SS Irish Pine (1919)

Irish Pine was a cargo ship which was built in 1919 for the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) and named West Hematite. She was chartered in 1941 by Irish Shipping Ltd and renamed Irish Pine. On 16 November 1942, Irish Pine was torpedoed and sunk by GS U-608.

Description
The ship was built to Design 1013 by J. F. Duthie & Company, Seattle, Washington, was launched on 26 April 1919 and completed in June of that year. The ship was 409 ft long, with a beam of 54 ft and a depth of 27 ft. She was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine which had cylinders of 24.5 in, 41.5 in and 72 in bore and 48 in stroke. It was built by the Llewellyn Iron Works, Los Angeles. She could make 10.5 kn.

Irish Pine was recorded in Lloyd's Register as being 410 ft long, with a beam of  54 ft and a depth of 30 ft.

History
West Hematite was built for the USMC. She was initially chartered to Cosmo Shipping Co and was used on the Bordeaux – Rotterdam – Le Havre – New York route. On 16 February 1923, she ran aground in the Weser. The American cargo ship SS Schroon went to her assistance and also ran aground. By 1933, she had passed to the United States Shipping Board (USSB). She was later withdrawn from service and placed in the reserve fleet.

On 26 September 1941, West Hematite was chartered from the USSB by Irish Shipping Ltd and renamed Irish Pine. SS Irish Oak (1919) was also chartered from the USSB. On 4 August 1942, the Union-Castle Line's MV Richmond Castle (1939) was torpedoed and sunk by GS U-176 off Cape Farewell. Irish Pine rescued 15 of the 50 survivors and landed them at Kilrush.

At 00:15 on 16 November 1942, Irish Pine was hit by a single torpedo from U-608. Although the 33 crew started to take to the lifeboats, the ship sank at 00:17, costing everyone on board their life. Her position was 42.75°N, -58°W, in the North Atlantic south of Cape Breton Island, Canada. Ireland had not declared war on Germany, and therefore Irish Pine was a neutral vessel.

Official number and code letters
Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. West Hematite had the United States Official Number 218111. Irish Pine had the United Kingdom Official Number 159843.

West Hematite used the Code Letters LRGF from 1930 and KLCS from 1934. Irish Pine used the Code Letters EINQ.