Ships › VILLE D'ARLON
S/S VILLE D'ARLON
Lost during the Second World War
- Type
- Steam passenger ship
- Tonnage
- 7,555 GRT
- Built
- 1920 – American International Shipbuilding Corp, Hog Island PA
- Owner
- Société Maritime Anversoise, Antwerp
- Home port
- Antwerp
- Date
- 2 December 1940
- Fate
- Sunk by U-47 (Günther Prien)
- Attacker
- U-47 (Günther Prien)
- Convoy
- HX-90 (straggler)
- Voyage
- New York → Liverpool
- Cargo
- General cargo
- Position
- 54.8500, -19.2500 · grid AL 6492
Position of the attack. Click the map to enable zoom.
Crew list (56 names)
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master (Kapitein) | †Wilding Albert | United Kingdom | Lost |
| 1st Officer (1ste officier) | †Gillandares Georges | United Kingdom | Lost |
| 2nd Officer (2de officier) | †Dimitrijevic Alexandre | Yugoslavia | Lost |
| 3rd Officer (3de officier) | †Solvaag John | Norway | Lost |
| 4th Officer (4de officier) | †Murrins Joseph | Newfoundland | Lost |
| 1st Radio Officer (1ste marconist) | †Piets Kenneth | Canada | Lost |
| 2nd Radio Officer (2de marconist) | †Tweedle William | Canada | Lost |
| Carpenter (Timmerman) | †De Coninck Antoine | Lost | |
| Boatswain (Bootsman) | †Petersen Svend | Denmark | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Blom Willem | Netherlands | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Bredesen Frederik | Norway | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †De Clercq Frans | Lost | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Hurlston James | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Kokken Alfons | Lost | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Romain John | Lost | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Vercammen Jan | Lost | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Verhoeven Leonard | Lost | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | †Vermeylen Victor | Lost | |
| Chief Engineer (Chef-mecanicien) | †De Mesmaeker Fernand | Lost | |
| 2nd Engineer Officer (2de mecanicien) | †Walls John | United Kingdom | Lost |
| 3rd Engineer Officer (3de mecanicien) | †Schepens Louis | Lost | |
| 4th Engineer Officer (4de mecanicien) | †Laval John | Canada | Lost |
| 5th Engineer Officer (5de mecanicien) | †Clockner Valentin | Estonia | Lost |
| Refrigeration Engineer (Frigorist) | †Carmichael Neil | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Electrician (Electricien) | †Halligan George | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Storekeeper (Magazijnier) | †Staes Fernand | Lost | |
| Water Tender (Water-tender) | †Minnie Bernard | Lost | |
| Water Tender (Water-tender) | †Torres Hercalio | Ecuador | Lost |
| Water Tender (Water-tender) | †Wielandt Alois | Lost | |
| Oiler | †De Haase Louis | Lost | |
| Oiler | †Franken Jan | Lost | |
| Oiler | †Gobart Jean | Lost | |
| Oiler | †Raymaekers Frans | Lost | |
| Oiler | †Segers Jan | Lost | |
| Oiler | †Van Wuytswinckel Willem | Lost | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Bruynseels August | Lost | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Caddick Arthur | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Docherty Hughes | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Everdepoel Leopold | Lost | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | †Van Laer Jan | Lost | |
| Wiper | †Macclure George | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Wiper | †Spiro Hyman | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Wiper | †Van Ostaeyen Karel | Lost | |
| Steward | †Ziegler Emmanuel | Czechoslovakia | Lost |
| 1st Cook (1ste kok) | †Weedall Arthur | United Kingdom | Lost |
| 2nd Cook and Baker (2de kok-bakker) | †Vercaeren Emiel | Lost | |
| Messroom Steward (Messroom-steward) | †Cooper William | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Messroom Steward (Messroom-steward) | †Grainger James | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Messroom Steward (Messroom-steward) | †Telemague Jean | France | Lost |
| Utility | †Jones Sidney | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Utility | †Schmitt August | Netherlands | Lost |
| Utility | †Silk Herbert | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Utility | †Thomson James | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Livestock foreman | †Ruane Benjamin | United Kingdom | Lost |
| Livestock Attendant (Lifestock attend.) | †Hamill James | Ireland | Lost |
| Repatriated | †Watson Alfred | United Kingdom | Lost |
The convoy HX-90
- Route
- Halifax to the United Kingdom
- Dates
- 1–3 December 1940
- Escort
- Armed merchant cruiser Laconia (ocean); Viscount, Folkstone, Gentian (Western Approaches)
- Merchant ships
- 49
- Sunk
- 11 · 73,958 tons
- Damaged
- 4 · 25,572 tons
The dotted line follows the great circle the HX series ran, Halifax 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.
Seven German U-boats and three Italian submarines attacked this convoy in the Western Approaches. The Ville d’Arlon was a straggler and was lost with all hands.
Convoys (2)
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.73 | 13 September 1940 | Halifax – Liverpool | 1 sunk |
| HX.90 | 21 November 1940 | Halifax – Liverpool | 11 sunk |
The source’s search page broke off halfway for this ship; this list may be incomplete.
Sources
Crew list from the printed source.