SS Kingston Hill was a cargo ship built by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. She was completed in December 1940.[1] She was managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London (CSM), an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company.[3] She was a sister ship of SS Lulworth Hill, SS Marietta E, SS Michael E and SS Primrose Hill, which were also managed by CSM but owned by other R&K companies.
Kingston Hill had a single 520 NHP triple-expansion steam engine[1] driving a single screw. She had eight corrugated furnaces heating two 225 lbf/in2 single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 7643 sqft, plus one auxiliary boiler.[1]
On 22 February 1941 Luftwaffe aircraft bombed and damaged the ship.[2] She was repaired at Glasgow.[2]
Sinking
In May 1941 Kingston Hill sailed from Cardiff and Glasgow laden with coal and general cargo for Alexandria in Egypt.[2] To avoid the enemy-controlled waters of the Mediterranean she was heading via Cape Town, South Africa, but was unescorted.[2] She was southwest of the Cape Verde Islands heading into the South Atlantic when the GS U-38 (1938) hit her with two torpedoes at 0108 hrs on 8 June 1941.[2] She sank at 0125 hrs with the loss of her Master and 13 crew.[2] 16 crew were rescued by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Achates (H12) and returned to Greenock.[2] 26 crew were rescued by the US tanker Alabama and landed at Cape Town.[2]
Sources & further reading
References
- Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships Lloyd's Register, 1941, retrieved 23 March 2013^
- Guðmundur Helgason. Kingston Hill uboat.net, Guðmundur Helgason, 1995–2010, retrieved 30 June 2010^
- Roy Fenton. Counties Ship Management 1934-2007 LOF-News, 2006, retrieved 30 June 2010^