Posted by Rainer Kolbicz rainer@uboat.net on October 15, 2001.

The troopship ANSELM was sunk by U 96 in the middle of the Atlantic on 5 July 1941. She had about 1300 men on board of which 258 lost their lifes.
Does anyone know more about the circumstances of this sinking. I know what U 96 saw, but I would like to know more about the British view. Which ships had accompanied the troopship, what was the destination of the ship?

I have read in a survivors report that the ship was outbound. They were told, that there were no U-boats in the middle of the Atlantic and were torpedoed shortly thereafter.

Regards
Rainer Kolbicz

RESPONSES:

Posted by Billy McGee w.mcgee@ntlworld.com on October 16.

Ex passenger liner Anselm 5,954grt (Booth SS Co.)left Glasgow enroute to West Africa with her escort HMS Challenger and was sunk North of the Azores.
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Posted by Bill Watt w.p.w@btinternet.com on October 16.

"Pursuing a Focke-Wulf convoy contact report, through fog on the morning of July 5, Lehmann-Willenbrock in U-96 happened upon a curious formation of five ships: a RN yacht Challenger,leading a 6000 t. freighter, Anselm. Three corvettes, Petunia, Lavender and Starwort, were deployed to port, starboard and astern of Anselm with good reason: Anselm was a troopship with 1,200 soldiers on board.
Braving the menace posed by this unusually heavy escort, U-96 closed submerged and fired a full bow salvo at Challenger and Anselm. He missed Challenger but two torpedoes hit Anselm. The ship sank in twenty-two minutes, but that was time enough for the crew to launch all but one of the lifeboats. None the less, 254 of the soldiers were lost. The yacht Challenger pulled sixty survivors from the water.
The three corvettes immediately pounced on U-96. Starwort's sonar was out of commision, so Petunia and Lavender, which had firm contacts, delivered the attack. Petunia launched six depth charges, and Lavender twenty. When the attack carried the corvettes close to the survivors in the water, the depth charging had to be broken off, but it had been deadly accurate. Later in the day U-96 reported to Kerneval that he was aborting the patrol with extreme depth charge damage."
Source - Hitler's U-Boat War 1939-1942.
Regards,

Bill
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Posted by Rainer Kolbicz on October 16.

Hi Bill and Billy

Thank you Both very much for the informations. They are very useful for me!

Regards
Rainer