SSBritish Chivalry

History
United Kingdom
Name	British Chivalry
Owner	British Tanker Company
Port of registry	London
Builder	Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company,Jarrow
Yard number	979
Launched	24 January 1929
Completed	February 1929
Identification	Official number:161198 Code letters:LCVK
Fate	Sunk, 22 February 1944
General characteristics
Type	Oil tanker
Tonnage	7,118GRT 4,238NRT 11,220DWT
Length	440 ft 10 in (134.37 m)
Beam	57 ft 1 in (17.40 m)
Depth	33 ft 11 in (10.34 m)
Propulsion	553nhpquadruple expansion steam engine,1 screw
Speed	10knots(19 km/h; 12 mph)

SSBritish Chivalrywas a Britishoil tankersunk by aJapanesesubmarinein theIndian Oceanin 1944.

Construction

The steel-hulled ship was built byPalmers Shipbuilding and Iron CompanyofJarrowin northern England for theBritish Tanker Company,the transportation arm of theAnglo-Persian Oil Company.Launched on 24 January 1929, the 7,118GRTship was 440 ft 10 in (134.37 m) long and 57 ft 1 in (17.40 m) in the beam, and powered by a 553nhpquadruple expansion steam enginewhich gave her a top speed of 10knots(19 km/h; 12 mph).

Sinking

On 22 February 1944British Chivalrywas sailing alone in the Indian Ocean, south-west ofAddu Atollin theMaldive Islands,on a voyage fromMelbournetoAbadanwhile in ballast. At 10.30 a.m. the ship was attacked by the Japanese submarineI-37,under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Nakagawa Hajime. The submarine first fired two torpedoes. These were spotted, and the ship took evasive action, so that one torpedo passed astern, but the second hit the ship in the engine room, killing most of the crew there. The survivors abandoned ship, asI-37surfaced and shelled and finally torpedoed the ship, sinking her in position00°50′S68°00′E.

I-37took the ship's captain, Walter Hill, as a prisoner. It then moved off and opened fire with machine guns on the lifeboats. For the next two hours it circled, firing indiscriminately at the lifeboats and men in the water before finally moving off. Fourteen men were killed and another five mortally wounded. The thirty-eight survivors were adrift for 37 days before finally being rescued by the Britishcargo linerMVDelane.Captain Hill was held as a prisoner atPenanguntil the end of the war.

In 1948 Lieutenant-Commander Nakagawa was tried by theWar Crimes Tribunalfor the murders of the crews ofBritish Chivalry,and those ofSutlejon 24 February 1944, andAscoton 29 February 1944.

He was found guilty and sentenced to eight years hard labour atSugamo Prison,Tokyo, but was released in 1954 after only six years, following the end of the Allied occupation.It was not until 1978 that it was revealed that Nakagawa, while in command of the submarineI-177,had also been responsible for the sinking of the Australian hospital shipCentaurin April 1943, with the loss of 268 lives.

The men killed aboardBritish Chivalryare commemorated on Panel 19 of theTower Hill Memorialin London.

References

• "Steamers and Motorships"(PDF).Lloyds Register.1930–1931.Retrieved10 November2012.