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Battle or Action:
SS Aguila, Sinking of
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Detail : |
"S.S. Aguila on 19 August 1941, when that vessel, bound for Gibraltar and acting as the Commodore's ship in convoy O.G. 71, was torpedoed by the U-201 and went down in 90 seconds - among those lost in her were 20 girls of the W.R.N.S. The terrible fate of convoy O.G. 71 is vividly described in Nightmare Convoy by Paul Lund and Harry Ludlam, and was to prove the inspiration for Nicholas Monsarrat's famous title The Cruel Sea - as a young naval officer he had witnessed the unfolding massacre of the convoy's merchantmen from an escorting destroyer. Herbert Soffe, who was born at Reading, Berkshire in November 1899, and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in late 1915, witnessed active service as a Boy Telegraphist aboard the cruiser H.M.S. Highflyer between April 1917 and the end of hostilities. A regular between the Wars, he was awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in December 1932 and had attained the rank of Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist by the renewal of hostilities. It was in this latter rate that he joined the staff of Vice-Admiral Patrick Parker, D.S.O., one of that gallant band of retired R.N. officers who volunteered for duty in the unenvious role of "Commodore of Convoys". He, too, went down in the Aguila."
"SS Aguila embarked from Liverpool en route to Gibraltar on 12th August 1941 with 161 naval personnel onboard. Out of these, twenty-two were women, composed of nine WRNS officers and 12 Chief Wren Wireless Telegraphists, accompanied by one Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service nurse. These were the first group of Wrens who had volunteered for cipher and wireless duties in Gibraltar. SS Aguila was the Commodore ship of Convoy OG-71. The convoy consisted of 23 merchant ships and was escorted by 6 Corvettes and 2 Destroyers. The convoy was attacked by German U-boats on 19th August whilst off the south western coast of Ireland. Soon after midnight, a torpedo hit SS Aguila and the ship sank instantly. There were only sixteen survivors, leaving a death toll of 145. None of the twenty-two Wrens survived." |
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