D/S Askild
Updated Dec. 11-2012

To Askild on the "Ships starting with A" page.

Crew List


From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.
Another picture is availble on this external page, taken in Bordeaux in 1933 (click in it to enlarge).

Notes:

Askild's 1940 voyages are shown on Page 1 of the archive documents (it'll be noticed that she had quite a long stay in New York that fall). Her 1941 voyages also start on this page and continue on Page 2 (which shows another long stay at St. John, N.B. that summer, and again in Sydney, C.B. shortly thereafter). In Dec.-1941, she's listed, together with Snar, in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 60, bound for Reykjavik, cargo of lumber and 2 passengers, arriving her destination on Dec. 29, remaining there for a month, before returning across the Atlantic.

She's also mentioned among the ships leaving Halifax to form Convoy SC 73 on March 6-1942. She's not included in the Advance Sailing Telegram for this convoy, nor is this voyage mentioned in A. Hague's Voyage Record, but several voyages are missing from the record. Going back to Page 2 we see that she did leave Halifax on that date, with destination St. John's, N.F., where she arrived on March 9, but this does not necessarily mean she had joined this convoy.

The rest of her voyages are listed on Page 3, while convoy information for some of them can be found in the Voyage Record above.

Final Fate - 1942:

Askild had departed St. John's, N.F. on Dec. 2-1942, bound for St. Lawrence, N.F. in ballast, and joined Convoy CL 61 that afternoon (external link).

At 04:20 the following morning, Dec. 3, she ran aground by Chance Cove (near Cape Race) due to worsening weather. The entire crew was called to the boatdeck, distress calls were sent out as well as flashes. They all stayed on board until she broke up at 06:30. The seas were continuously washing in over the boatdeck where the crew was still assembled, so they were sent to the port side, which was still fairly undamaged, to try to get ashore. At that time two men were found to be missing, assumed to have been knocked overboard by the seas. The rest managed to get the port boat out and by 07:30 they were all ashore, but had to climb straight up a cliff in order to get clear of the breakers.

As day dawned, they managed to get further up with the help of lines from the lifeboat. While 1st Mate Nils Jespersen remained with 16(?) crew, the captain and 3 others went to look for help (this adds up to 21, there were 20 survivors). En route, Ordinary Seaman William Nilsen had to be left behind due to exhaustion, while the captain, together with Gunner Einar Rognerud and Ordinary Seaman Gunnar Pedersen reached the light house at Cape Race several hours later. A report was immediately sent to St. John's, and people from the lighthouse went out to look for those who had remained behind. They soon returned carrying William Nilsen, while others, with the help of dogs, kept searching for the others, but came back early the next morning without having found them.

A fresh search team was then sent out, from Cape Race as well as from Trepassey, and later that day the men from Trepassey returned with Able Seaman Hans Jeppesen and the Canadian Galley Boy Walter Sheeby. Medications, food and dry clothes were sent from St. John's. On Dec. 5, the remaining 14 were finally found. They were taken to private families in Portugal Cove and Cape Race, then transported to St. John's on the 6th.

The maritime hearings were held at St. John's on Dec. 10-1942 with Captain Bilet (on board for 3 years), 1st Mate Jespersen (on board since Oct.-1942), 2nd Engineer Hansen (who had been on board for 7 weeks), Boatswain Bentsen (since Apr.-1939), and Ordinary Seaman Pedersen (on board for 5 months) appearing.

Crew List:
Ordinary Seaman Pedersen later served on Tungsha and Leiv Eiriksson.

Survivors
Captain Olav Bilet	1st Mate/Radio Operator Nils Jespersen	Boatswain Harry Bentsen	Able Seaman Hans Jeppesen (Danish)	Able Seaman Henry Olsen	Ordinary Seaman Gunnar Pedersen
Ordinary Seaman Thorbjørn Valun	Ordinary Seaman William Nilsen	1st Engineer Rasmus Pedersen	2nd Engineer Henry Krogh Hansen	3rd Engineer Rasmus Gabrielsen	Donkeyman Jakob Wormsen
Stoker Harald Hansen	Stoker Ole Renli	Stoker Elias Helland	Trimmer Einat Virtanen (Finnish)	Steward Frithjof Johannesen	Galley Boy Walter Sheeby (Canadian)
Gunner* Einar Rognerud	Gunner Olaf Sollund	*Here's a Guestbook message from Einar Rognerud's son.
Casualties:
† 2nd Mate Odd Storm Pettersen	† Trimmer Lauri Haapanen (Finnish)

Related external link:
Stavern Memorial commemorations - Mate Odd Storm Pettersen is commemorated at this memorial. There's also a Stoker Erling Halvorsen commemorated; he must have died at an earlier time, being as the 2nd casualty was Finnish, and Norwegians only are commemorated at this memorial. Checking with "Våre falne", a series of 4 books naming Norwegians who died during the war, I find that his last ship was Askild, and that he was found drifting in the sea, but no date is given. He's buried in Halifax.

Back to Askild on the "Ships starting with A" page.

Norway had also had a ship by this name in WW I, built 1892, 2540 gt - torpedoed and sunk by the German UB-20 off Ushant on May 19-1917.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume I, and misc. - ref My sources.