SS Stockport was a passenger and cargo vessel built for the Great Central Railway in 1912. During the Second World War she served as a convoy rescue ship until a U-boat sank her in February 1943.
History
The ship was built by Earle's Shipbuilding of Hull and launched in 1912. In 1923 she passed into the ownership of the London and North Eastern Railway, and in 1935 to the Associated Humber Lines.
On 11 August 1937 she was in collision with the Hull steam trawler Lady Beryl in the Humber off Immingham in thick fog. Both vessels were damaged but not below the water line.
Her convoy rescue service began on 22 October 1941. She rescued 413 survivors from sunken ships while sailing with sixteen convoys, including convoy SC-107.
On 21 February 1943 she was part of convoy ON 166 and went to the assistance of Empire Trader which had straggled behind the convoy in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Azores, Portugal. After U-92 torpedoed and damaged Empire Trader, Stockport rescued all 106 crew men before HMCS Dauphin scuttled Empire Trader following orders received from the Admiralty. However, Stockport had itself now fallen. She was attempting to regain the convoy when on 23 February U-604 torpedoed and sank her at (47°22′N 34°10′W) with the loss of all her crew and the survivors that she had rescued from other vessels.
She is commemorated every February in a parade and commemoration service organised by Hazel Grove Royal Naval Association.
The SS Stockport had one of the most dangerous maritime jobs during the World War II - following allied boats then picking up survivors if they were attacked. But on 23 February 1943, a German submarine fired four torpedoes at SS Stockport and the ship sank off Cape Race, Newfoundland. Sadly all 64 crew members were killed as well as 106 men rescued from another stricken ship.
Operating for two years in the freezing North Sea and North Atlantic during World War II, SS Stockport rescued hundreds of allied fighters including crews from seven ships in one 24 hour period.
The commemoration event, which is organised by the Hazel Grove branch of the Royal Naval Association and is open to the public, it takes place every February at Norbury Parish Church, London Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport (SK7 4RF). The service will see people from across the borough and beyond paying their respects and remembering the brave sailors, who gave their lives saving others.
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the sinking.
It's best not to pull up on Offerton Road, please park on Brinkburn Rd.