| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Dunedin Star |
| Namesake | Dunedin,New Zealand |
| Owner | Union Cold Storage Ltd |
| Operator | Blue Star Line |
| Port of registry |  London |
| Builder | Cammell Laird,Birkenhead |
| Yard number | 1009 |
| Launched | 29 October 1935 |
| Completed | February 1936 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Refrigerated cargo ship |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 70.4 ft (21 m) |
| Draught | 43 ft 4 in (13.2 m) |
| Depth | 32.3 ft (10 m) |
| Installed power | 2,516NHP |
| Propulsion |
|
| Capacity | cargo + 21 passengers |
| Crew | 85 |
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Armament | DEMS |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | Operation Halberd, 1941 |
MVDunedin Star was a Britishrefrigeratedcargo liner. She was built byCammell Laird and Co in 1935–36 as one ofBlue Star Line'sImperial Star-class ships, designed to ship frozen meat fromAustralia andNew Zealand to the UK. The ship served in theSecond World War and is distinguished for her role inOperation Halberd to relieve thesiege of Malta in September 1941.
Dunedin Star was lost at the end of November 1942 when she ran aground atClan Alpine Shoal in the South Atlantic on theSkeleton Coast ofNamibia, thenSouth West Africa. A complex sea, air and land operation overcame many setbacks and rescued all of her passengers, crew and gunners. An aircraft, atug and two of the tug's crew were lost in rescue attempts. It took a month for the last ofDunedin Star's crew to reachCape Town, and more than two months for the last of the rescuers to return.
Cammell Laird and Co inBirkenhead,England builtDunedin Star, launching her on 29 October 1935 and completing her in February 1936.[1] The ship was owned by Union Cold Storage, a company controlled by Blue Star Line.[2]
TheImperial Star class weremotor ships.Dunedin Star had a pair of 9-cylinder,two-stroke,single-actingSulzer Brosmarine diesel engines developing a total of 2,516NHP and driving twinscrews. Her navigation equipment included wirelessdirection finding, anecho sounding device and agyrocompass.[2]
After the United Kingdom entered theSecond World War in September 1939,Dunedin Star initially continued hercargo liner service between Britain and Australia. As she was a fast merchant ship, she sailed unescorted until November 1940.[3]
On 10 October 1939, the ship leftLiverpool forBrisbane. She called atLas Palmas,Cape Town,Port Elizabeth,East London,Durban,Lourenço Marques,Sydney andRockhampton, and reached Brisbane on 26 November. Three days later, the ship began her return voyage, and called atNewcastle, New South Wales,Sydney,Melbourne andAdelaide. She spent Christmas of 1939 sailing west across theIndian Ocean and New Year's Day of 1940 in Cape Town, then called at Las Palmas. On 18 January, she reachedLondon.[3]
On 31 January 1940,Dunedin Star left London for Brisbane again. She called at Las Palmas andGladstone, Queensland, and reached Brisbane on 10 March. She began her return voyage six days later, and called atAlbany, Western Australia;Fremantle; Cape Town and Las Palmas, reaching London on 3 May.[3]
On 2 June 1940,Dunedin Star left London forQueensland again. She called atLisbon,São Vicente, Cape Verde, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane andCairns, and reachedTownsville in northeastern Queensland on 18 July. On 22 JuneFrance had surrendered to Germany, which removed the powerfulFrench Navy from the defense of Allied shipping, gave all of France's Atlantic ports and naval bases to theKriegsmarine and its most strategic airfields to theLuftwaffe. Therefore, whenDunedin Star began her voyage home from Townsville on 21 July, she called at Rockhampton and Sydney but then turned east across thePacific Ocean toPanama. She reachedBalboa, Panama on 23 August, passed through thePanama Canal and called atCristóbal, Colón two days later. The ship called atCuraçao in theNetherlands Antilles before crossing the North Atlantic, reachingAvonmouth on theBristol Channel on 10 September.[3]
Dunedin Star stayed in Avonmouth for a month, leaving on 10 October and reaching Liverpool two days later. On 1 November, she left Liverpool withConvoy WS 4, which divided into fast (WS 4F) and slow (WS 4S) sections.Dunedin Star went with WS 4F toFreetown,[4]Sierra Leone and then continuedvia Durban toSuez, where she arrived on 22 December. She seems to have spent Christmas of 1940 and New Year's Day of 1941 in Suez.[3] On 12 January, she left forColombo inCeylon, where she arrived on 22 January. She made theRed Sea leg of her voyage from Suez toAden with Convoy SW 4B,[5] then detached and crossed the Indian Ocean unescorted.[3]
By August 1941,Dunedin Star was back in Britain. On 9 August, she left theFirth of Clyde with Convoy WS 8C toScapa Flow,[6] returning to the Clyde on 17 August. Then, with a Blue Star sister ship,Imperial Star, she took part inOperation Halberd to relieve thesiege of Malta. On 17 September they left the Clyde with Convoy WS 011D, which at sea became Convoy WS 11X.[7] The convoy was bound forBombay but the ships for Operation Halberd detached in the North Atlantic and reachedGibraltar on 24 September. There eight merchant ships formedConvoy GM 2, which left the same day under heavyRoyal Navy escort for Malta.
On 27 September 1941, theMediterranean ItalianRegia Aeronautica aircraft attacked the convoy but were repulsed by naval escorts and air cover. That evening an Italiantorpedo bomber hitImperial Star. No crew were killed and the ship did not sink but was disabled so she wasscuttled and abandoned. The remainder of the convoy safely reached theGrand Harbour atValletta the next day.Dunedin Star stayed in Malta for four weeks, leaving unescorted on 22 October and calling at Gibraltar three days later.[3]
Dunedin Star's movements for the next five months are not recorded. Then on 22 March 1942, she left the Clyde with Convoy WS 17 to Freetown.[8] She continuedvia Cape Town to the Indian Ocean, reaching Bombay on 16 May and leaving Colombo on 13 July for Fremantle. There she joinedConvoy ZK 12, which left on 27 July for Sydney.[9]Dunedin Star detacheden route and reached Melbourne on 3 August. Again, she returned from Australia to Britainvia Panama, where she called on 17 September before crossing the North Atlantic and reaching Liverpool on 1 November.[3]
On 9 November 1942,Dunedin Star left Liverpool forEgyptviaSaldanha Bay, Cape Town andAden.[1] Her cargo was munitions and supplies for the BritishEighth Army in theMiddle East, and she was carrying 85 crew and 21 fare-paying passengers.[10]
Dunedin Star left Liverpool withConvoy ON 145, which was bound forNew York.[11] In the North AtlanticDunedin Star detached and headed forSouth Africa. However, at 22h30 on 29 November off theSkeleton Coast ofSouth West Africa she struck an underwater obstacle,[10] presumed by the subsequent South AfricanCourt of Inquiry to be the poorly charted Clan Alpine Shoal.[citation needed] Her wireless operator sent adistress signal, which was received ashore atWalvis Bay.
Dunedin Star began rapidly taking on water and her pumps were unable to cope. Hermaster, Captain RB Lee, chose to beach the ship for the safety of her passengers, crew, and valuable cargo. In a heavy sea she grounded 550 yards (500 m) offshore, about 50 miles (80 km) south of theCunene River mouth which formed the border withPortuguese Angola.[citation needed]
Captain Lee feared the heavy sea could break up the ship. Therefore, he had the crew lower her motor boat and start putting people ashore. The boat completed two trips, putting ashore a total of 63 people including eight women, three babies and a number of elderly men. Then the rough sea disabled the boat and she was stranded on the beach. They were left with no shelter and only the boat's water and food rations to sustain them. Another 42 people, including Captain Lee, were left aboard the beached ship.[10]
ASouth African Railways and Harbourstug, the 328 GRTSir Charles Elliot, left Walvis Bay and headed north to reach the wreck. The 197 GRTminesweeperHMSAS Nerine, a converted civilian vessel, left Walvis Bay at 14h00 on 30 November, laden with emergency supplies packed intoCarley floats to take ashore to the survivors on the beach. TheNorwegian 6,465 GRT cargo shipTemeraire andManchester Liners' 6,048 GRT cargo steamshipManchester Division also diverted to help. Meanwhile, fromWindhoek a land rescue convoy, led by Captain JWB Smith of theSouth African Police, set out to reach those survivors who were ashore.[10]
The ships reachedDunedin Star on 1 or 2 December.Nerine launched some of her supply-laden Carley floats to reach the shore party, but the strong current swept them away. She moved closer to the shore, launched her remaining floats and returned to Walvis Bay.Temeraire launched her motor boat and took 10 men offDunedin Star, but the boat shipped a lot of water which stopped her motor. The Norwegian boatmen then rowed for an hour-and-a-half toManchester Division, which took the 10 survivors aboard. The Norwegians were now so exhausted thatTemeraire had to take them and their boat back aboard. The next daySir Charles Elliot arrived.Temeraire again lowered her motorboat, which in four trips rescued the remaining 32 men fromDunedin Star and transferred them all toSir Charles Elliot. In the heavy sea the tug then struggled to get alongsideManchester Division to transfer all of the rescued men except Captain Lee and hischief andsecond engineers, who were taken aboardNerine.[10]
On 3 December,Sir Charles Elliot left to return to Walvis Bay, but about 06h00 the next morning she grounded just north of Rocky Point. Most of her crew managed to swim ashore through the strong current, butFirst Officer Angus McIntyre and deckhand Mathias Korabseb did not survive.[10]
At 14h00 on 3 December, aSouth African Air ForceLockheed Ventura coastal patrol aircraft was sent from Cape Town to drop supplies on the beach for the survivors. At about 16h20 the pilot, Captain Immins Naude, found the beach. His crew dropped the supplies but most were destroyed on impact. Naude landed on a nearby flat piece of land with the intention of rescuing some of the remaining survivors on the beach. Unfortunately, the land was asalt pan obscured by desert sand. The next day it was discovered that the Ventura'sundercarriage had sunk through the crusted surface of the salt, damaging the aircraft and leaving it stuck in the sand.[10]
Three other SAAF Venturas flew supply missions to drop water, food and other emergency supplies. They often flew several flights a day to the survivors on the beach. At times they also dropped supplies to Captain Smith's land convoy on the way from Windhoek to the beach. On 8 December Captain Smith's land convoy reached Rocky Point andSir Charles Elliot's survivors and took them to a makeshift landing strip. ThereLt Col PS Joubert landed a Ventura and picked up the tug's surviving crew.[10]
In Walvis Bay,Nerine refuelled and loaded new supplies, and on 7 December headed north again. She reachedDunedin Star two days later and launched herlifeboat, which unsuccessfully tried to fire a line ashore by rocket. InsteadNerine's radio operator, Denis Scully, swam ashore with a rope tied around his waist. That day 14 crew, two women and two children were taken off the beach and transferred toNerine. On 10 December eight more of the survivors from the beach were transferred to the minesweeper.[10]
Captain Smith's convoy then reached the beach and rescued those survivors who had not been transferred by lifeboat toNerine. Smith's 11 trucks got back to Windhoek on 23 December, where the survivors stayed before continuing overland by train. They reached Cape Town on 28 December.[10]
On 17 January 1943, Captain Naude left Windhoek leading an overland convoy to recover the Ventura. After on-site repairs and a four-day digging effort, he finally got the plane airborne on 29 January. However, after only 43 minutes' flying time the aircraft developed engine trouble and crashed into the sea about 200 yards offshore near Rocky Point. Naude and his two fellow aircrew members survived the crash and managed to swim ashore. Their returning land convoy rescued them on 1 February.[10][12]
All ofDunedin Star's passengers, crew and DEMS gunners survived, thanks to the courage and resource of many rescuers by sea, air, and land. But it was at a high cost: one Ventura aircraft, the tugSir Charles Elliot and two of the tug's crew were killed.[10]
The Court of Enquiry found Captain Lee culpable for the loss of his ship. Blue Star Line dismissed him and he turned to be a publican in England. In 1943 or 1944, Blue Star re-engaged him as the master of one of the merchant ships for one of the Allied landings in Europe. After this contract, Blue Star did not offer him another ship. He later emigrated to India, where he died shortly after his arrival.[10]
Six ofDunedin Star's crew including an assistant engineer went on to serve onMelbourne Star, and were killed when she sank in the North Atlantic on 2 April 1943.Dunedin Star's chief electrician went on to serve on thelanding shipEmpire Javelin, and was killed when she sank in theEnglish Channel on 28 December 1944.[10]
Some ofDunedin Star's cargo was salvaged in 1951.[1] Some remains are visible to this day on the beach, among them a section of decking from the bow or of the stern.[citation needed]
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After the War, Blue Star Line bought a cargo ship that was being built byAlexander Stephen and Sons atLinthouse on theRiver Clyde. She had beenlaid down for Lancashire Shipping Ltd asBolton Castle for trade with China. However, in 1949, theChinese Communist Revolution reduced this trade so Lancashire Shipping sold her on the stocks to Blue Star.[13]
The new ship was launched on 18 April 1950 as a secondDunedin Star and completed that September. She was aturbine steamship, and at 7,322 GRT was considerably smaller than her predecessor. Unusually for a Blue Star ship, she had only some of her holds refrigerated. Nevertheless, she spent 25 years in service with the Blue Star group.[13]
In 1968, the ship was transferred to the Blue Star subsidiaryLamport and Holt, which renamed herRoland 2. She spent most of the next seven years on a regular route betweenRío de la Plata, Brazil and the UK. In 1975, she was sold to Pallas Maritime ofCyprus, who renamed herJessica. After two more changes of the owner, she was scrapped in 1978 atGadani ship-breaking yard inPakistan.[13]
18°08′S11°33′E / 18.13°S 11.55°E /-18.13; 11.55
