Ships › PERSIER
S/S PERSIER
Lost during the Second World War
More photographs (2)
Persier. Lloyd Royal Belge. Louis Claes · Public domain · Commons
Persier. Lloyd Royal Belge. Louis Claes · Public domain · Commons
63crew
20lost
12wounded
63aboard
- Type
- Steam merchant
- Tonnage
- 5,382 GRT
- Built
- 1918 – Northumberland Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Howden-on-Tyne
- Owner
- Compagnie Maritime Belge (Lloyd Royal) SA, Antwerp
- Home port
- Antwerp
- Date
- 11 February 1945
- Fate
- Sunk by U-1017 (Werner Riecken)
- Attacker
- U-1017 (Werner Riecken)
- Convoy
- BTC-65
- Voyage
- Cardiff → Antwerp
- Cargo
- 2,400 tons of soup, 1,400 tons of egg powder, 1,000 tons of meat
- Position
- 50.2333, -4.3333 · grid BF 2295
Stated: 63 aboard; 62 are named; the figures for dead and wounded do reconcile.
This attack was previously credited to U-1018; since 2006 to U-1017.
A photograph survives of this ship's nurse, which the MAS holds under a different name from the one the crew list gives. See the open question on the contact page.
Position of the attack. Click the map to enable zoom.
Crew list (62 names)
The voyage
- Departure
- Cardiff · 10 February 1945
- Destination
- Antwerp · never reached
- Sunk
- 11 February 1945
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master (Kapitein) | Mathieu Emile | Wounded | |
| 1st Officer (1ste officier) | Lardinoy François | Wounded | |
| 2nd Officer (2de officier) | Laroye Guy | Survived | |
| 1st Officer (supernumerary) (1ste officier suppl.) | †Brognion Carl body washed ashore | Lost | |
| 1st Officer (supernumerary) (1ste officier suppl.) | De Pierpont Rob. | Survived | |
| 1st Radio Officer (1ste marconist) | †Wuyts Louis body washed ashore | Lost | |
| 2nd Radio Officer (2de marconist) | †Dupont Jacques body washed ashore | Lost | |
| Carpenter (Timmerman) | Byl Pierre | Wounded | |
| Boatswain (Bootsman) | Gorrebeeck Louis | Wounded | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Alize Louis | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Appels Oscar | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Claeys Raymond | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Neyts Constant | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Vanbegin Pieter | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Van Cleemput Jozef | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Van De Parre Henri | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Vilain Joseph | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Yvens Edmond | Wounded | |
| Chief Engineer (Hfd-werktuigk.) | Mathysen John | Survived | |
| 2nd Engineer Officer (2de mecanicien) | Deckers Guillaume | Survived | |
| 3rd Engineer Officer (3de mecanicien) | †Kloeck Pieter body recovered at sea | Lost | |
| 4th Engineer Officer (4de mecanicien) | Clayes Eugène | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | Coremans Constant | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | Mommen Gérard | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | Scheers Julien | Survived | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | De Beucker Jan | Survived | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | De Boye Andre admitted to hospital at Plymouth | Wounded | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | De Laet François | Survived | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | De Schepper Andre | Wounded | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | De Wever Frans | Wounded | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | †Heyninck Jozef body recovered at sea | Lost | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | Jacobs Jan | Wounded | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | Janssens Theofiel | Survived | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | †Poppe Frans died aboard the Cornelian | Lost | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | †Sere Jan died in hospital at Plymouth | Lost | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | †Van Langendonck L. body never found | Lost | |
| Fireman and Trimmer (Stoker-Tremmer) | †Vereecken René body recovered at sea | Lost | |
| Steward | De Bois Armand | Survived | |
| 2nd Steward (2de steward) | †Sottieaux René body recovered at sea | Lost | |
| Assistant Steward (Assistant-steward) | †Van Iseghem D. body washed ashore | Lost | |
| Assistant Steward (Assistant-steward) | †Van Goey René body never found | Lost | |
| Assistant Steward (Assistant-steward) | Berckmans Jozef | Survived | |
| 1st Cook (1ste kok) | †Dombrecht Raymond body recovered at sea | Lost | |
| 2nd Cook and Baker (2de kok-bakker) | Kiekens Jan | Survived | |
| Assistant Cook (Assistent kok) | De Winter Grégoire | Survived | |
| Assistant Cook (Assistent kok) | Jonckheere Andre supernumerary, signed on for one shilling (£0.1.0) | Survived | |
| Assistant Cook (Assistent kok) | †Van Arkkels Jozef supernumerary (£0.1.0); body never found | Lost | |
| Stewardess | De Coninck Emma supernumerary, signed on for one shilling (£0.1.0) | Wounded | |
| Stewardess | De Rooy Louise supernumerary, signed on for one shilling (£0.1.0) | Wounded | |
| Stewardess | †Rogiers Maria body recovered at sea | Lost | |
| Nurse (Verpleegster) | †Vanderhaeghen Louise body never found | Lost | |
| Gunner | †Debroux Etienne body never found | Lost | |
| Gunner | Dickson John | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Gunner | Labaye Joseph | Survived | |
| Gunner | Mc Coll James | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Gunner | Rousseau François | Survived | |
| Gunner | †Tayenne Jules body recovered at sea | Lost | |
| Gunner | Verboven Victor | Survived | |
| Commodore | †Cdr Wood Edmund RNR Royal Naval Reserve; body never found | Lost | |
| Signalman | Doyle George | United Kingdom | Wounded |
| Signalman | †Philips John body never found | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Signalman | Taylor Ernest | Survived |
The convoy BTC-65
- Dates
- 11 February 1945
- Sunk
- 1 · 5,382 tons
The dotted line follows the great circle the BTC series ran, Bristol Channel to the Thames, 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.
Convoys (35)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OB.217 | 21 September 1940 | Liverpool - Dispersed | 2 sunk |
| HX.84 | 28 October 1940 | Halifax - Dispersed | 6 sunk |
| WN.37 | 11 November 1940 | Clyde – Methil | |
| FS.338 | 18 November 1940 | Methil – Southend | |
| FN.357 | 11 December 1940 | Southend – Methil | |
| EN.42/1 | 17 December 1940 | Methil – Oban | |
| OB.263 | 23 December 1940 | Liverpool - Dispersed | 1 sunk |
| HX.109 | 13 February 1941 | Halifax – Liverpool | 3 sunk |
| RU.27 | 11 June 1942 | Reykjavik – Loch Ewe | |
| FN.940 | 9 February 1943 | Southend – Methil | |
| EN.195 | 11 February 1943 | Methil – Loch Ewe | |
| ON.169 | 22 February 1943 | Liverpool – NYC | |
| FH.46 | 2 April 1943 | St. John NB – Halifax | |
| SC.126 | 8 April 1943 | Halifax – Liverpool | |
| ONS.7 | 7 May 1943 | Liverpool – Halifax | 1 sunk |
| HF.57 | 30 May 1943 | Halifax – St. John NB | |
| FH.60 | 13 June 1943 | St. John NB – Halifax | |
| SC.134 | 16 June 1943 | Halifax – Liverpool | |
| BB.305 | 30 June 1943 | Belfast Lough – Milford Haven | |
| ONS.14 | 26 July 1943 | Liverpool – Halifax | |
| SC.141 | 3 September 1943 | Halifax – Liverpool | |
| WN.480 | 16 September 1943 | Loch Ewe – Methil | |
| FS.1224 | 18 September 1943 | Methil – Southend | |
| FN.1151 | 13 October 1943 | Southend – Methil | |
| EN.295 | 16 October 1943 | Methil – Loch Ewe | |
| ONS.21 | 22 October 1943 | Liverpool – Halifax | |
| HS.118 | 25 November 1943 | Halifax – Sydney CB | |
| SH.115 | 6 December 1943 | Sydney CB – Halifax | |
| SC.149 | 15 December 1943 | Halifax – Liverpool | |
| OS/KMS.67 | Feb 1944 | Ex OS67/ KMS41 - Freetown | |
| OS/KMS.67KM | 6 February 1944 | Liverpool - Convoy Split | |
| STL.15 | 19 March 1944 | Freetown – Lagos | |
| SL/MKS.160 | 31 May 1944 | Freetown - Rendezvous with MKS.51 | |
| SL/MKS.160MK | Jun 1944 | Rendezvous of SL160 with MKS51 - Liverpool | |
| BTC.65 | 10 February 1945 | Milford Haven – Southend | 1 sunk |
Sources
Crew list from the printed source.