The steam merchant ship Saint Durnan was ordered by the shipping controller of the UK Government for use in the First World War but the ship was not completed until 1919.
Built by the Northumberland Shipping Company Ltd, at Howden-on-Tyne, the ship was 5,681 gross tons and was initially named S.S War Keep before being purchased by the Saint Line of Liverpool and renamed Saint Dunstan.
Saint Dunstan successfully sailed for the Saint Line until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, upon which the ship was requisitioned by the Admiralty for convoy duty.
In August, 1940, Convoy OB 202 departed Glasgow, en-route for Baltimore in the USA. The convoy consisted of 28 merchant ships, escorted by 3 destroyers. Uknown to them, they were being hunted by German U-boat U-57, commanded by Oberleutnant Erich Topp.
It was a bright night with a full moon, and at 00:42 on the 24th of August, U-57 attacked the convoy, which was 25 miles north-east of Malin Head. Saint Dunstan was under the command of Master Thomas Gordon Cookes and consisted of an Indian crew.
Torpedoes hit Saint Dunstan, Cumberland and Havildar. Cumberland was sunk and Havildar was badly damaged, while Saint Dunstan was disabled, having suffered major damage. 14 of the Indian crew were killed. The crew abandoned the ship the next day, being rescued by the rescue ship Copeland before being transferred to HMS Witch (then HMS Wanderer) and taken to Belfast on the 25th of August.
Remarkably, Saint Dunstan was still afloat and the decision was made to try and save the ship, by towing it back to Glasgow for repairs. While rounding Arran on the 27th of August, Saint Dunstan had taken on too much water and foundered, sinking between Holy Isle and Pladda, to the east of Dippen.
The wreck was dived for the first time in 2022 by 6 divers from GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) who discovered that the wreck lays at around 75m and is largely intact.
U-57 would suffer misfortune shortly after the attack. 9 Days after sinking the ships, U-57 was itself sank after an accidental collision with the Norwegian steamer ‘Rona’ at Brunsbüttel on the 3rd of September, 1940. U-57 lost 6 of the 25-man crew and was eventually raised and repaired, returning to service in January 1941.
U-57 survived for the rest of the war, being scuttled on the 3rd of May, 1945 at Kiel.
Further Reading
Saint Dunstan at Canmore
Saint Dunstan at U-Boat.net
Saint Dunstan at Scottish Shipwrecks
Saint Dunstan at Wrecksite
U-57 at U-Boat.net