View source for SS Fairport (1941)

{{Short description|World War II American cargo ship}}
{{other ships|SS Fairport}}
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{{Infobox ship career
|Ship name=SS ''Fairport''
|Ship owner=[[Waterman Steamship Company]]<ref name=Browning>Browning, p. 187.</ref>
|Ship registry={{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Mobile, Alabama]]<ref name=Plimsoll>{{cite book | author = Lloyd's Register of Shipping | author-link = Lloyd's Register of Shipping | title = Register of Ships | location = London | publisher = Lloyd's Register of Shipping | edition = 1941–42 }} [https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/41/41b1000.pdf Scan of page "F"] (pdf) hosted at [http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/ Plimsoll Ship Data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218224536/http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/ |date=2012-02-18 }}. Retrieved 6 July 2009.</ref>
|Ship builder=*[[Gulf Shipbuilding]]<ref name=Miramar>{{csr|register=MSI|id=2241559|shipname=Fairport |accessdate=6 July 2009 }}</ref>
*[[Chickasaw, Alabama]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=1<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=15 November 1941<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship completed=April 1942<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship fate=Sunk by {{ship|German submarine|U-161|1941|2}}, 16 July 1942<ref name=Browning />
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship type=[[Type C2 ship|Type C2-S-E1 ship]]
|Ship tonnage={{GRT|6165}}<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship length={{convert|445|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=Plimsoll />
|Ship beam={{convert|63|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=Plimsoll />
|Ship draft={{convert|31|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=Plimsoll />
|Ship decks=
|Ship propulsion=2 [[steam turbine]]s, geared to a single [[screw propeller]]<ref name=Plimsoll />
|Ship speed={{convert|15.5|knots|km/h}}<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship crew=10 officers, 33 men, 14 [[Naval Armed Guard]]smen
|Ship armament=*1 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] gun
*4 × [[M2 Browning|.50 cal (12.7 mm)]] [[machine gun]]
*2 × [[M1919 Browning machine gun|.30 cal (7.62 mm)]] machine gun
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''SS ''Fairport''''' was a [[Type C2 ship|Type C2-S-E1]] [[cargo ship]] built by [[Gulf Shipbuilding]] for the [[Waterman Steamship Company]]. She was sunk by {{ship|German submarine|U-161|1941|2|up=yes}} on 16 July 1942. All hands were rescued by an American [[destroyer]].

== Career ==
''Fairport'' was [[keel laying|laid down]] as the first ship constructed at [[Gulf Shipbuilding]] of [[Chickasaw, Alabama]].<ref name=Miramar /> Constructed under a [[United States Maritime Commission]] contract (MC hull number 849) on behalf of the [[Waterman Steamship Company]] of [[Mobile, Alabama]],<ref name=Miramar /><ref name=Colton>{{cite web | last = Colton | first = Time | title = Halter Marine - Chickasaw, Chickasaw AL | url = http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/chickasaw.htm | accessdate = 6 July 2009 | work = Shipbuildinghistory.com | publisher = The Colton Companies | archive-date = 22 September 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080922162920/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/chickasaw.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> she was [[launched (ship)|launched]] on 15 November 1941.<ref name=Miramar /> After ''Fairport''{{'}}s April 1942 completion, she  was registered at Mobile and armed with a {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on}} [[deck gun]] and six [[machine gun]]s, and took on fourteen [[Naval Armed Guard]]smen to man the guns.<ref name=Browning />

On 13 July 1942, ''Fairport'' departed [[New York Port of Embarkation|New York]] with convoy WS 4 for the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref name=Browning /> She was carrying a cargo of {{convert|8000|LT|t|3}} of [[materiel]] which included a deck load of [[tank]]s,<ref name=Uboat.net>{{cite web | last = Helgason | first = Guðmundur | title = Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Fairport | url = http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/1939.html | accessdate = 6 July 2009 | publisher = Uboat.net }}</ref> (fifty-two tanks, eighteen self-propelled guns and other supplies) and also carried 66 passengers.<ref name=Browning /> The convoy consisted of six other merchant ships and an escort of three destroyers; ''Fairport''{{'}}s station in the convoy was in position #12, the second ship in the [[port (direction)|port]] column.<ref name=Browning />

At 09:45 on 16 July,<ref name=Browning /> near position {{coord|27|10|N|64|33|W|display=inline,title}} or about {{convert|500|nmi|km}} northwest of the [[Virgin Islands]], ''Fairport'' was struck by two torpedoes launched by ''[[Korvettenkapitän]]'' [[Albrecht Achilles (Korvettenkapitän)|Albrecht Achilles]], the commander of {{ship|German submarine|U-161|1941|2|up=yes}}.<ref name=Uboat.net /> The first torpedo struck the cargo ship's #4 cargo hold on the port side, starting a fire that was quickly extinguished by inrushing seawater. The second torpedo struck ten seconds after the first, and opened a {{convert|30|by|25|ft|m|adj=on}} hole near the #1 hold. The engines were secured and the vessel ordered abandoned five minutes later. Fifteen minutes after the attack, ''Fairport'' sank by the stern.<ref name=Browning /> All 123 persons aboard the ship (10 officers, 33 men, 14 Naval Armed Guardsmen, 66 passengers) were rescued by destroyer {{USS|Kearny|DD-432|2}},<ref name=Browning /> and landed at New York on 21 July.<ref name=Uboat.net />

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite book | last = Browning | first = Robert M. | title = U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II | location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]] | publisher = [[Naval Institute Press]] | year = 1996 | isbn = 978-1-55750-087-8 | oclc = 32310902 }}

{{Type C2-S-E1 ships}}
{{July 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairport (1941)}}
[[Category:Type C2-S-E1 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Chickasaw, Alabama]]
[[Category:1941 ships]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in July 1942]]