SS Erinpura sunk by the Luftwaffe on May 1st 1943 with the loss of almost 1000 lives

British converted liner SS Erinpura sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft on May 1st 1943 North of Benghazi with the loss of almost 1000 lives

SS Erinpura was an E-class ocean liner of the British India Steam Navigation Company, built in 1911 and served in both World Wars. She was sunk by enemy action in 1943 in the Mediterranean Sea with great loss of life.

On 29 April 1943 Erinpura left Alexandria in Convoy MW 27 to Malta. Captain PV Cotter commanded Erinpura, which was the Commodore's ship for the convoy. She was carrying more than 1,000 troops, including Basuto and Batswanan members of the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps, and Palestinian Jewish soldiers of 462 Transport Company of the British Army.

She was one of 20 merchant ships in MW 27, along with her sister ship Egra and two other British India SN Co ships. Six Royal Navy destroyers, four Hellenic Navy destroyers and two Royal Navy minesweepers escorted the convoy.

On the evening of May 1st 1943, German bomber aircraft attacked the convoy 30 nautical miles north of Benghazi. The ships took evasive action and returned fire. A Heinkel He 111 torpedoed a BTC tanker, the 8,466 GRT British Trust, which caught fire and sank in three minutes, killing 10 of her crew.

In the next wave of the attack, a bomb hit Erinpura in one of her forward holds, causing her to list to starboard and sink within four or five minutes. The DEMS crew of her 12-pounder anti-aircraft gun continued to return fire until she sank. More than 800 people aboard Erinpura were killed. Accounts differ as to numbers, but one counts the dead as 633 Basuto pioneers, 140 Palestinian Jewish soldiers, 11 Batswanan pioneers, 54 of Erinpura's Indian lascar crew, six DEMS gunners and two engineer officers.