Posted by Jan-Olof jan-olof.hendig@telia.com on July 01, 2001.

Under Norfjell there is a mention of the US ship Horace Gray being sunk by by a german submarine. Rohwer's 'Axis Submarine Successes' aren't very clear when dealing with this ship. On page 211 he claims that the ship was a CTL but then, in a footnote, he claims that she was sunk under tow.

My problem is that two US sources claim that the ship did not sink under tow. One of them 'US Merchant War Casualties of World War II' by Browning claims (page 488) that:

"After raising steam, a small Russian tug towed her to Kola Inlet. While under tow a crack appeared on the starbord side and the vessel began to sink. The master beached the Horace Gray on the 15th, and the WSA later declared her a CTL. All hands survived the attack."

Can anyone clarify these contradictions?

Jan-Olof

RESPONSES:

Posted by Siri siri@lawson.net on July 02.

This website
[www.USMM.org] claims she was a total loss - I believe the source used is "A careless word - A needless sinking" (among others), which inlcudes the faith of the Liberty Ships. I'm planning to get a hold of this book soon.

Siri
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Posted by Axel van Eesbeeck gemyala@netcologne.de on July 02.

Hallo Jan-Olof

The book from Jürgen Rohwer contains a mistake regarding the Horace Gray. On the link below you can find a correction for the listet entry and the footnote

[www.uboat.net]

Best regards
Axel van Eesbeeck
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Posted by Jan-Olof on July 02.

Thanks Axel, I had already seen that correction. I'll go out on a limb here and claim that I think the correction itself is incorrect. I was hoping that someone could give more information about what took place after the Horace Gray was torpedoed.

Regards Jan-Olof
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Posted by Axel van Eesbeeck on July 02.

Hallo Jan-Olof

I checked in the book from Brian B. Schofield "The Artic Convoys" - german edition. But in this book the statement is just that the ship sunk. No word about being towed or beached or CTL.

On the webside [www.ibiblio.org]
you can find this entry.

"U.S. freighter Horace Gray is torpedoed by German submarine U-711 at the entrance to Kola Inlet, 69°21'N, 33°43'W. Beached the following day, Horace Gray will subsequently be determined a total loss. There are no casualties to either the merchant complement or the 28- man Armed Guard."

Sorry but i can't give you better information

Best regards
Axel van Eesbeeck