Oakbank
Ship Number
685
Vessel Type
Cargo Ship
Built
Govan Yard
Slip Number
4
Launch Date
January 18, 1926
Delivered
March 11, 1926
Owner
Bank Line Ltd
Weight
5154 grt
BP Length
420 feet
Breadth
53-9 feet
No. of Screws
Twin
Speed (approx)
10.5 knots
Propulsion
Two 6cyl 4SCSA (630x960mm), 717nhp H&W B&W
Official No.
148895
Registered
Glasgow
Fate
Torpedoed
Oakbank

A motor merchant built by H&W, Govan for Andrew Weir and Co. (Bank Line) and launched on 18 January 1926.
 
On 27 December 1942, under the command of Master James Stewart, she was sailing unescorted on voyage Suez-Durban-Demerara-UK under ballast when she was torpedoed and sunk by U-507 about 200 miles north-northwest of Fortaleza, Brazil.
 
The master and an apprentice were taken aboard the U-boat as prisoners but were lost when the U-boat was sunk on 13 January 1943 by depth charges from a US Catalina aircraft.
 
Twenty nine crew members and three gunners were picked up by the Brazilian merchant Commandate Ripper and landed at Recife on 3rd January, 1943. One crew member was rescued by the Argentinean tanker Juvenal and landed at Curacao on the 8th January. Two crew members on a raft reached the coast near Para on 15 January. In all, 27 of her 64 crew lost their lives.