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MV ''Atheltemplar'' was a motor tanker built by Lithgows, Port Glasgow. She was launched on 15 April 1930, registered in Liverpool and operated by the United Molasses Co Ltd of London. She was transferred to Athel Lines on 1 January 1940. ==Early wartime career== ''Atheltemplar''’s first recorded voyage during the Second World War was to Abadan on the Persian Shatt al-Arab. She departed home waters with Convoy OB 10 and returned to Gibraltar with her cargo before sailing east again to Port Said. ''Atheltemplar'' returned to Great Britain with Convoy HG 9 which left Port Said on 19 November 1939, but on the afternoon of 14 December 1939, she struck a mine laid by German destroyers off the Tyne Estuary. The destroyers and were sent as escorts for the rescue tugs ''Great Emperor'', ''Joffre'' and ''Langton''. During the operation ''Kelly'' also struck a mine and sustained damage to her hull. While ''Mowhawk'' put a party aboard ''Atheltemplar'', and ''Joffre'' and ''Langton'' took the tanker under tow, ''Kelly'' herself was taken in tow by ''Great Emperor'' and returned to the Tyne. After repairs, ''Atheltemplar'' returned to service on 9 April 1940 and sailed to Bermuda before returning to home waters with Convoy HX 42. During late May and early June 1940 she was involved in Operation Dynamo, during which she bunkered Royal Navy destroyers and was attacked by the ''Luftwaffe'' several times in and around Dover Harbour. More transatlantic crossings followed, including a homeward-bound voyage in Convoy HX 84 which was attacked by the German . ''Atheltemplar'' and her sister-ship ''Athelempress'' managed to escape unscathed. ''Atheltemplar'' then made a series of coastal voyages in home waters before undergoing refit in Smith's Yard, North Shields in the winter of 1940-41. Sailing for Methil Roads on 25 February 1941, she joined the 26-ship Convoy EN 79 which departed Methil on 1 March 1941, bound for the Atlantic convoy marshalling area at Loch Ewe on the west coast of Scotland. Sailing northbound in ballast, ''Atheltemplar'' was the convoy's Vice-Commodore ship, positioned at the head of the starboard column of vessels when, with darkness falling, Convoy EN 79 was attacked off the Aberdeenshire coast by Heinkel He 111 bombers from ''Luftwaffe'' KG26, a combat group based in Denmark. ''Atheltemplar'' bore the brunt of the attack and was struck on the navigation bridge superstructure by two 250 kg bombs; at least five members of the crew were killed instantly (12 crew died during the incident), and a fire swept the vessel forcing the survivors to abandon ship. One of the He 111s was hit by defensive fire from , and subsequently ditched off the Banffshire coast; the crew was captured. ''Atheltemplar''’s survivors were taken aboard the . Another ''Halcyon''-class minesweeper, , fought the blaze and then took ''Atheltemplar'' in tow. Taken initially to the Imperial Dock at Leith, ''Atheltemplar'' later returned to Smith's Dock for extensive repairs; she resumed trading in June 1941. The remains of five unidentified members of her crew ("Known only unto God"), killed during the 1 March 1941 air attack, lie within a marked Commonwealth War Grave towards the south-east corner of New Calton Burial Ground in Edinburgh, about south of Port Leith. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MV Atheltemplar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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