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Hms Astronomer

Steamship-(1940)

What is recorded here

The former cargo ship HMS Astronomer was carrying naval stores from Rosyth to Scapa Flow when U-58 torpedoed her on the night of 1 June 1940. Four of 105 people died; two naval trawlers rescued the other 101. This is the stronger of two saved Astronomer positions.

Read the whole record

The former cargo ship HMS Astronomer was carrying naval stores from Rosyth to Scapa Flow when U-58 torpedoed her on the night of 1 June 1940. Four of 105 people died; two naval trawlers rescued the other 101. This is the stronger of two saved Astronomer positions.

The vessel and voyage

Astronomer was completed in 1917 as an 8,401-ton merchant steamship for T. and J. Harrison of Liverpool. The Admiralty took her over in August 1939 and converted her into a boom-defence vessel. On her last voyage she was sailing from Rosyth to Scapa Flow with about 3,000 tons of naval stores.

How it was lost

At 11.48pm on 1 June 1940 U-58 hit Astronomer's stern with a torpedo about 30 miles south-east of Wick. The submarine returned at 3.18am and 4.43am on 2 June and fired two more torpedoes to finish the ship. Astronomer sank about an hour after the last strike.

Deaths and survival

Four of the 105 people aboard died and 101 survived. HMS Stoke City and HMS Leicester City picked up the master, 51 merchant crew, one gunner and 48 naval officers and ratings, then landed them at Rosyth. The long interval before the final sinking gave far more chance of rescue than a ship destroyed by one sudden explosion.

What remains

The recorded wreck position lies in deep North Sea water. This saved point is close to the documented sinking position and is the better match of the two Scottish Astronomer records in this group. It should still be treated as a recorded wreck location, not a promise that every part of the large hull has been mapped.

Why it mattered

Astronomer shows the range of vessels converted for naval use at the start of the Second World War. A merchant ship carrying stores and fitted for harbour defence became a submarine target on the route to Britain's main fleet base. The rescue of 101 people also shows the value of nearby armed trawlers after the first torpedo hit.

Sources for this account

Sources checked 15 August 2026.

From the Historic Environment Scotland record 321951

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Photo credits
  • David Hawgood, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Claire Pegrum, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Adam Kerr, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Anne Burgess, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Astrid H, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Bill Harrison, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Oliver Dixon, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Roger Davies, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • JThomas, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Stephen McKay, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
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