SS Nicoya
Cargo Steamship · United Kingdom · Lost 1942 · The Gulf of St Lawrence
The British freighter Nicoya was the first ship sunk in the Battle of the St. Lawrence when a U-boat torpedoed her off the Gaspé coast in 1942.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Nicoya was a British freighter torpedoed by the German submarine U-553 in the early hours of May 12, 1942, off the Gaspé coast near Cloridorme, opening the Battle of the St. Lawrence. Most of her 87 crew and passengers escaped and were rescued by local fishermen and landed at Cloridorme and L'Anse-à-Valleau. The attack, deep inside the Gulf of St. Lawrence, shocked the Canadian public and government.
Vessel
- Not established
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- Steel
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- Not established
- 5364
- Steam
- Elders & Fyffes
Loss
- May 12, 1942
- Enemy action
- St. Lawrence River off the Gaspé coast, near Cloridorme, Quebec
- St. Lawrence River / Gulf of St. Lawrence
- Not established
- Not established
- 87
- 6
- Not established
The Wreck Today
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Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Cloridorme, Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)
Exact wreck position and present condition are not established in the sources reviewed.
Date, location, U-boat identity, survivor account.
Legion Magazine (Marc Milner, "The Battle of the St. Lawrence Begins")
Tonnage, casualty details, sequence of events.
