SOME FACTS ON ATLANTIS: M/S Atlantis (HSK II SCHIFF 16) was formerly the Goldenfels, belonging to Deutschen Dampfschiffahrts Gesselschaft Hansa, built in 1937, 7862 gt, top speed of 17 knots. Captain was Bernhard Rogge, who became well known to many a Norwegian sailor. Atlantis went out on March 11-1940, and by the time she was sunk by the British cruiser Devonshire on Nov. 22-1941, 145 697 gross tons of allied shipping had been lost, many of which were Norwegian.
Armament:
Six 5.9 inch, one 75 mm, one twin 37 mm, four 20 mm, four single 21 inch torpedo tubes, 92 mines. Two Heinkel 114 aircrafts, later Arado 196.
Ships sunk or taken by Atlantis:
March 11-1940/Nov. 22-1941(in chronological order)
Scientist, Tirranna, City of Bagdad, Kemmendine, Talleyrand, King City, Athelking, Benarty, Commissaire Ramel, Durmitor, Teddy, Ole Jacob, Automedon, Mandasor, Speybank, Ketty Brøvig, Zam Zam, Rabaul, Trafalgar, Tottenham, Balzac, Silvaplana.
Related external links:
Atlantis - Ship 16 - From "Mac's Web Log". Also has a picture of Atlantis showing some of her guns, and a picture of one of her aircraft being readied for take-off, as well as a picture of the the Norwegian Talleyrand after the attack. Additionally, the site has an article on Doggerbank (ex captured Speybank).
The Doggerbank Story - A section of Jan Visser's site.
S.S. Automedon
Map showing Atlantis' cruise - (On the website Arsenal of Dictatorship, which also has a section about the German raiders).
More on Atlantis
Additionally, the Australian War Memorial has pictures of Atlantis. They can be found by running a search through this page (click on "Collections Search"). One picture has the caption (raider No. 16) - 1940. Starboard side view, disguised as the merchant vessel Tamesis, and another 1940-01. Starboard bow view, also disguised as Tamesis.
Hunting Raiders in the Indian Ocean - Chapter 7 of an interesting article which starts on this page.
A list of the sources I have used to compile the text on this page can be found at the bottom of this page.
Manager: Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg
Tonnage: 7230 gt, 10 850 tdwt.
Call Sign: LJUS.
(Click on Tirranna above to go to Tirranna on the Ships starting with T page).
From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.
Captain: Edvard Hauff Gundersen.
Spotted by Atlantis on June 10-1940 (on the very day Norway had officially given up the war, as such, with Germany), southeast of Mauritius, about 23S 69E, while on a voyage from Sydney and Melbourne to Mombasa (for orders) and the UK, with a cargo of flour, wheat, wool, mail * and 178 military vehicles (the latter for Suez), having departed Melbourne on May 30. Her voyages prior to capture are listed on this original document received from the National Archives of Norway.
She had just had a gun installed in Melbourne and 5 of her crew had been trained in its use. 44 people were on board, including 9 (10?) passengers, all Norwegian. When what appeared to be the Dutch ship Abbekerk approached, no-one on Tirranna suspected imminent danger, not even when the foreign ship was just 5400 meters away, until suddenly a shot was fired. The captain proceeded at full speed (17 knots), while the gun crew ran to their posts and the Radio Operator sent out a distress call, and as the distance increased over the next three and a half hours they had hopes of escaping. But the pursuing ship got in a direct hit, killing the 5 gunners on their posts, and it soon became obvious that Tirranna's speed could not save her afterall. After further intense shelling from the cruiser (39 salvos and 150 shots), the attempt at escape was abandoned, though the distance between them was now 8200 meters. Tirranna stopped in position 22 40S 69 20E, Rogge stopped the firing and Tirranna was boarded. The injured men were transferred to Atlantis, where they got excellent medical care, but 1 of them, Carpenter Johansen could not be saved. He had had his leg shot off below the knee; it was amputated above the knee but he had suffered too much blood loss and died the following day. Others who had been injured were 1st Mate Holst, Able Seaman Christensen, Deckboy Olsen, Boatswain Paulsen and Passenger Bjørnsby.
Captain Gundersen, pale and in shock from having lost 5 of his men was extensively questioned by Rogge. In spite of what he had just been through he answered the questions in a composed manner, a true seaman "as only Norwegians can be" according to Rogge himself. Tirranna was damaged, but not seriously, so after most of her complement had been transferred to the prisoners' area on Atlantis, Rogge decided Tirranna's valuable cargo would be of use in Germany. In addition to the wheat, flour, wool and vehicles, she also had 5500 cases of beer, 367 cases of tobacco, 3000 cases of canned peaches, jam, soap, chocolate, cigarettes, shoe polish, ham and cheese. They also took other items that were considered of value, such as copper and brass items. Additionally, some confidential papers were found, so all in all Rogge's 2nd catch was a valuable one (the British Scientist had been captured on May 3). He placed a prize crew on board under the command of Leutenant Waldemann, and ordered him to proceed further south and wait f. o., whereupon the two ships parted company. 8 of Tirranna's own crew also remained on board, namely Chief Engineer Knudsrød, Machanic Henriksen, 3rd Mate Bjørnebye, 4th Mate Andersen, Ordinary Seaman Hansen, Able Seaman Fuglevik, Cook Eliassen, and Saloon Girl Jenny Jensen (ref. crew list below).
* According to Ulrich Mohr, Bernhard Rogge's A.D.C., Tirranna carried mail of the Australian Expeditionary Force, and "there were innumerable evidences of feminine solicitude, food parcels, cigarettes, tins of sweets and at least five thousand pairs of socks, most of them knitted in the finest and softest of wool". It appears the prize crew had found the contents of Tirranna's hold irresistible, because they had generously helped themselves to socks, shirts, silverware, tea etc. and Rogge was not amused when this theft was discovered.
Captain Gundersen's report presented at the maritime hearings states that Atlantis subsequently went on the lookout for a tanker so that she could get enough oil to send Tirranna to Europe, but though she captured two British ships, City of Bagdad, Kemmendine, none of which were tankers(?), she met up with Tirranna again on July 29 in position 31 10S 86 59E, and transferred some of her own oil to the Norwegian vessel. The two ships were together for a few days, until they on Aug. 2 spotted another Norwegian tanker - see Talleyrand, the next ship on this page for further developments. Two brothers who hadn't seen eachother for over 3 years met again that day. They were both 3rd mates, Svend Bjørneby on Tirrana, Finn Bjørneby on Talleyrand.
By the time Atlantis met up with Tirranna again, the raider had so many prisoners on board it became necessary to move some of them. On Aug. 4 about 264 were transferred to Tirranna, which was sent to France the next day, still under the command of Waldemann, assisted by Louis Mund and a 16 man prize crew. (Muggenthaler states Tirranna had 273 prisoners from Atlantis on board when the 2 ships parted company). She proceeded through The Indian Ocean, around South Africa, into the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay without mishaps, but on Sept. 22, as she was approaching the Gironde Estuary she was spotted by the British submarine HMS Tuna (Cavenagh-Mainwaring), which was on patrol in the area, and which sent 3 torpedoes into her, 45 19N 01 20W. A total of 292 people had been on board, 87 died, among them 3 of Tirranna's original crew and 3 from Talleyrand, 1 being a mess girl. (One source says 1 of Tirrannas passengers was also among the dead). 71 Indians, 9 British and 1 German also lost their lives. The survivors spent 3-4 hours clinging to debris before they were eventually rescued by German vessels. The Norwegian prisoners were interned in Royan, France for a while, then departed by train on Dec. 14, travelling through Belgium and Germany, with arrival Oslo on Dec. 17-1940. According to "Handelsflåten i krig", book 3 (Guri Hjeltnes), 30 from Tirranna, 34 from Talleyrand and 6 passengers from Tirranna arrived on Dec. 17-1940. (The numbers don't quite add up here, but with the various sources giving such conflicting information, it seems next to impossible to do).
Crew List & Others On Board at Time of Sinking:
All the survivors were repatriated to Norway Dec.-1940
Those listed without titles were probably the passengers
I = Injured during the attack on June 10
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Survivors
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Captain
Edvard Hauff Gundersen
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1st Mate
Thorolf Holst
I
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2nd Mate
Nils A. Nilsen
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3rd Mate
Sven Bjørneby
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Radio Operator
Johnny Haaland
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Boatswain
Ole Paulsen
I
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Able Seaman
Kristian Christensen
I
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Able Seaman
Robert Fuglevik
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Able Seaman
Floor Andersen
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Ordinary Seaman
Alf Sverre Hansen
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Deck Boy
Einar Olsen
I
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Deckboy
Johan Jacobsen
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1st Engineer
Johannes Knudsrød
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3rd Engineer
Rolf Andersen
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Mechanic
Erling Olsen
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Mechanic
Leonard Hilland
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Mechanic
Thomas Berg
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Mechanic
Leif Henriksen
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Mechanic
David Johansen
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Mechanic
Kjell L. Gundersen
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Oiler
Ragnar Andersen
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Steward
Frithjof Gundersen
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Cook
Olaf Eliassen
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Galley Boy
Einar Jacobsen
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Mess Boy
Haakon Sørensen
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Saloon Boy
John Rønning
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Saloon Girl
Jenny Jensen
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Odd Nyrud
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Peder Grodeland
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Karl Fause
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Sigurd Vaage Rasmussen
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Thor Haugen
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Leif Bartho
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Birger Bjørnsby
I
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Trond Larsen
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Ole Herman Andersen
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Casualties June 10:
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†
Carpenter
Johan Johansen
Injured, died day after
June 11
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†
Able Seaman
Hilmar Engelsen
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†
4th Engineer
Einar Christensen
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†
Electrician
Otto Kristensen
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†
Engine Boy
James Andersen
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†
Passenger
Charles Mikkelsen
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Casualties Sept 22:
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†
4th Mate
Leif Holberg Andersen *
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†
2nd Engineer
Hartvig Kristiansen
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†
Oiler
Gunnar Nystrøm
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|
|
|
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Casualties Sept 22 - From Talleyrand:
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†
Deckboy
Johnny Karlsen
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†
3rd Engineer
Olaf Brunstad
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†
Stewardess
Sigrid Olsen
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|
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* The 4th mate died at a hospital in the evening of Sept. 22 and was buried at Royan.
The maritime hearings were held in Oslo, Norway on Dec. 21-1940 with Captain Gundersen and 1st Mate Holst appearing.
"Tusen norske skip", by Lise Lindbæk has more on the two brothers Bjørneby. Finn Bjørneby describes the horrible scenes after Tirranna had been torpedoed, then goes on to say they had to walk around town barefoot and in their pajamas, as they had just been about to go to bed when the torpedo hit. At first they lived for a week in some dirty old barracks, but later the officers lived in a villa. The French were very good to them and did everything they could to help, even though it involved a risk to themselves. After a while other Norwegians who lived in Paris heard about them and gave them some clothes, so that when they travelled home to Norway in Dec. they were wearing French naval uniforms from a depot. Once on Norwegian soil they got on a bus to go to their home, and there was their mother, sitting on the bus!
Finn says they were afraid they would sooner or later be forced to join German sea service, and after a few months at home with their family they decided to try and get away. One day they put their skis on and crossed the border to Sweden, and after a few weeks they managed to get passage on a plane to Helsinki and Moscow together with 4 other lads, then caught a train to Odessa. There they had to wait a while before getting on a ship across the Black Sea. By then there were 40 of them. Some time was spent at Varna, Bulgaria, then they crossed the Mediterranean to Cairo where they ended up in an English militray camp; the number of Norwegians had now grown to 60. Finally they got passage on the English passenger vessel Empress of Asia to New York. The two brothers then continued to sail on Wilh. Wilhelmsen's ships. There's a Svend Bjørneby listed among the crew for Tamesis whom I believe is the same person.
Related external links:
Stavern Memorial commemorations - 9 are commemorated here, namely 4th Mate Leif Holberg Andersen, Engineer Olaf Brunstad, 3rd Engineer is listed as Einar Christensen, Boatswain Hilmar W. Normann Engelsen, Carpenter Johan Johansen, Electrician Otto Leonhard Kristensen, Engineer Hartvig Maurits Kristiansen, James Edmund N. Andersen is listed as Mess Boy, and Oiler Gunnar Murry Undahl Nystrøm.
A similar story - Roy Watvedt's fascinating story - The webmaster has sent me a picture taken at Coloba Camp (Bombay, India) on or about 30 August,1941. Roy, about whom this story is written says that the group shown here travelled together from Odessa, where they had assembled over a period of a week or so, arriving in groups of between four and ten men by train from Moscow. Just three were pilots (marked with a P), the vast majority were seamen. The list of names given below purports to be in the order of the faces in the photo, top left to bottom right, but one name is missing. Three people (names unknown) who were with the group are not in the photo. Neither Finn nor Svend Bjørneby is on the list, I had thought perhaps Roy would have run into them as their stories are so similar, but the webmaster tells me Roy does not recognise those names, adding that the coincidence of group size, route, dates and so on may arise simply because that's the way the Russians were organising the transit of foreign nationals at that time.
Picture (I've made it fairly large in case someone recognizes this story and is looking for a relative): Lund, Watvedt(P), Jakobsen, Armskoug, Carlson, Bjömås, Halvorsen, Knutsen, Björnestad, Vestby, Bjali, Hansen // Hubred, Willard, Johansen, Sandvik, Evensen, Karlsen, Kohren, Kristoffersen, Söhe, Anker Jensen, Gram, Hauge // Jensen, Severinsen, Mohr(P), Ramberg, Skog, Konsul Alsand, Blindheim, Valund, Smith, Uri, Lerfall, Bergby // Myhre, Borch, Tilseth(P), Torp, Lorentsen, Oldernes.
Roy Watvedt aboard the Elisabeth Bakke - He was with her (as was one C Mohr, also Norwegian) as a bridge gunner from Bombay (Mumbai) to London via Cape Town in the period Sept 9th to Oct 30th, 1941.
Wilh. Wilhelmsen had 3 ships by the name Tirranna, this was the 1st one.
Manager: Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg
Tonnage: 6732 gt, 10 010 tdwt.
Call Sign: LCZV.
(Click on Talleyrand above to go to that ship on the Ships starting with T page). Her voyages prior to capture are listed on this original document received from the National Archives of Norway. (As will be seen, she had gotten out of Norway shortly before the German invasion).
From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.
Captured by Atlantis on Aug. 2-1940, southeast of Mauritius, about 31S 67E, while on a voyage from Sydney N.S.W. and Fremantle (July 25) to Cape Town and the U.K. with a cargo of steel bars, wheat, teak and wool (Atlantis was now disguised as the Dutch [Swedish?] Tariffa, having learned that the real Abbekerk had been sunk shortly after the capture of Tirranna). At the time Atlantis was drifting alongside Tirranna, getting that prize ready for her voyage to Europe, when Tirranna raised the alarm. According to Muggenthaler Talleyrand came straight for them out of the mist and appears to have been an easy catch. She also had plenty of items needed on Atlantis "fresh provisions, blankets, instruments, tools, an excellent motorboat, and oil" which were transferred to the raider. Her 35 men and 1 woman were also transferred to the Atlantis, which already had their colleagues from the previously captured Tirranna on board, while Talleyrand was sunk by explosive charges, 30 30S 67 00E. (Captain Foyn's report states they were transferred to Atlantis on Aug. 3 and their ship sunk that same day).
Muggenthaler says Talleyrand was used as a target for Atlantis' plane "which practiced bombing and tearing out aerials with a trailing hook".
By Aug. 4 Atlantis had so many prisoners on board it became necessary to move some of them. About 264 (number varies according to source) were transferred to M/S Tirranna, which was subsequently sent to France. See Tirranna above for details on their further fate.
Crew List:
The entire complement survived the attack by Atlantis, but some died later when Tirranna was sunk - see text above.
All the survivors are reported as repatriated to Norway on Dec. 14-1940, together with prisoners from Tirranna.
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Survivors
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Captain
Mathias Foyn
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1st Mate
Per Bærø
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2nd Mate
Thor Thoresen
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3rd Mate
Finn Bjørneby
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4th Mate
Thorleif Bjørnes Olsen
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Radio Operator
Peder Haus
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Carpenter
Hans Bruvold
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Boatswain
Nils Hansen
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Able Seaman
Harald Andersen
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Able Seaman
Ole Evensen
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Ordinary Seaman
Hans Marås
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Ordinary Seaman
Andor Dass
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Ordinary Seaman
Gunnar Hjerpekjønn
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Ordinary Seaman
Helge Oseberg
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Jugmann
Jens Bang
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Deck Boy
Just Jahren
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1st Engineer
Lars Bjørneseth **
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2nd Engineer
Anker Tvete
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4th Engineer
Otto Paulsen
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Electrician
Asbjørn Foss Haneborg
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Mechanic
Haakon Quistgaard
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Mechanic
Fritz Axelsen
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Mechanic
Sverre Svendsen
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Mechanic
Peder Saaler
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Mechanic
Thomas Larsen
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Mechanic
Olaf Simonsen
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Oiler
Eigil Jensen
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Oiler
Arnt Olsen
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Oiler
Erling Mørk
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Oiler
Gustav Solli
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Oiler
Karl Ohlsen
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Cook
Asbjørn Bjørnsen
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Galley Boy
Erling Andersen
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Mess Boy
Gustav Jansson
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|
|
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Casualties Sept 22 - When Tirranna was sunk:
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†
Deckboy
Johnny Karlsen
|
†
3rd Engineer
Olaf Brunstad *
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†
Stewardess
Sigrid Olsen
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|
|
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* The 3rd engineer was buried at Royan.
Related external links:
3 from Talleyrand who died when Tirranna was torpedoedod by the British submarine HMS Tuna on Sept. 22. ** 1st Engineer Lars Bjørnseth is also commemorated at this memorial - perhaps he died later in the war?
Picture of Talleyrand after the attack - "Mac's Web Log", link to main page at top of this page.
Wilh. Wilhelmsen later had another ship by this name, from 1949 till 1971.
The text on this page was compiled with the help of various sources, including "Skip og men", Birger Dannevig, "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Handelsflåten i Krig" (The Merchant Fleet at War) Guri Hjeltnes, "Tusen norske skip", Lise Lindbæk, "German Raiders of World War II", August Karl Muggenthaler, "Atlantis, the story of a German Surface Raider", by Ulrich Mohr, as told to A. V. Sellwood , "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II, (all listed in My Sources) and documents received from visitors to my website.
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