View source for SS Clan Fraser (1938)

{{Short description|British cargo ship}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= SS Clan Fraser.jpg
|Ship caption= ''Clan Fraser''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= [[United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}}
|Ship name= ''Clan Fraser''
|Ship owner= [[Clan Line]] Steamers Ltd, London<ref name=LR40>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/40/40a0238.pdf |title=Lloyd's Register |chapter=Steamers and Motorships |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |year=1940 |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |access-date=10 November 2013}}</ref>
|Ship operator= [[Clan Line|Cayzer, Irvine & Co Ltd]], London<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship registry= [[Glasgow]]<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= [[Greenock Dockyard Company|Greenock Dockyard Co.]], [[Greenock]]<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship yard number= 435<ref name=SBS>{{cite web |url= http://clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=8458&vessel=CLAN+FRASER+ |title=Clan Fraser (1939) |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |access-date=10 November 2013}}</ref>
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched= 20 December 1938<ref name=SBS/>
|Ship completed= February 1939<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship identification= *[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] GPPY<ref name=LR40/>
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Papa}}{{ICS|Papa}}{{ICS|Yankee}}
*UK [[official number]] 165960
|Ship fate= bombed and sunk, 6 April 1941<ref name=SBS/>
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Cameron|steamship}}
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|7529}}, {{NRT|3524}}<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length= {{convert|463.7|ft}}<ref name=LR40/> registered length
|Ship beam= {{convert|63.0|ft}}<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship height=
|Ship draught= {{convert|28|ft|4+1/4|in|2}}<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship depth= {{convert|29.9|ft}}<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship power= 1,370 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship propulsion= 2 × [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|steam triple expansion engines]]; 2 × low pressure exhaust [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|turbines]]; twin screw<ref name=LR40/>
|Ship speed= {{convert|17.5|kn|km/h}}<ref name=SBS/>
|Ship capacity=
|Ship crew=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''SS ''Clan Fraser''''' was a British [[Cargo ship|cargo]] [[steamship]]. She served in the [[World War II|Second World War]] and was bombed and sunk in [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] in 1941.

This was the third of four Clan Line ships called ''Clan Fraser''. The first was a steamship built in 1878, sold in 1899 and wrecked in 1902.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clan Fraser (1878) |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |url= http://clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=23656&vessel=CLAN+FRASER |access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> The second was a steamship built in 1900, sold in 1919 and lost in 1920.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.sunderlandships.com/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=101102&vessel=CLAN+FRASER |title=Clan Fraser (1900) |work=Wear Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> The fourth was a [[motor ship]] built in 1961, sold in 1965, burnt out in 1979 and scrapped in 1980.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/C-Ships/clanfraser1961.html |title=Clan Fraser (1961) |work=Tyne Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref>

==Building==
''Clan Fraser'' was one of the [[Clan Line]]'s {{sclass|Cameron|steamship}}s, built by the [[Greenock Dockyard Company|Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd]], [[Greenock]]<ref name=LR40/> and launched on 20 December 1938<ref name=SBS/> and completed in February 1939.<ref name=LR40/> She was registered in [[Glasgow]].<ref name=LR40/>

''Fraser'' had 20 corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of {{convert|402|sqft|0}}. They heated five single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of {{convert|17780|sqft}}. These supplied steam at 220 [[Pounds per square inch|lb<sub>f</sub>/in<sup>2</sup>]] to a pair of three-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|steam triple expansion engines]]. Exhaust steam from each engine's low-pressure cylinder fed one of a pair of low pressure [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbines]].<ref name=LR40/> All the engines were built by [[John G. Kincaid & Company|JG Kincaid & Co]] of Greenock.<ref name=LR40/> The combined power output of this plant was rated at 1,043 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]].<ref name=LR40/> She was propelled by twin screws,<ref name=LR40/> each driven by one triple-expansion engine and one turbine.

==War service==
''Clan Fraser'' sailed independently for the first year of the Second World War. She worked between the Indian sub-continent, southern Africa, Australia, Britain and the Mediterranean without being part of a [[Convoy#World War II|convoy]]<ref name=Hague>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ports/index.html?search.php~armain
|last= Hague |first= Arnold |title= Ship Movements |work= Port Arrivals / Departures |publisher= Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date= 10 November 2013}}</ref> until 5 September 1940, when she sailed carrying general cargo from the [[Firth of Clyde]] to [[Methil, Fife|Methil]] with Convoy [[List of World War II convoy codes#W|WN]] 13.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/wn/index.html?wn.php?convoy=13!~wnmain |last= Hague |first= Arnold |title= Convoy WN.13 |work= WN Convoy Series |publisher= Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date= 10 November 2013}}</ref> At the end of the month she returned from Methil to the Clyde with Convoy [[List of World War II convoy codes#O|OB]] 222.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/oa/index.html?oa.php?convoy=222!~oamain |last= Hague |first= Arnold |title= Convoy OA.222 |work= OA Convoy Series |publisher= Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date = 10 November 2013}}</ref>

''Clan Fraser'' was one of the three fast merchant ships that took part in [[Operation Collar (Convoy)|Operation Collar]], a convoy to supply [[Malta]] and [[Alexandria Port|Alexandria]]. An attempt by Italian forces to intercept the ships led to the [[Battle of Cape Spartivento]], after which ''Clan Fraser'' and her sister {{SS|Clan Forbes|1938|2}} continued on to Malta.

''Clan Fraser'' and ''Clan Forbes'' returned to Gibraltar in Convoy [[List of World War II convoy codes#M|MG]] 1,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc/index.html?yy.php?convoy=MG.1!~miscmain |last= Hague |first= Arnold |title= Convoy MG.1 |work= Shorter Convoy Series |publisher= Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date= 10 November 2013}}</ref> and ''Fraser'' continued to the Clyde under escort.<ref name=Hague/> She then resumed independent sailing, first to South Africa and then ''via'' the Indian Ocean to [[Colony of Aden|Aden]]. There she joined Convoy [[List of World War II convoy codes#B|BN]] 21 to [[Suez]] carrying a cargo of stores.<ref>
{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/bn/index.html?bn.php?convoy=21!~bnmain |last= Hague |first= Arnold
|title= Convoy BN.21 |work= BN Convoy Series |publisher= Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date= 10 November 2013}}</ref> She passed through the [[Suez Canal]]. At [[Port Said|Port Saïd]], carrying a cargo of munitions, she joined Convoy [[List of World War II convoy codes#A|ANF]] 24, with which she reached the [[Port of Piraeus]] in [[Military history of Greece during World War II|Greece]] on 4 April.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc/index.html?yy.php?convoy=ANF.24!~miscmain |last= Hague |first= Arnold |title= Convoy ANF.24 |work= Shorter Convoy Series |publisher= Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date= 10 November 2013}}</ref>

On 6 April 1941 German forces [[Battle of Greece|invaded Greece]] and ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' Junkers Ju 88 bombers led by [[Hajo Herrmann|Hans-Joachim 'Hajo' Herrmann]] attacked shipping in Piraeus. ''Clan Fraser'' was in port still unloading her arms and 200 tons of TNT. At 0315 hrs she was hit and destroyed when her TNT exploded.<ref name=Tomkinson>{{cite web |url= http://www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?la=eng&pageID=225 |last= Tomkinson |first= John L |title= The Occupation (1941–1944) |work= Athens under the Nazis |access-date= 10 November 2013}}</ref> She sank in the harbour, with six killed and nine wounded.<ref name=SBS/> Her [[Sea captain|Master]], J.H. Giles, was among the survivors.<ref name=SBS/> The shock of the blast was felt {{convert|15|mi}} away in [[Athens]], where doors were blown in; and in [[Psihiko]], where windows were shattered.<ref name=Tomkinson/> White hot débris detonated ΤΝΤ in other nearby ships, setting them and buildings ashore on fire.<ref name=Tomkinson/> By morning the port had been severely damaged.<ref name=Tomkinson/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{coord missing|Mediterranean}}
{{April 1941 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clan Fraser}}
[[Category:1938 ships]]
[[Category:Cameron-class steamships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1941]]
[[Category:Ships of the Clan Line]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German aircraft]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]