| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Christopher Newport |
| Namesake | Christopher Newport |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
| Operator | Calmar Steamship Corporation |
| Ordered | as type (EC2-S-C1) hull,MCE hull 21 |
| Awarded | 14 March 1941 |
| Builder | Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, Maryland[1] |
| Cost | $1,267,658[2] |
| Yard number | 2008 |
| Way number | 8 |
| Laid down | 25 August 1941 |
| Launched | 15 February 1942 |
| Completed | 30 March 1942 |
| Fate | Sunk, 4 July 1942 |
| General characteristics[3] | |
| Class & type |
|
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 57 feet (17 m) |
| Draft | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 11.5knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Complement | |
| Armament |
|
SSChristopher Newport was aLiberty ship built in theUnited States duringWorld War II. She was named afterChristopher Newport, who was an English seaman andprivateer. He is best known as the captain ofSusan Constant, the largest of three ships which carried settlers for theVirginia Company, in 1607, on the way to found the settlement atJamestown, in theVirginia Colony, which became the first permanent English settlement in North America. He was also in overall command of the other two ships on that initial voyage, in order of their size,Godspeed andDiscovery.
He madeseveral voyages of supply between England and Jamestown; in 1609, he became Captain of the Virginia Company's new supply ship,Sea Venture, which met a hurricane during the Third Supply mission, and was shipwrecked on the archipelago ofBermuda.
Christopher Newport was laid down on 25 August 1941, under aMaritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 21, by theBethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, Maryland; and was launched on 15 February 1942.[1][2]
She was allocated toCalmar Steamship Corporation, on 30 March 1942.[4]
Christopher Newport had set out fromBaltimore, on her maiden voyage, in June 1942. She sailed fromHvalfjordur, Iceland, on the afternoon of 27 June 1942, with 8,200 LT (8,300 t) of war materials aboard, forArkhangelsk, in Convoy PQ-17. On the morning of 4 July 1942, a GermanHeinkel He 115, fromKüstenfliegergruppe 906 released a torpedo about one-half mi (0.80 km) fromChristopher Newport that passed between the merchant shipSS Carlton and the Liberty shipSS Samuel Chase before striking her starboard side amidship. A large hole was torn in the hull which completely flooded the engine room. One officer and two crewmen were killed and the steering gear destroyed. The rest of the crew abandoned ship. One of her escorts, submarineHMSP614, attempted toscuttle her, but she remained afloat. At 08:08, she was discovered abandoned and sunk by torpedoes fromGerman submarine U-457, at75°49′N25°15′E / 75.817°N 25.250°E /75.817; 25.250, northeast ofBear Island.[5]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1942 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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