Goree Island, sunk British ship

[clemons]

Looking for info on WWII sunken British warship off of Goree Island, Senegal. Occassionally referred to as The Tacoma... Will happily take any directions to websites with more info (including in French) - I frequently host visiting military officers in Dakar and I need more accurate history than what the rasta guides on the island say.... ;) Thanks!

[kc]

Hi.

If you visit this page :

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/merchant_navy_losses.htm

and search for tacoma you will find three vessels British merchant ships lost in WW2. (There are no British warships named Tacoma - at least not listed in the J J Colledge book which lists them all)

23rd September 1940 - Tacoma (motor vessel)
13th March 1941 - Tacoma City (steamship) - mined
1st February 1942 - Tacoma Star (steamship) - sunk by submarine torpedoes

Unfortunately there are no locations given, but there are tonnages given in the list, so perhaps that will give you a clue as well. Good Luck! :)

[AlZictorini]

Could the name of the ship be the Tacouna? The Vichy French operated the Merchant SS Tacouna during the battle of Dakar around these waters. Could it be her that lies there?

AlZictorini - Good Hunting

[clemons]

Thank you for your help! I did eventually find more info on this website:

http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1145897947408

which indicates that it was the SS Tacoma, British merchant marine, sunk between 23-26 Sept 1940 off of Goree Island during a fight between the Vichy French governor of Dakar Boisson and an armada of British and Free French ships carrying Gen DeGaulle. There were 6 Danish sailors killed, who are buried in the Bel Air cemetery in Dakar, next to the French base 23eme BIMA.

There is a buoy that marks the site today and local divers blog that it's good spearfishing and the wreck is 60m long and in 15-30m of water.

I'll have a look at some of kc's recommended sites. Thank you!:)