MV British Motorist (1924)

History
Name:	MV British Motorist
Operator:	British Tanker Company Ltd.
Builder:	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Newcastle upon Tyne
Launched:	1924
Fate:	Sunk, 19 February 1942 Salvaged 1959, broken up 1960.
General characteristics
Type:	Oil tanker
Displacement:	6,891 long tons (7,002 t)
Length:	440 ft 3 in (134.19 m)
Beam:	57 ft (17 m)
Draught:	33 ft 10 in (10.31 m)
Crew:	61

MV British Motorist was a 6,891 ton tanker, built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1924 for the British Tanker Company.

While under charter to the merchant navy, she was in port in Darwin, Australia when on 19 February 1942, she was hit by two bombs during the Japanese air raid on Darwin and was sunk, resting in 18–20 metres (59–66 ft) of water. She had been carrying oil, aviation fuel and petrol and was refuelling USS Peary (DD-226) when the raid commenced.

Two of her crew were killed out of 61 in the initial attack: the master Gilbert C. Bates and 2nd Radio Operator James H. Webster.

In 1959–1960, she was salvaged by Fujita Salvage Company, with the fore and aft sections of the hull welded together while the engine room was left, as it was too heavy to refloat. The welded fore and aft was towed back to Japan and broken up.

What remains of British Motorist lies in Darwin Harbour at position 12°28.96′S 130°50.33′E / 12.48267°S 130.83883°E / -12.48267; 130.83883Coordinates: 12°28.96′S 130°50.33′E / 12.48267°S 130.83883°E / -12.48267; 130.83883.^[1]

References

Further reading

• Grose, Peter (2009). An Awkward Truth: the Bombing of Darwin, February 1942. Crow's Nest: NSW Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74175-643-2. 

External links

• Northern Territory shipwrecks
• MV British Motorist shipwreck

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in February 1942
Shipwrecks	2 Feb: U-581, W. L. Steed 3 Feb: Talthybius 5 Feb: HMS Arbutus, Empress of Asia 6 Feb: U-82 9 Feb: USS Lafayette, Natsushio 11 Feb: USS Shark, HMCS Spikenard 12 Feb: HMS Maori 13 Feb: HMS Tempest 14 Feb: HMS Grasshopper, HMS Li Wo, President Taylor, Vyner Brooke 15 Feb: HNLMS Van Ghent 17 Feb: USS Detector, Empire Comet, USS Paramount, HNLMS Van Nes 18 Feb: HNLMS K VII, USS Pollux, HNLMS Soerabaja, Surcouf, USS Truxtun 19 Feb: British Consul, British Motorist, Don Isidro, Kelat, Mauna Loa, HMAS Mavie, USAT Meigs, Neptuna, USS Peary, HNLMS Piet Hein, Portmar, Zealandia 21 Feb: Kurtuluş 22 Feb: Hanne, Sama 23 Feb: HMS P38 24 Feb: Empire Celt, Struma (disaster) 27 Feb: HNLMS De Ruyter, HMS Electra, USS Langley, HMS Jupiter, HNLMS Java, HNLMS Kortenaer, R.P. Resor 28 Feb: USS Jacob Jones Unknown date: I-23
Other incidents	4 Feb: USS Marblehead 18 Feb: USS Wilkes
1941 1942 1943 January 1942 March 1942