History
New Zealand
NameLimerick
OwnerUnion Steamship Company
BuilderWilliam Hamilton & Co, Glasgow
Yard number389
Launched12 March 1925
Out of service26 April 1943
IdentificationOfficial Number: 148634
FateSunk 26 April 1943
General characteristics
TypeCargo ship
Tonnage8,724 gross register tons (GRT)
Length460 ft 0 in (140.21 m)
Beam62 ft 6 in (19.05 m)
Draught37 ft 9 in (11.51 m)
Installed power6000bhp
Propulsion2 x Brown Sulzer Diesel engines
Speed13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph)
Crew74

The MV Limerick was an 8,724-gross register ton (GRT) refrigerated cargo ship built by William Hamilton & Co, Glasgow in 1925 for the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand.[1]

Fate

While sailing in convoy GP48 along the east coast of Australia, protected by the Royal Australian Navy corvettes HMAS Colac and Ballarat, Limerick was torpedoed and sunk on 26 April 1943, by Japanese submarine I-177 off Cape Byron.[2] All but two of the crew were rescued by Colac. I-177 escaped unharmed.[2]

Wreck

The wreck of the Limerick lies in 100 m of water, about 18 km east of Ballina. Discovered by local anglers, the wreck's identity was officially confirmed on 2 February 2013, when it was mapped by the marine research vessel Southern Surveyor.[3]

Citations

  1. ^ Lloyd's Register 1930
  2. ^ a b "HMAS Colac". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  3. ^ Brown, Jamie (6 February 2013). "Torpedoed wreck brings back night WWII came to North Coast". The Northern Star.
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