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Kingston Ceylonite
 Va Beach, VA
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Entry Type: Boat
Bottom Composition: Sand
Aquatic Life: Might See Something
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Year Built
1935
Date Sunk
15 June 1942
Previous Name
None
Depth
60 feet
Gross Tonnage
448
Dimensions
160’ x 26’ x 14’
Vessel Type
Armed Trawler
Power
Steam Turbine
Builder
Cook, Wellington & Gemmell, Ltd. Beverly England
Official Designation
None
Owner
Her Majest’s Navy
Location
27131.3
Home Port
England
Location
41218.1
Cause of Sinking
Mined by U-701
Location
-
In Brief
U-Boat Commander Horst Degen mined an area within 10 miles of Cape Henry (at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay) on 12 June 1942. On the 15th both the tanker Robert C. Tuttle (sunk) and the Esso Augusta (damaged) fell prey to the charges he left behind.
The Kingston Ceylonite, one of twenty-odd trawlers (fitted with depth charge racks, 4 inch deck guns etc) sent by Britain to help fortify our coastal defenses, was escorting a second group of ships through the US mine fields and struck one of Commander Degens "forget me nots" and sank within 2 minutes.
Today the Kingston Ceylonite is little more than junk at 60’ and home to tautog and sea bass, with an occasional lobster to fill the plate.
Source "Shipwrecks of Virginia" Gary Gentile 1992
36 49.473N 75 51.539W