Pennland as a troop ship (1940–1941)
The Ministry of War Transport chartered Pennland from NASM and had her converted into a troop ship.[11] She spent a month in New York, leaving on 26 June for Halifax. There she joined Convoy HX 54, which reached Liverpool on 14 July. She spent six weeks in Liverpool, leaving on 31 August under escort[14] carrying 1,200 Free French troops[9] via Freetown[14] in Sierra Leone to Douala in French Cameroon.[9]
Pennland spent a month in Freetown and then sailed to Bathurst in South Africa, where she arrived on 31 October. She then returned to West Africa, where her ports of call included Lagos in Nigeria and Takoradi on the Gold Coast.[14]
On 21 November Pennland left Freetown and crossed the Atlantic to the Caribbean. She reached Barbados on 29 November, spent 2–7 December in Kingston, Jamaica, and then sailed to Halifax.[14] On 16 December she left Halifax carrying 1,856 troops with joined Convoy TC 8, which reached the Firth of Clyde on Christmas Day 1940.[15]
On 12 January 1941 Pennland left Belfast for Egypt. She sailed with Convoy WS 5B to Freetown, called at Durban 11–15 February and reached Suez on 3 March. She sailed through the Suez Canal, reached Port Said on 23 March and Alexandria the next day.[14]
On 1 April 1941 Pennland left Alexandria with troops for Greece. On 4 April she left Port of Piraeus and returned to Alexandria. On 6 April Germany invaded Greece and Yugoslavia, and on 12–15 April Pennland was in Piraeus for a second time.[14]
German forces advanced deep into Greece, and the Allies started to evacuate their troops. On 23 April Pennland left Alexandria[14] for Megara[11] in Attica, where thousands of Australian troops were to be evacuated.
An attack by German dive-bombers on 25 April off the island of Agios Georgios in the Saronic Gulf prevented Pennland from reaching Megara.[11] Her master, Captain Johann van Dulken, was wounded, and her three compasses were smashed. One bomb penetrated her deck and exploded in her engine room, killing four of her crew.[16] Her purser, Albert la Grange, was below decks inspecting damage when a bomb hit the ship, extinguishing her lights and puncturing her hull.[17]
Pennland's chief officer, Pieter van Beelen, took command and ordered her crew to abandon ship.[16] Purser la Grange rallied the crew and helped to ensure they all got clear in the lifeboats. When the last boat was launched, la Grange carried an unconscious steward to the boat.[17] Seven bombs damaged Pennland[9] but she did not sink, so her destroyer escort HMS Griffin (H31) sank her by gunfire.[11] Griffin also embarked survivors and took them to Crete, where they were joined an overcrowded cargo ship that took them to Alexandria.[17]
