Ships › MOKAMBO
M/V MOKAMBO
Lost during the Second World War
- Type
- Motor merchant
- Tonnage
- 4,996 GRT
- Built
- 1938 – Flensburger Schiffsbau-Ges., Flensburg
- Owner
- Compagnie Maritime Belge (Lloyd Royal) SA, Antwerp
- Home port
- Antwerp
- Date
- 1 May 1943
- Fate
- Sunk by U-515 (Werner Henke)
- Attacker
- U-515 (Werner Henke)
- Convoy
- TS-37
- Voyage
- Matadi → Liverpool
- Cargo
- Cotton, copper, palm kernels, palm oil, copal and wolframite
- Position
- 7.9667, -14.2333 · grid ET 6128
Position of the attack. Click the map to enable zoom.
Crew list · 1 May 1943 — torpedoed (35 names)
The voyage
- Departure
- Matadi
- Destination
- Liverpool · never reached
- Sunk
- 1 May 1943
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master (Kapitein) | Huys Emile | Survived | |
| 1st Officer (1ste officier) | Goergen Marcel | Survived | |
| 2nd Officer (2de officier) | Van Woensel Martin | Survived | |
| 3rd Officer (3de officier) | Pottier Roger | Survived | |
| 4th Officer (4de officier) | Carette Edouard | Survived | |
| 1st Radio Officer (1ste marconist) | Wautriche Marcel | Survived | |
| 2nd Radio Officer (2de marconist) | Mc Coll James | United Kingdom | Survived |
| 3rd Radio Officer (3de marconist) | Jacobs David | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Cadet (Kadet) | Blackburn John | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Cadet (Kadet) | Heckscher Ely | Denmark | Survived |
| Boatswain (Bootsman) | Suttels Karel | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | De Boeck Hendrik | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Declercq Arsène | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | De Schrijver Robert | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Hassin Pierre | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Hoogstege Arent | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Van Wetter Adolf | Survived | |
| Ordinary Seaman (Lichtmatroos) | Russel George | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Chief Engineer (Chef-mecanicien) | Wauters Pierre | Survived | |
| 2nd Engineer Officer (2de mecanicien) | Janssens Louis | Survived | |
| 3rd Engineer Officer (3de mecanicien) | Van Looy René | Survived | |
| 4th Engineer Officer (4de mecanicien) | De Graef Jozef | Survived | |
| 5th Engineer Officer (5de mecanicien) | Herweier Pieter | Netherlands | Survived |
| 5th Engineer Officer jr (5de mecanic. jr) | Francken Louis | Survived | |
| Assistant Engineer (Assistant-mecanicien) | Seerden Edouard | Survived | |
| Assistant Engineer (Assistant-mecanicien) | Serie Kamiel | Survived | |
| Electrician (Electricien) | Verbiest Jan | Survived | |
| Steward | Cipido Corneille | Survived | |
| Cook (Kok) | Aertsen Pierre | Survived | |
| Gunner | De Knock Philemon | Survived | |
| Gunner | D'Helft Louis | Survived | |
| Gunner | Stevens Ernest | United Kingdom | Wounded |
| Gunner | Van Immerseel Jean | Survived | |
| Gunner | Van Istendael Jean | Wounded | |
| Gunner | White Albert | United Kingdom | Survived |
More than one crew list survives for this ship. The list above belongs to the loss; the other one is below.
2 June 1941 — torpedoed and repaired (38 names)
The voyage
- Departure
- Liverpool · 31 May 1941
- Hit
- 2 June 1941
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master (Kapitein) | Dasseville Albert | Survived | |
| 1st Officer (1ste officier) | Blonde Emile | Survived | |
| 2nd Officer (2de officier) | Moolenburgh Konrad | Netherlands | Survived |
| 3rd Officer (3de officier) | Defrenne Jean | Survived | |
| Radio Officer (Marconist) | Wautriche Marcel | Survived | |
| Cadet (Kadet) | Dekeyser Emiel | Survived | |
| Cadet (Kadet) | Flour Frans | Survived | |
| Carpenter (Timmerman) | Larsson Tinar | Denmark | Survived |
| Boatswain (Bootsman) | Suttels Karel | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Apere Hendrik | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Dehaasse Frederik | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | De Laet Isidore | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Gille Gustaaf | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Hennum Hans | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Maes Hubert | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Rodriguez Joao | Portugal | Survived |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Salleh Bin Chain | Yemen | Survived |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Wyckmans Louis | Survived | |
| Ordinary Seaman (Lichtmatroos) | Murray Stephen | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Ordinary Seaman (Lichtmatroos) | Walsh Philip | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Chief Engineer (Chef-mecanicien) | Vergison Hippolyte | Survived | |
| 2nd Engineer Officer (2de mecanicien) | Wauters Pieter | Survived | |
| 3rd Engineer Officer (3de mecanicien) | Janssens De Vroom L. | Survived | |
| 4th Engineer Officer (4de mecanicien) | Dijckhuyzen Minnekus | Netherlands | Survived |
| 5th Engineer Officer (5de mecanicien) | Bastenie Willy | Survived | |
| Assistant Engineer (Assistant mecanicien) | Convents Willy | Survived | |
| Assistant Engineer (Assistant mecanicien) | Crowther Alfred | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Assistant Engineer (Assistant mecanicien) | Herweier Pieter | Survived | |
| Assistant Engineer (Assistant mecanicien) | Hill James | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Assistant Engineer (Assistant mecanicien) | Mullaney Francis | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Electrician (Electricien) | Verbist Jan | Survived | |
| Steward | Matheus Alexander | Survived | |
| Assistant Steward (Assistant-steward) | Wright James | United Kingdom | Survived |
| 1st Cook (1ste kok) | Surmont Jan | Survived | |
| 2nd Cook (2de kok) | Pets Gustaaf | Survived | |
| Gunner | Dewolf Jozef | Survived | |
| Gunner | Hermans Jaak | Survived | |
| Gunner | Peeters Felix | Survived |
The convoy TS-37
- Route
- Takoradi to Freetown (Sierra Leone)
- Dates
- 30 April – 1 May 1943
- Escort
- One corvette and three armed trawlers
- Merchant ships
- 18
- Sunk
- 7 · 43,255 tons
The dotted line follows the great circle the TS series ran, Takoradi to Freetown, 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.
One boat, Werner Henke's U-515, sank seven of the eighteen ships here in a single night and the following morning. The Mokambo was the last of them.
Convoys (16)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HX.91 | 25 November 1940 | Halifax – Liverpool | |
| OB.287 | 16 February 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed | 3 sunk |
| SL/MKS.72 | 17 April 1941 | Freetown – Liverpool | 1 sunk |
| OB.329 | 31 May 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed 51.48N 20.48W | 2 sunk |
| OS/KMS.3 | 13 August 1941 | Liverpool – Freetown | |
| ST.2 | 2 September 1941 | Freetown – Takoradi | |
| SL/MKS.92 | 6 November 1941 | Freetown – Liverpool | |
| OS/KMS.14 | 13 December 1941 | Liverpool – Freetown | |
| ST.12X | 8 January 1942 | Freetown – Takoradi | |
| SL/MKS.102 | 4 March 1942 | Freetown – Liverpool | |
| OS/KMS.26 | 22 April 1942 | Liverpool – Freetown | 1 sunk |
| SL/MKS.116 | 15 July 1942 | Freetown – Liverpool | |
| OS/KMS.39 | 30 August 1942 | Liverpool – Freetown | |
| HX.220 | 21 December 1942 | NYC – Liverpool | |
| OS/KMS.43 | 14 February 1943 | Liverpool – Freetown | |
| ST.59 | 14 March 1943 | Freetown – Takoradi |
Sources
Crew list from the printed source.