Posted on 02/23/2009 5:09:34 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Mystery indeed. I don’t recall any historical accounts of sinkings at this time. Perhaps the submarines that were involved in the Spanish civil war last year are up to some mischief.
Could it have been a trap where some sub was trying to lure a target in but that target never showed and they did not shoot at the two vessels or got tired of waiting? Service on a pig boat at that time was an ordeal.
It’s amazing that according to the story the call for help was “yesterday” but there is so much detail in the story that it’s obvious that the reporter/s actually worked for a living. It’s a strong contrast to the cut and paste journalism we see today.
I did some looking for the Pectin to see if maybe it never arrived in port but couldn’t find anything about it. Strange story. I wonder if there is any follow up on it.
Obviously not the Pecten, unless there was a time warp.
The Pecten was sunk by a submarine, but on August 25, 1940.
“At 19.48 hours on 25 Aug, 1940, U-57 fired a spread of two torpedoes at a group of stragglers from the convoy HX-65B and hit the Pecten (Master Herbert Edward Dale) twice, which sank about 75 miles north of Tory Island. The master and 48 crew members were lost. Eight crew members were picked up by the British merchant Torr Head, transferred to the British trawler HMS Robina and landed at Belfast. “
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/487.html
Nice find. I wonder what happened out there then. Maybe it was just a hoax. U-boat captain looking to see what type of response there would be in the area perhaps?
My guess would be a hoax.
Interesting trivia about the sub that ended up sinking the tanker - it sank after a collision, was raised, and made it to the end of the war (scuttled by its crew May 5, 1945).
I’m with you on that one. Pretty interesting on that uboat site. Apparently the Pectan was the last ship it sunk.
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