View source for SS Ajax (1923)

{{Short description|Cargo steamship that was built in Germany in 1923}}
{{Other ships|SS Ajax}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2021}}
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship name= *1923 ''Elbe''
*1927: ''Ceuta''
*1927: ''Ajax''
|Ship namesake= *1923: [[Elbe]]
*1927: [[Ceuta]]
*1927: [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]]
|Ship owner= *1923: Kirsten Adolf & Co
*1924: Rochling, Menzell & Co
*1927: Oldenburg.-Portug. D/s-R.
*1927: [[Koninklijke Nederlandse Stoomboot-Maatschappij|Koninkl. Nederl. Stoomb. Maats.]]
|Ship operator= *As owner except:
*1927: Schultze & Burmester, Hamburg
|Ship registry= *1923: {{flagicon|Weimar Republic|civil}} [[Port of Hamburg|Hamburg]]
*1927: {{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Port of Amsterdam|Amsterdam]]
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|Ship builder= Hamburger Elbe Schiffswerft AG
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|Ship yard number= 5
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|Ship completed= April 1923
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|Ship identification= *[[code letters]] NBTJ (1927–33)
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Juliet}}
*[[Maritime call sign|call sign]] PCFQ (1934–40)
*{{ICS|Papa}}{{ICS|Charlie}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Quebec}}
|Ship fate= Sunk by air attack, 8 August 1940
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type= [[Cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|942}}, {{NRT|510}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length= {{cvt|221.1|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|34.5|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught=
|Ship depth= {{cvt|13.4|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship decks= 1
|Ship power= 126 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
|Ship propulsion= [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engine]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|10.5|kn|km/h|0}}
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'''SS ''Ajax''''' was a [[Cargo ship|cargo]] [[steamship]] that was built in [[Weimar Republic|Germany]] in 1923 as '''''Elbe'''''. In 1927 she was renamed twice, first to '''''Ceuta''''' and then to ''Ajax''.
A series of German shipping companies owned the ship until 1927, when a Dutch company bought her. A [[Luftwaffe]] air raid sank her in the [[English Channel]] in 1940. Her wreck off the [[Isle of Wight]] is now a destination for [[wreck diving]].
==Building==
The Hamburger Elbe Schiffswerft built ''Elbe'' in [[Hamburg]] for Kirsten Adolf & Co. Her registered length was {{cvt|221.1|ft|abbr=on}}, her [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] was {{cvt|34.5|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|13.4|ft|abbr=on}}. Her [[tonnage]]s were {{GRT|942}} and {{NRT|510}}.<ref name=LR>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b0032.pdf |year=1930 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamers and Motor Ships |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref>
Gute Hoffnungshütte of [[Oberhausen]] built her three-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engine]], which was rated at 126 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]<ref name=LR/> and gave her a speed of {{convert|10.5|kn|km/h|0}}.<ref name=SMHD>{{cite web |url= https://www.marhisdata.nl/schip&id=8843 |title=Ajax – ID 8843 |work=Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank |language=nl |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref>
==Peacetime career==
Kirsten Adolf & Co registered ''Elbe'' in [[Port of Hamburg|Hamburg]]. In 1924 Rochling, Menzell & Co bought her. In 1927 the Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei (OPDR) bought ''Elbe'' and renamed her ''Ceuta''. Later in 1927, OPDR sold ''Ceuta'' to the [[Koninklijke Nederlandse Stoomboot-Maatschappij]] (KNSM), which renamed her ''Ajax'' and registered her in [[Port of Amsterdam|Amsterdam]].<ref name=Wrecksite>{{cite web |url= https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?1237 |last1=Lettens |first1=Jan |last2=Allen |first2=Tony |title=SS Ajax [+1940] |work=Wrecksite |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref>
Under KNSM ownership ''Ajax'' had the Dutch [[code letters]] NBTJ until 1933−34,<ref name=LR/> when they were superseded by the [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] PCFQ.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0029.pdf |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamers and Motor Ships |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref>
==Second World War==
On 10 May 1940 [[Battle of the Netherlands|Germany invaded the Netherlands]]. On 31 July ''Ajax'' left [[Falmouth, Cornwall]] in Convoy CE 8, which reached the [[Thames Estuary]] off [[Southend-on-Sea|Southend]] on 5 August.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ce/index.html?ce.php?convoy=8!~cemain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy CE.8 |work=CE Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, Convoyweb |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref> On 7 August ''Ajax'' left Southend with Convoy CW 9 to head west down the [[English Channel]].<ref name=Hague>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/cw/index.html?cw.php?convoy=9!~cwmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy CW.9 |work=CW Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, Convoyweb |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref> CW 9 was [[code name]]d Peewit.<ref name=BSAC>{{cite web |url= https://www.bsac.com/news-and-blog/deeper-wrecks-of-the-south-coast-part-2/ |title=5 more deep wreck dives on the south coast of the UK |publisher=[[British Sub-Aqua Club]] |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref> It comprised 26 cargo ships with no naval escort.<ref name=Hague/>
German [[Freya radar]] detected CW 9 as it passed through the [[Strait of Dover]]. Four [[E-boat]]s attacked the convoy, sinking four ships. As CW 9 passed south of [[St Catherine's Point]] on the Isle of Wight, [[Junkers Ju 87]] [[dive bomber]]s and [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]] [[fighter aircraft]] attacked. [[RAF Fighter Command]] counter-attacked,<ref name=BSAC/> but at 0910 hrs<ref name=SMHD/> two Ju 87s and a Bf 109 hit the forward part of ''Ajax'' with three bombs.<ref name=Hague/> She sank within five minutes, and four members of her crew were killed.<ref name=BSAC/>
''Ajax''{{'}}s wreck lies on its [[Port and starboard|port]] side on white sand at a depth of about {{cvt|40|m}}. Her stern is broken up but her bow, boilers, engine and helm can all be identified. Her wreck is now a [[Recreational dive sites|recreational dive site]].<ref name=BSAC/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
*{{Cite book |last=Saunders |first=Andy |year=2010 |title=Convoy Peewit: August 8, 1940: the First Day of the Battle of Britain? |place=London |publisher=Grub Street |isbn=978-1906502676 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AxYsAQAAMAAJ}}
==External links==
*{{cite web |url= https://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl/index.cfm?event=search.getdetail&id=120094696 |title=Vrachtschip Ajax van de Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Mij. (K.N.S.M.). Gebouwd 1923. 1927 aangekocht door de K.N.S... |work=Maritiem Digitaal |language=nl}}
*{{cite web |url= https://vimeo.com/130689540 |last=Morrison |first=Hamish |title=Dive on the wreck of SS Ajax |date=14 June 2015 |publisher=[[Vimeo]] |format=video}}
{{August 1940 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajax (1923)}}
[[Category:1923 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1940]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Ships built in Hamburg]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German aircraft]]
[[Category:Steamships of Germany]]
[[Category:Steamships of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel]]
[[Category:Wreck diving sites in England]]