinary Seaman (Lichtmatroos) | †Salmon Cecil | Canada | Lost |
| Chief Engineer (Chef-mecanicien) | †Nyland Gerard | Lost | |
| 2nd Engineer Officer (2de mecanicien) | †Van Hecke Pierre | Lost | |
| 3rd Engineer Officer (3de mecanicien) | †Verhoeven Georges | Lost | |
| 4th Engineer Officer (4de mecanicien) | †Huygens Willem | Lost | |
| Donkeyman | †Decimal Jean | Lost | |
| Donkeyman | †De Groof Victor | Lost | |
| Donkeyman | †Noens Kamiel | Lost | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Apers Pierre | Lost | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Chetra Charles | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Fenton James | Jamaica | Survived |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Gibbons William | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Dunban Daniel | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Heyrman Auguste | Lost | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †James Adonis | Jamaica | Lost |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Janssens Arcadius | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Kiernan Michael | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Peeters Antoon | Lost | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Wenselaers Alfons | Lost | |
| Trimmer (Tremmer) | †Broadhurst Thomas | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Trimmer (Tremmer) | †Brownell Thomas | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Trimmer (Tremmer) | †Dunn James | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Steward | †Prat Fidèle | Lost | |
| 1st Cook (1ste kok) | †Verstraete Georges | Lost | |
| 2nd Cook and Baker (2de kok-bakker) | †Van Gorp Gustaaf | Lost | |
| Messroom Steward (Messroom-steward) | †Mc Intyre John | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Assistant Steward (Assistant-steward) | †Hinneman René | Lost | |
| Galley Boy (Galley-boy) | †Phillips James | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Cabin Boy (Cabin-boy) | †Bourgeois Frans | Lost | |
| Gunner | Doubler John | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Gunner | †Gilmore Joseph | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Gunner | †Thompson George | United Kingdom | Lost |
The convoy SC-26
- Route
- Sydney (Cape Breton) to the United Kingdom
- Dates
- 1–4 April 1941
- Escort
- Armed merchant cruiser Worcestershire; Wolverine, Havelock, Scarborough, Arbutus
- Merchant ships
- 22
- Sunk
- 10 · 51,969 tons
- Damaged
- 3 · 20,602 tons
The dotted line follows the great circle the SC series ran, Sydney (Cape Breton) to Liverpool, 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.
Eight U-boats attacked this convoy; ten of the twenty-two ships were lost. U-76 was sunk by the escort.
Convoys (6)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SL/MKS.35 | 8 June 1940 | Freetown – Liverpool | |
| FN.279 | 13 September 1940 | Southend – Methil | |
| OA.221 | 28 September 1940 | Methil - Dispersed | |
| OB.277 | 22 January 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed | |
| OB.281 | 1 February 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed | |
| SC.26 | 20 March 1941 | Halifax – Liverpool | 9 sunk |
The source’s search page broke off halfway for this ship; this list may be incomplete.
Sources
Crew list from the printed source.