VIKINGS

Shipbuildervessel built by Hall, Russell & Company, Limited (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1864 - 1992)

Date12 September 1935

Object NameFISHING VESSEL

ClassificationsShip

Dimensionslength 207 1/12' x breadth 37 5/6' x depth 21'
gross tonnage: 1150 ton

Object numberABDSHIP002436

Keywords

Aberdeen Built Ships

About MeYard: Hall, Russell & Co.
Yard Number: 732

Fate: Torpedoed and sunk 23 miles from Beirut 16 April 1942.

Propulsion: Steam
Description: Trawler

Owners:
1935: Soc. Anon Les Pecheries de Fecamp, Fecamp.
03/07/1940: French Patrol vessel seized by Britain in Operation Grab on 3 July 1940. In August 1940 commissioned in the Free French Navy as the A/S trawler, armed patrol vessel, FFL VIKINGS, Pennant no U.41.
(Gerald Toghill (2004), "Royal Navy Trawlers, Part Two: Requisitioned Trawlers" (Maritime Books, Liskeard), p. 506)

General History:
Trial trip took place in November 1935.

At 19.54 hours on 16 Apr, 1942, U-81 spotted a tanker and one escort vessel off the coast of Lebanon and fired at 20.38 and 20.39 hours two torpedoes each at both ships. FFL VIKINGS (LV Touchaleaume) exploded and sank 23 miles 240° from Beirut after being hit by a torpedo. At 21.48 hours, the U-boat fired two torpedoes at the Caspia and hit her with one torpedo in the bow. The tanker sank in flames 10 miles south of Beirut after being hit by a coup de grâce at 22.10 hours.
Complement: 57 (41 dead and 16 survivors)
Route: Haifa (16 Apr) - Tripoli, Syria
(Source: www.uboat.net)