SS Mopan was a British steam cargo liner operated by the Fyffes Line from 1929 to 1940 until she was intercepted in mid-Atlantic and sunk by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, becoming the first victim of Admiral Scheer's commerce raiding sortie.
Construction
Mopan was built in the Birkenhead yards of Cammell Laird Ltd. With a length of , a beam and a gross registered tonnage of 5389, Mopan was powered by a single three cylinder triple expansion steam engine which produced 447 NHP. A single screw was driven via a shaft and gave her a service speed of .
Registered in Liverpool, Mopan had crew accommodation for 68.
Service life
Following her sea trials Mopan joined the rest of the Fyffes Line and commenced her service life plying between the United Kingdom and the West Indies, engaged in the transportation of bananas.
Second World War
Background
At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Admiral Scheer remained at anchor in the Schillig roadstead outside Wilhelmshaven with the heavy cruiser , her only action being on 4 September when two groups of five Bristol Blenheim bombers attacked the ships. During the attack one bomb struck the Scheer's deck, but failed to explode, whilst a further two detonated in the water near the ship. Gunners aboard Admiral Scheer managed to shoot down one of the five Bristol Blenheims and she emerged from the attack undamaged.
In the Autumn of 1940 Admiral Scheer received orders to commence commerce raiding, the operation being under the overall control of Admiral Karl Doenitz at German Naval Group Command West.With the highly experienced Kapitän zur See Theodor Krancke in command,Admiral Scheer sailed in October 1940 on her first combat sortie. Continuing undetected by ships of the Royal Navy or aircraft from RAF Coastal Command, on the night of 31 October she slipped through the Denmark Strait and broke out into the open Atlantic.
The Scheer proceeded to sortie towards the Greenland Ice Barrier following which Kapitän Krancke made a decision to plot a course towards . This would place the Admrial Scheer within the Atlantic Gap, and once established in this area it would afford the opportunity to maximise the search by repeatedly crossing what was presumed to be the Halifax convoy route.
Radio silence was broken for the first time since leaving port at 23:16hrs on November 1 in order to report that the latitude of 60 degrees North had just been crossed. This message concluded the initial stage of the operation, namely the successful breakthrough into the Atlantic.
Interception
Under the command of her Master, Captain Sapsworth, the Mopan had departed Port Antonio bound for Garston, Liverpool, with a cargo of bananas (one of the last consignments of the fruit destined for the United Kingdom before the wartime ban was introduced). On the morning of November 5, as she continued on passage, the Mopan passed Convoy HX 84, sailing eastbound from Halifax, Nova Scotia, also bound for Liverpool. An offer was made for the Mopan to join the convoy, however this was declined by Sapsworth who decided that he would sail on alone.
Having been thwarted from using its 2 Arado Ar 196 seaplanes the previous day, on November 5 the weather was suitable for the Admiral Scheer to utilise its air reconnaissance. Piloted by Lieutenant Pietsch, a seaplane was launched at 09:40hrs having been ordered to make a sweep wide and deep. When the seaplane returned at 12:05hrs the observer reported having sighted a convoy steaming eastbound at position 52 41 N. 32 52 W. This meant that the intervening distance between the Scheer and the convoy was approximately . No escort had been observed.This confirmed the earlier B-Dienst radio intercept by the Scheer which had identified the convoy as being HX 84.