Harman Patil (Editor)

HMS Bayano (1913)

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Name
  
Bayano

Name
  
HMS Bayano

Completed
  
1913

Operator
  
Royal Navy

HMS Bayano (1913) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommons99

Operator
  
Elders & Fyffes, Ltd., Glasgow

Fate
  
Torpedoed by SM U-27 on 11 March 1915

Builders
  
Alexander Stephen and Sons, Glasgow

HMS Bayano, built in 1913, was originally a banana boat for the Elders & Fyffes line. At the outbreak of World War I it was drafted into the Royal Navy on 21 November 1914 as an armed merchant auxiliary cruiser. On 11 March 1915, it was torpedoed by SM U-27 and sank within minutes killing around 200 of its crew. Twenty-six survivors were pulled from the water.

Contents

Background

Once in the Royal Navy she was part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron.

Sinking

In the North Channel on her Glasgow to Liverpool route at 05:15 on 11 March 1915, HMS Bayano was attacked by the German submarine SM U-27 about ten miles west of Corsewall Lighthouse, Corsewall Point, Galloway, Scotland. The auxiliary cruiser sank in just five minutes and took the commander, Commander H. C. Carr, and 194 other crew members down with it. Most of the crew was asleep and only 26 men survived to be rescued by the British steamer Castlereagh. Bayano's Lieutenant Commander Guy described Captain Carr on the bridge, standing without fear waving goodbye while shouting "Good luck to you boys" before the ship disappeared under the waves.

Residents of the Isle of Man were greatly affected by the sinking as a number of bodies washed up on her shores. The funeral procession for the Bayano victims numbered in the thousands even though the victims were not from the island. Also hard hit was the Colony of Newfoundland, then a part of the British Empire. A dozen men from the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve were lost on the Bayano.

Baralong incidents

SM U-27 (Germany) was attacked and sunk in the Western Approaches in position 50°43′N 07°22′W by gunfire from Q-ship HMS Baralong. Her entire crew, including Bernhard Wegener, was killed in the so-called Baralong incidents.

References

HMS Bayano (1913) Wikipedia