SS British Consul facts for kids
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The SS British Consul was a large ship called a tanker. It was built in 1924 by Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd. in Sunderland, England. The British Tanker Company owned and operated this ship. Tankers are special ships designed to carry liquids, like oil, across the oceans.
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How the Ship Moved
The British Consul was a steamship. This means it used steam to power its engines. It had nine furnaces that heated three large boilers. These boilers created steam under high pressure.
The steam then went into a special engine called a triple-expansion steam engine. This engine had three cylinders. It was built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company. The engine turned the ship's propeller, making the British Consul move through the water.
First Time the Ship Sank
On the night of February 18–19, 1942, the British Consul was anchored in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It was supposed to sail at midnight. However, there were reports of enemy submarines outside the port.
The Royal Navy allowed the ship's captain, G.A. Dickson, to wait until 4:00 AM to sail. This was because the crew would have a better chance of seeing submarines in daylight.
A German submarine, German submarine U-161, fired torpedoes into the port. One of these torpedoes hit the British Consul. Captain Dickson reported that the torpedo struck the ship near the back, starting a fire.
All the crew members quickly got into the lifeboats and waited near the front of the ship. The British Consul sank in shallow water. Because it was not completely submerged, the crew was able to get back on board. The ship was later pulled out of the water and repaired. After this, Captain Dickson moved to New York and took command of a different ship.
Second Time the Ship Sank
In August 1942, the British Consul was sailing again. This time, Captain James Kennedy was in charge. The ship joined a group of ships called Convoy TAW(S). This convoy was traveling from Trinidad to Key West, stopping in Curaçao.
On the morning of August 19, 1942, a German submarine, German submarine U-564, attacked the convoy. The submarine hit three ships, including the British Consul. Sadly, one crew member, Edwin John Angell, was lost.
The remaining crew members, including Captain James Kennedy, were rescued by a warship called HMS Clarkia. They were taken to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This time, the British Consul was too badly damaged and could not be saved.
A New Ship with the Same Name
A new ship was built to replace the lost British Consul. It was launched on March 2, 1950, at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Glasgow. This new British Consul was much larger than the original 1924 tanker. It weighed 8,655 gross tons.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom |
|
| Name | SS British Consul |
| Operator | British Tanker Co. Ltd., London |
| Port of registry | London |
| Builder | Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd, Sunderland |
| Launched | 30 September 1924 |
| Completed | November 1924 |
| Out of service | 19 August 1942 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sunk 19 August 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | 435.0 feet (132.6 m) |
| Beam | 57.3 feet (17.5 m) |
| Draught | 27 ft 8 in (8.43 m) |
| Depth | 33.8 feet (10.3 m) |
| Installed power | 681 NHP |
| Propulsion | 1 Palmers Co, Ltd 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine |
