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HMS Forfar (F30)
Encyclopedia
HMS Forfar was formerly the liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
SS Montrose, requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser in 1939 and sunk in 1940.
She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a British shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy and other navies through the First World War and the...
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, being launched in 1920 as passenger ship Montrose(II) of Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. In 1939 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to an armed merchant cruiser and renamed HMS Forfar.
On 2 December 1940 Forfar, on the Northern Patrol
Northern Patrol
The Northern Patrol was a Royal Navy operation of the First World War operating around Scotland and the North Sea.The Patrol existed to form part of the British "distant" blockade of Germany...
, was torpedoed and sunk by U-99 under the command of Otto Kretschmer
Otto Kretschmer
Flotilla Admiral Otto Kretschmer was a German U-boat commander in the Second World War and later an admiral in the Bundesmarine. From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak...
. Forfar was en route to join convoy OB 251 and was about 500 miles west of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. 36 officers, including her Captain Norman Arthur Cyril Hardy, and 136 men lost their lives. The survivors were rescued by the Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent, the British destroyer HMS Viscount and the British cargo steamer Dursley.