Troop ship
Duchess of Atholl was requisitioned in December 1939 and converted into a troop ship. On 4 January 1940 she sailed from the Clyde to the Mediterranean, calling at Gibraltar, Marseille and Malta and reaching Alexandria in Egypt on 19 January. She sailed between Alexandria, Gibraltar, Malta and Marseille until 5 March 1940, when she left Gibraltar and returned to the Clyde.[7]
On 25 March 1940 Duchess of Atholl resumed transatlantic duties, but now bringing Canadian troops to the UK. Her first voyage was unescorted via St John's, Newfoundland to Halifax, Nova Scotia and back.[7] Her second voyage, in June 1940, was with Convoy TC 5, in which she carried 1,173 troops from Halifax to Liverpool.[8] Thereafter she made five unescorted crossings to Canada and back, usually to Montreal and sometimes including Quebec.[7]
On 17 November 1940 Duchess of Atholl left Liverpool for Egypt with Convoy WS 4B, which went via Freetown in Sierra Leone and Cape Town in South Africa to Suez. The convoy spent Christmas in the Indian Ocean and reached Suez on 28 December 1940. Duchess of Atholl embarked evacuees and left Suez on 12 January 1941 with Convoy SW 4B, which gave her escorted passage as far as Durban in South Africa.[9] From there she continued unescorted via Cape Town and Freetown and reached Liverpool on 22 February.[7]
On 21 March 1941 Duchess of Atholl again left Liverpool for Egypt. She sailed via Freetown to Cape Town with Convoy WS 7, which happened to include her sister ship Duchess of York. Duchess of Atholl then continued unescorted, reaching Suez on 6 May 1941. On 25 May 1941 Duchess of Atholl left Suez on her return voyage, and three days later she reached Aden where she joined Convoy SW 7 to Durban. By the time she left Aden Duchess of Atholl's passengers were 629 Merchant Navy personnel.[10] From Durban she continued unescorted via Cape Town, crossed the South Atlantic and reached Trinidad on 14 July. From there she sailed unescorted to the Clyde, where she arrived on 27 July.[7]
Records of Duchess of Atholl's movements between August and October 1941 records are incomplete. On 30 October she sailed from the Clyde carrying 3,128 troops in Convoy CT 5 to Halifax[11] and on 13 November she left Halifax carrying 2,218 troops in Convoy TC 15 to the Clyde.[12]
Duchess of Atholl's next voyage was from Scotland to South Africa. She left the Clyde on 8 December with Convoy WS 14 but developed defects and had to turn back.[13] She reached Durban in January, spent a few days in port and then sailed on 21 January for Trinidad, where she arrived on 5 February. She then sailed via Bermuda to New York, where she arrived on 15 February.[7] On 19 February 1942 Duchess of Atholl left New York with Convoy AT 12. She called at Halifax and brought about 3,000 troops across the Atlantic, reaching Belfast on 2 March.[14]
Duchess of Atholl next took part in the Allied invasion of Vichy French Madagascar. She left Liverpool on 21 March 1942 and joined Convoy WS 17, which took her as far as Freetown. From there she continued to Durban, where she arrived on 23 April. She left Durban five days later as part of the fleet for Operation Ironclad.[7] The fleet landed Allied troops at Diego-Suarez on 5 May and had captured the town by 7 May. Duchess of Atholl left Diego-Suarez on 25 May and sailed unescorted back to Scotland, calling at Durban, Cape Town and Freetown before reaching the Clyde on 27 June.[7]
Duchess of Atholl next sailed to Egypt packed with 4,114 troops. With her was her sister Duchess of York, equally packed with 4,004 troops. The pair left the Clyde on 17 July 1942 with Convoy WS 21P, which took the two sisters as far as Freetown. They continued independently via Cape Town and Aden to Suez, where Duchess of Atholl arrived on 2 September and Duchess of York arrived the next day. Three days later Duchess of Atholl began her return voyage to the UK, sailing unescorted and calling at Durban and Cape Town.[7]
Final voyage and loss
On 3 October 1942 Duchess of Atholl left Cape Town unescorted[7] for Freetown, from where she was to continue to the UK. She was carrying 534 passengers: 236 army personnel, 196 naval personnel, 97 Royal Air Force personnel, five nurses and 291 civilians, including many women and children.[1]
At about 0755 hrs on 10 October the ship was about 200 miles east-northeast of Ascension Island, making a zigzag course, when the German Type IX submarine GS U-178 sighted her at a range of about 6000 m. U-178 immediately dived and at 0829 hrs fired two torpedoes at the ship's port side. One missed, but the other hit the centre of Duchess of Atholl's engine room. The ship lost speed and made an uncontrolled 180 degree turn to port. As her engine room flooded, which soon caused the ship's electric lighting to fail.[1]
At 0837 hrs U-178 fired two more torpedoes. Again one missed the ship but the other hit her in roughly the same place as the first. Duchess of Atholl's master, Henry Allinson Moore, gave the order to abandon ship. Three of the ship's lifeboats
