Newly arrived Japanese submarine I-177 is credited with sinking the British steamship Limerick off Cape Byron on 26 April 1943. The single torpedo struck amidships as the 140-metre long Limerick when travelling in convoy. Two of the 72 crew were killed and the 8,724–ton steamship took three hours to sink.
I-177 is famously remembered for sinking the hospital ship Centaur the following month off Brisbane (14 May 1943).
When Limerick was under attack, the silvery wake of the torpedo was seen by two crew members about 500 metres off. As was commonly the case, the torpedo struck at night around midnight when most of the crew were asleep. There was a card game in progress, and one of the players Donald Stewart rushed to his cabin for a lifejacket. On the way back he scooped up the money lying on the card table and this reminded him that he had 36 pounds in his cabin. He rushed back and got that too before getting into a lifeboat. This must have been something of a feat, because the ship was struck amidships on the port side and immediately developed such a sharp list to port that many men could not keep their feet and a number dived overboard when the lifeboats jammed.
The Limerick was travelling in a convoy and survivors spent eight hours in the water blowing the whistles on their lifejackets to attract attention. The ship took three hours to sink (Sydney Morning Herald, 8.5.1943). (The above is an extract from 'After the Battle of Terrigal: merchant navy losses off the New South Wales coast in World War II', Patricia Miles, Curator, Australian National Maritime Museum.)
This 8724 ton steel screw steamer was built in Port Glasgow in 1925 with a length of 140.3 metres and a beam of 19.11 metres.
