S. S. Parismina
Name: Parismina
Type: Steam Merchant
Tonnage: 4,732 tons
Completed: 1908 - Workman, Clark & Co Ltd., Belfast
Owner: United Fruit Steam Ship Company, New York
Homeport: New York
Date of attack: 18 Nov 1942
Nationality: American
Fate: Sunk by U-624 (Graf Ulrich von Soden-Fraunhofen)
Position: 54.07N, 38.26W - Grid AK 4858
Complement: 75 (20 dead and 55 survivors).
Convoy: ONS-144
Route: Reykjavik - Boston, Massachusetts
Cargo: 200 tons of sand ballast
History
Completed in July 1908 as Parismina for Tropical Fruit Steamship Company Ltd. (United Fruit), Glasgow. 1912 transferred to U.S. flag. 1932 renamed General Sherman for States S.S. Co., San Francisco, CA. 1937 returned to United Fruit S.S. Co. and renamed Parismina.
Notes on loss
At 06:03 and 06:04 hours on 18 November, 1942, U-624 fired torpedoes at the convoy ONS-144 south-southeast of Cape Farewell and reported the sinking of two merchants and one corvette and another merchant damaged. In fact, the President Sergent and Parismina were sunk and the Yaka damaged, while HMS Montbretia (K 208) was missed by a torpedo.
The Parismina (Master Edward T. Davidson) in station #74 was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side between the #2 hold and amidships. The explosion caused extensive damage, destroyed two life rafts and started a fire in the forward part of the ship. The eight officers, 40 crewmen, twelve armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4 inch, four 20 mm and two .30 cal. guns) and 15 passengers (14 of them survivors from Hahira, which had been sunk by U-521 on 3 November) began to abandon ship in four lifeboats and the two remaining rafts. But two lifeboat swamped in the rough seas and the ship sank by the bow nine minutes after the hit. The master, three officers, eleven crewmen, two armed guards and three passengers were lost. The survivors were picked up by the British rescue ship Perth and HMS Rose (K 102) (Lt. Cdr. T. Jacobsen) and landed at Halifax, where they were put on a train to Boston, arriving there on 27 November 1942.
