SS Clearton

SS Clearton was a cargo steamship that was built in England in 1919 and sunk in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1940. The UK Shipping Controller ordered her, and she was built to War Standard design Type B. R Chapman and Sons of Newcastle upon Tyne operated her throughout her working life.

Building and identification
Richardson, Duck and Company of Stockton-on-Tees built the ship as yard number 677. She was launched on 29 July 1919 and completed that September. Her registered length was 400.2 ft, her beam was 52.4 ft, and her depth was 28.4 ft. Her tonnages were and.

She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine that was built by Blair and Company and rated at 397 NHP.

Chapman & Sons registered her at Newcastle. Her UK official number was 142845 and her code letters were KCPB. At first the Carlton Steam Ship Company owned her, and Chapman and Sons managed her. By 1924 Chapman and Sons were her owners as well as her managers. By 1930 her call sign was GKSP. By 1934 this had superseded her code letters.

Loss
In June 1940 Clearton left Rosario, Argentina carrying 7,320 tons of grain. Her Master was Captain John Elsdon. The ship crossed the South Atlantic to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where she joined Convoy SL 36 to the British Isles. At 11:55 hrs on 1 July GS U-102 (1940) hit her with one torpedo in the Southwest Approaches about 180 nmi west of Ushant. Clearton stayed afloat, but straggled from the convoy. At 13:25 hrs U-102 hit her with a second torpedo, sinking her 240 nmi off the Smalls at position 47.88333°N, -9.5°W.

Eight members of Wentworth's 34 crew were killed. The destroyer HMS Vansittart (D64) rescued 26 survivors, including Captain Elsdon and one DEMS gunner. Vansittart landed the survivors at Plymouth on 4 July.