Name Albert C. Field Completed June 1923 Length 77 m | Yard number 44 Launched 28 May 1923 | |
Owner Eastern Steamship Co. Ltd. (1923–1937)
Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co. Ltd. (1937–1944) Homeport St. Catharines, Ontario Identification Official number 147767 Builders Offshore Structures (Britain) Ltd., Haverton Hill, England | ||
SS Albert C. Field was a Canadian cargo ship, sunk during World War II.
The ship was built by the Furness Shipbuilding Company of Haverton Hill, and launched on 28 May 1923. Her first owner was the Eastern Steamship Company of St. Catharines, Ontario, until she was sold to the Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Company, also of St. Catharines, in 1937.
The ship was requisitioned by the British government during World War II. On 16 June 1944 Albert C. Field sailed from Penarth as part of Convoy EBC-14 bound for the Normandy beachhead. She was carrying 2,500 tons of munitions and 1,300 bags of mail. On 18 June, when 20 miles south-west of The Needles, the convoy was attacked by German aircraft, and the ship was hit by a torpedo and sank within three minutes. Four of the crew were killed.
The hull is currently located 34 m (112 ft) below sea level on a gravel seabed at 50°28′24″N 01°45′35″W. The wreckage is badly damaged. The boilers are the highest point at 30 m (98 ft) below. There are several small pieces of exploded ammunition. The machinery is right aft and the bridge is right forward while everything in the middle was cargo space.