SS Clan Alpine was a British cargo steamer owned by Clan Line Steamers Ltd

Clan Line

The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.-Foundation and early years:...

. Launched in 1918 she was the third ship to carry this name. She was torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

ed and sunk in the Second World War whilst carrying materiel

Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....

 to aid the British campaigns in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

.

Early history

Clan Alpine was built by the Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd

Greenock Dockyard Company

The Greenock Dockyard Company was a Scottish shipbuilding and ship repair firm located at Greenock, on the River Clyde.-History:The company was established by J E Scott of Greenock, with the yard at Cartsdyke being taken over in 1879 by Russell and Company, of Greenock, which later became Lithgows...

, Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

 for Clan Line Steamers Ltd

Clan Line

The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.-Foundation and early years:...

, of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and was launched on 28 January 1918. She was used to carry equipment and supplies for the British government during the Second World War. On 19 November 1942, whilst sailing to Saint Helena

Saint Helena

Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...

, she came across two lifeboats from the torpedoed SS City of Cairo

SS City of Cairo

The SS City of Cairo was a British passenger steamer. She was sunk in the Second World War with heavy loss of life.She was built by Earle’s Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd, Hull in 1915 for Ellerman Lines Ltd of London...

, and took the occupants to Saint Helena.

Sinking

Her last voyage was as part of convoy OS-44, which departed Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 on 6 March 1943 bound for Port Sudan

Port Sudan

Port Sudan is the capital of Red Sea State, Sudan; it has 489,725 residents . Located on the Red Sea, it is the Republic of Sudan's main port city.-History:...

 via Walvis Bay

Walvis Bay

Walvis Bay , is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies...

. She was carrying 11,317 tons of general cargo, including army and naval stores. Shortly into the journey, the convoy was sailing west of Cape Finisterre

Cape Finisterre

right|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....

 on 13 March, when it was spotted by the . At 05.30 hours she fired a number of torpedoes, and reported having hit three ships. In fact four ships had been hit, SS Marcella, SS Oporto, SS Sembilangan and Clan Alpine.

Unable to be repaired or towed to safety, Clan Alpine was abandoned. Escorting sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

  picked up the survivors from the water and scuttled

Scuttling

Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...

 the ship with depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

s. The survivors were taken to Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

by SS Pendeen. 26 of the crew were lost in the attack and subsequent sinking.