Havre:

The Havre was a 2024 GRT Steam Cargo Ship built at William Gray & Co., West Hartlepool (Yard No. 713), UK, for London & Paris S.S.Co., Ltd., Swansea (Strick Line). The ship was launched on 03 August 1905 and completed the following September with a length of 288 feet, beam of 39 feet, and draught of 22.4 feet. Propulsion was provided by a single Triple-Expansion engine provided by Central Marine Engine Works, W. Hartlepool, which gave the ship a top speed of 13 knots.
The "Havre"
Lloyds Registry entry for the "Havre"
Very little of the ship's history prior to her sinking has been found to date. One source states that the Havre may have possibly acquired by the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company in 1912. In the 1930 Lloyd's Registry for ships of the Anglo-Saxon fleet, or rather, the Shell Company, the ship is listed as being part of their fleet.
The Loss of the "Havre":
On 09 June 1942, Convoy AT.49/M departed Alexandria, Egypt destined for Tobruk. The convoy at time of departure consisted of the 5,917 GRT RFA Brambleaf and the Havre under the command of Master George Christopher Pearson (Note: the ship was loaded with 2,125 tons of cased benzine), plus a number of escort ships. The small convoy was joined later that day by the Athene which was on passage from Haifa to Alexandria with a cargo of cased benzine as well, but was directed to join Convoy AT.49/M and proceed to Tobruk. The Athene was ordered to fall in line with the convoy behind the lead ship (It is unclear whether the lead ship was the Havre or the Brambleleaf).
The convoy was sighted by the German submarine U-81 (Friedrich Guggenberger) between Alexandria and Mersa Matruh and proceeded to follow the ships and notified other submarines in the area with the convoy's location. Three other German submarines are known to have responded, the U-431 (Wilhelm Dommes), the U-453 (Freiherr Egon Reiner von Schlippenbach), and the U-559 (Hans Heidtmann).

The sequence of events concerning the attack which followed are somewhat confusing given the number of submarines involved and no firm indication of which of the convoy ships were in which position within the convoy.
At 0218 on the morning of 10 June 1942, the U-81 fired a torpedo at the convoy when one of the merchant ships and an escort overlapped (increasing the overall chances of hitting something). The torpedo struck one of the convoy ships at position 31.10N/28.36E. This ship is "generally believed" to have been the lead ship of the convoy, the Havre. However, various sources indicate that the ship may have been attacked by any one of the submarines. (Warsailors.com has an interesting account, and argument, concerning which sub sank which ship in this convoy.)

The Havre sank at position 31.10N/28.36E in over 400 meters of water with the loss of 20 lives out of the 47 men onboard. The ship's Master, George Christopher Pearson, 17 Crew, and 2 Gunners lost their lives. The remaining personnel were rescued and delivered to Mersa Matruh, possibly by the HMS Parktown. Research ongoing......
Other Shipwrecks of Egypt related to this page:

        Athene    RFA Brambleaf    U-559
UK
Havre
Lloyds Havre
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