captain william dawson and the u 558

[flag4]

i'm reading Convoy at the moment - a view from above the waves by the merchant navy. great art work, anecdotes, snippets of prose and poetry and first hand accounts. i recommend it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Convoy-Merchant-Sailors-War-1939-1945/dp/1557501378/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209292059&sr=1-2

and came across capt dawson and the u 558

though i cant find his book which must be worth reading too...

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/03/25/amazing-life-of-wartime-mariner-61634-20667987/

cheers.

[Laufen zum Ziel]

U-558 with crew from below site (U-boat Photos).

http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii113/laufen345/th_U558.jpg

http://silent-hunter-addict.com

[airwolf48453]

Empire Lugard
We don't have a picture of this vessel at this time.

Name
Empire Lugard
Type:
Motor merchant
Tonnage
7.241 tons
Completed
1941 - Wm. Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland
Owner
Stott, Mann & Fleming Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Homeport
London
Date of attack
13 Sep, 1942
Nationality: British
Fate
Sunk by U-558 (http://www.subsim.com/boats/u558.htm) (Günther Krech (http://www.subsim.com/men/krech.htm))
Position
12.07N, 63.32W - Grid ED 8375
- See location on a map (javascript:self.name='boats';top.emblem('/maps/pop/index.html?string=http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gcmap?PATH=12.07N63.32W&MAP-STYLE=popup&ship=Empire+Lugard','emblemPop',497,294);) -
Complement
47 (0 dead and 47 survivors).
Convoy
TAG-5
Route
Trinidad (12 Sep) - St.John, New Brunswick
Cargo
8842 tons of bauxite
History
Built for Ministry of War Transport (MoWT)

Notes on loss
At 06.22 and 06.23 hours on 13 Sep, 1942, U-558 (http://www.subsim.com/find_boat.php3?find_boat=558) fired three torpedoes at ships in the convoy TAG-5 (http://www.subsim.com/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=TAG-5) and observed hits on three ships after 1 minute 50 seconds, 1 minute 59 seconds and 2 minutes 40 seconds, but made no visual confirmation due to operations of the escorts. In fact, two ships had been hit, the Suriname (http://www.subsim.com/allies/merchants/ship.html?shipID=2166) and Empire Lugard.
The master, 35 crew members, ten gunners and one signalman from Empire Lugard (Master C.K. Nielsen) were picked up by the Vilja (http://www.subsim.com/allies/merchants/ship.html?shipID=2162) and landed at Port of Spain, Trinidad.