Donbass (ship)

For the ex-Soviet Ukrainian ship, see Ukrainian command ship Donbas.

History
Soviet Union
Name	Donbass
Namesake	Donbas
Owner	Northern Fleet
Operator	Sovtanker (1940) Far-Eastern Shipping Company (1940–1942)
Port of registry	Murmansk (1941–1942)
Builder	André Marti Shipyard No. 198
Laid down	1930
Launched	November 1932[1]
Completed	1935
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk, 7 November 1942
General characteristics
Class and type	Emba-class tanker
Tonnage	7,661 GRT 11,450 DWT
Length	140.12 m (459 ft 9 in)
Beam	17.94 m (58 ft 10 in)
Draught	8.45 m (27 ft 9 in)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 diesel engines
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew	63

Donbass (Russian: Донбасс) was a Soviet Emba-class tanker sunk by the German destroyer Z27 on 7 November 1942, when it was on its way from Arkhangelsk to Reykjavík.^[2]

The case aroused considerable later interest due to the widely held assertion that the Soviet spy Arnold Deutsch was among the passengers killed in the attack, and that he was at the time bound for an espionage mission in the Western Hemisphere.^[3]

Legacy

Three American tankers received by the Soviet Union through the Lend-Lease were renamed in her honor.^[4]

References

1. Информация о танкере "Донбасс" из неопубликованной рукописи С.С. Бережного (in Russian). Retrieved 7 November 2017.
2. Volodarsky, Boris (2015). "Dr Arnold Deutsch". Stalin's Agent: The Life and Death of Alexander Orlov. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 488. ISBN 978-0-19-965658-5.
3. Memoires of Rufina Ivanova Pukhova, Kim Philby's last wife Rufina Philby (2003). The Private Life of Kim Philby: The Moscow Years. ISBN 0-9536151-6-2.
4. "ДОНБАСС" (in Russian). Retrieved 7 November 2017.

Bibliography

• Jordan, Roger W. (1999). The World's Merchant Fleets, 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 ships. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-023-X.

External links

• Fleet register 1880–2005 - Fesco (in Russian)
• "Донбасс" (1), танкер (in Russian)