View source for SS Primrose Hill

{{Short description|World War II British CAM ship}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} 
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|Ship image=
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{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= [[United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}}
|Ship name= SS ''Primrose Hill''
|Ship owner= Putney Hill Steamship Co Ltd<ref name=LR43>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/43/43b0784.pdf |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships |location=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |year=1943 |access-date=10 April 2013}}</ref>
|Ship operator= [[Counties Ship Management]] Co Ltd, [[London]]<ref name=LR43/>
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= [[William Hamilton and Company|William Hamilton & Co]], [[Port Glasgow]]<ref name=LR43/>
|Ship yard number= 448<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?37419 |title=SS Primrose Hill (+ 1942) |last=Allen |first=Tony |date=9 May 2008 |work=The Wreck Site |access-date=4 July 2010}}</ref>
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=25 June 1941
|Ship completed= September 1941<ref name=LR43/>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= 29 October 1942<ref name=U2317>{{cite web |url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/2317.html |title=Primrose Hill. |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |date=1995–2010 |work=uboat.net |publisher=Guðmundur Helgason |access-date=1 July 2010}}</ref>
|Ship homeport= London<ref name=LR43/>
|Ship identification=*UK [[official number]] 168208<ref name=LR43/>
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] BCJZ<ref name=LR43/>
*{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Charlie}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Zulu}}
|Ship fate=Sunk by torpedo & shellfire<ref name=U2317/>
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship type= [[Cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|7628}}<ref name=LR43/>
*tonnage under deck 7,217<ref name=LR43/>
*{{NRT|5,595}}<ref name=LR43/>
*11,400 [[deadweight tonnage|DWT]]<ref name=War1>{{cite web |url=http://www.lof-news.co.uk/WarStories/WarStory1/Primrose%20Hill%20Sinking.htm |title=The Sinking of the Primrose Hill |last1=Robertson |first1=Charles |last2=Gerstner |first2=Roy |year=2007 |work=War Stories |publisher=LOF News |access-date=3 July 2010}}</ref>
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|421.1|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR43/> [[Between perpendiculars|p/p]]
|Ship beam={{convert|60.4|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR43/>
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship depth={{convert|35.8|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR43/>
|Ship power= 443 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]<ref name=LR43/>
|Ship propulsion=3-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engine]]<ref name=LR43/>
|Ship speed=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship crew= 41 [[British Merchant Navy|Merchant Navy]] plus eight [[Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships|DEMS]] gunners<ref name=U2317/>
|Ship armament= 
|Ship aircraft= 1 [[Hawker Hurricane variants#Sea Hurricanes|Hawker Sea Hurricane]]
|Ship aircraft facilities= [[aircraft catapult]]
|Ship notes= [[sister ship]]s: {{SS|Kingston Hill}}, {{SS|Lulworth Hill}}, {{SS|Marietta E}}, {{SS|Michael E}}
}}
|}

'''SS ''Primrose Hill''''' was a British [[CAM ship]] that saw action in [[World War II]], armed with a [[aircraft catapult|catapult]] on her bow to launch a [[Hawker Hurricane variants#Sea Hurricanes|Hawker Sea Hurricane]].<ref name=U2317/> She was completed by [[William Hamilton and Company|William Hamilton & Co]] in [[Port Glasgow]] on the [[Firth of Clyde]] in September 1941.<ref name=LR43/>

''Primrose Hill'' was managed by [[Counties Ship Management]] Ltd of London (CSM), an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis [[shipbroking]] company.<ref name=CSM1>{{cite web |url=http://www.lof-news.co.uk/CountiesHistory/Counties1.htm |title=Counties Ship Management 1934-2007 |last=Fenton |first=Roy |year=2006 |work=LOF–News |page=1 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref> ''Primrose Hill'' was CSM's second CAM ship, in effect replacing ''[[SS Michael E|Michael E]]'' that had been torpedoed and sunk three months previously on her maiden voyage.

''Primrose Hill''{{'}}s navigation equipment included an [[echo sounding]] device and a [[gyrocompass]].<ref name=LR43/> Primrose Hill SS was a British Cargo Steamer of 7,628 tons built in 1941 by William Hamilton's & Co, Port Glasgow, Yard no 448 for Ruthi, Kuluku.

==Propulsion==
''Primrose Hill'' had six corrugated furnaces that heated two 225 [[Pounds per square inch|lb<sub>f</sub>/in<sup>2</sup>]] single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of {{convert|5940|sqft|0}}.<ref name=LR43/> The boilers raised steam for a 443 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]] [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]] that had cylinders of {{convert|24|in|cm}}, {{convert|39|in|cm}} and {{convert|68|in|cm}} diameter by {{convert|48|in|cm}} stroke.<ref name=LR43/> The engine was built by David Rowan & Co Ltd, Glasgow.<ref name=LR43/>

{{location map|North Atlantic|width=304
|lat=18.97
|long=-28.67
|relief=yes
|caption=Approximate position of the sinking of ''Primrose Hill'' in the Atlantic.
}}

==Sinking==
On 16 October 1942 ''Primrose Hill'' sailed from Glasgow with a mixed cargo including 3,000 tons of coal, 1,796 tons of general cargo, war material and 11 aircraft.<ref name=U2317/> She was as a member of convoy [[ON convoys|ON 139]] for [[Sekondi-Takoradi|Takoradi]] on the [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]] and [[Apapa]] in [[Nigeria]].<ref name=U2317/> The convoy dispersed, and at 2118 hrs on 29 October she was northwest of the [[Cape Verde Islands]] when ''[[German submarine UD-5|UD-5]]'', a submarine that the [[Kriegsmarine]] had captured from the [[Royal Netherlands Navy#World War II|Dutch Navy]] after the [[Battle of the Netherlands#The surrender of the Dutch Army|surrender of the Netherlands]], fired two torpedoes at her.<ref name=U2317/> One missed but the other hit ''Primrose Hill'' in her engine room killing the second engineer, a greaser and a [[Fireman (steam engine)|fireman]], and setting the fuel oil in her bunkers on fire.<ref name=War1/> Two of her lifeboats and a number of liferafts were destroyed by the concussion of the blast.<ref name=War1/>

The Master, eight gunners and surviving 37 officers and men<ref name=U2317/> abandoned ship in four lifeboats<ref name=U2317/> and moved to windward as the fire spread throughout the ship.<ref name=War1/> The officers destroyed their uniforms to conceal their identity.<ref name=War1/> ''UD-5'' surfaced and her commander,<ref name=War1/> Bruno Mahn, questioned the survivors<ref name=U2317/> asking for the Master to come aboard ''UD-5''.<ref name=War1/> The survivors claimed all their officers had been killed in the explosion and fire.<ref name=War1/> Mahn clearly did not believe them, but being unable to identify his quarry he gave up and ''UD-5'' left the survivors in the boats.<ref name=War1/>

''Primrose Hill'' remained afloat so at 2246 hrs ''UD-5'' fired her {{convert|88|mm|in|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/classes/class_o21.htm |title=Class O 21 |date=1997–2006 |work=www.DutchSubmarines.com |access-date=2 July 2010}}</ref> deck gun, hitting the steamship near her bridge.<ref name=U2317/> She continued to float so at 2313 hrs ''UD-5'' fired her deck gun again, hitting ''Primrose Hill'''s stern.<ref name=U2317/> She broke her back and sank at 2345 hrs.<ref name=U2317/>

==Eight days in the lifeboats==
The master and third officer had rescued [[sextant]]s, a [[Marine chronometer|chronometer]], charts and navigation books from ''Primrose Hill'''s [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]].<ref name=War1/> However, the boats proved to be very short of rations and water for the number of men who had survived.<ref name=War1/> On the morning of 30 October the four lifeboats, keeping close together, set sail and steered eastwards for the Cape Verde Islands.<ref name=War1/> However, by the morning of 31 October wind and currents had taken them westwards.<ref name=War1/> On 1 November they were further west and No. 2 lifeboat lost her rudder.<ref name=War1/> One lifeboat was steel and sailed much worse than the three wooden ones, so on 2 November her occupants transferred themselves and her rations to the three wooden boats and cut the steel one adrift.<ref name=War1/>

On 3 November the remaining boats had been carried further west so they lowered sail and tried rowing, but found the wind and current too strong.<ref name=War1/> At 0300 hrs on 4 November another U-boat found the boats, questioned the crew and then sailed on.<ref name=War1/> Overnight to 5 November the boats managed to row a little eastwards.<ref name=War1/> On 6 November the survivors were just giving up hope of making headway against the current towards Cape Verde and were turning to sail with the current {{convert|1500|mi|km}} in the opposite direction to Brazil,<ref name=War1/> when after 1430 hrs the survivors sighted the [[Elder Dempster Lines]] cargo ship MV ''Sansu'' about {{convert|6|mi|km}} away heading southwards.<ref name=War1/> The crew burned smoke flares to attract the ''Sansu'''s attention and rowed to meet her.<ref name=War1/> At about 1530 hrs the ''Sansu'' picked up the survivors and on 11 November<ref name=War1/> landed them at [[Freetown]] in [[Sierra Leone]].<ref name=U2317/><ref name=War1/>

==Replacement ship==
In 1947 CSM took over the 1943-built [[Liberty ship]] {{SS|Samflora||2}} and renamed her ''Primrose Hill''.<ref name=Liberty>{{cite web |url= http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsS.html |title=Liberty Ships - S |work=Mariners |access-date=1 July 2010}}</ref> In 1949 she was transferred to another Rethymnis & Kulukundis company, [[London & Overseas Freighters]] Ltd, who renamed her ''London Vendor''.<ref name=Liberty/> LOF sold her in 1951 to new owners who registered her in [[Panama]] as a [[flag of convenience]] and renamed her ''Cabanos''.<ref name=Liberty/> In 1963 she passed to new Panamanian owners who renamed her ''Thebean''.<ref name=Liberty/> She was registered in Greece from 1964 and was scrapped at [[Onomichi]], Japan in 1968.<ref name=Liberty/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Sedgwick |first1=Stanley |last2=Kinnaird |first2=Mark |last3=O'Donoghue |first3=K.J |title=London & Overseas Freighters, 1948–92: A Short History |orig-year=1992 |year=1993 |publisher=[[World Ship Society]] |isbn=0-905617-68-1}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sedgwick |first1=Stanley |last2=Sprake |first2=R.F. |title=London & Overseas Freighters Limited 1949–1977 |year=1977 |publisher=[[World Ship Society]] |isbn= 0905617037}}

{{coord|18|58|N|28|40|W|display=title}}<!-- source=http://www.lof-news.co.uk/WarStories/WarStory1/Primrose%20Hill%20Sinking.htm -->

{{CAM ships}}
{{October 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primrose Hill}}
[[Category:1941 ships]]
[[Category:CAM ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1942]]
[[Category:Ships of Counties Ship Management]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]