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M/S Braganza To Braganza on the "Ships starting with B" page. Owner: A/S Braganza Built in Sunderland 1924. Previous name Pacific Trader until 1938. Captain: Ingolf Gaulen
Braganza, with a cargo of steel for Newport, was scheduled for the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 91 in Nov.-1940, but did not sail. She was also cancelled from HX 94, then joined HX 95 on Dec. 10, bound for Cardiff with a cargo of steel, general and trucks in station 92 of the convoy. In Jan.-1941 she was scheduled for Convoy OB 279, which left Liverpool on Jan. 28, but she did not sail (destination Tampa). She shows up again, with no voyage information, in Convoy OB 281, which left Liverpool on Febr. 1 and dispersed on the 5th. The external website that I've linked to below has the names of the ships in these convoys, some of which were Norwegian. In May that year she was scheduled for Convoy HX 126 (in which John P. Pedersen was sunk), but did not sail. She was also cancelled from Convoy HX 127 and HX 128, but eventually got away with HX 129 on May 27, bound for Grangemouth with scrap iron, station 13. Follow the links for more details on these convoys. That fall we find her in station 86 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 6, which left Liverpool on Aug. 11-1941. Her destination is given as Baltimore, and she returned to the U.K. the following month with Convoy HX 150 (in station 66?) along with the Norwegian Fenris (83), Solfonn (44), Havkong (84), Garonne (62), Thorshavet (33), Topdalsfjord (34), Varanger (66?) and Heina (64). More details on all the other Norwegian ships mentioned here can be found with the help of the alphabet index at the end of this page. In Jan.-1942 she's listed as bound for New York in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 59, departing Liverpool on Jan. 23, dispersed Febr. 6. This will be added to my Convoys section, but in the meantime, see the section naming ships in all ON convoys; as will be seen, ON 59 had many Norwegian ships. There's now a big gap in my voyage information for this ship, but by following the instructions given at the external link provided below, at least some of these gaps will be filled. According to a book by Jon Veiberg*, entitled "Jon's Odyssey", Braganza was in Bombay for about 3 months for repairs in the spring of 1944, due to constant engine problems caused by leaking lube oil. He joined the ship there as radio operator in March-1944, newly educated as such at the Norwegian Radio School in London. He says there were 12 British gunners on board, and it appears there were 3 radio operators. She was still there during the big explosion on April 14-1944 (see M/S Belray), but was not seriously damaged.
Veiberg says they had a killing on board while in Bombay. The Estonian 2nd cook had been taunted by a Latvian motorman for some time until the cook one day had had enough. After having been threatened by the motorman, the cook chased and stabbed him with a large knife, piercing his kidney area. He died before medical help arrived. At a subsequent trial in Bombay the cook was found not guilty on grounds of self defence. The Estonian cook is not included in the crew list at the time of her loss, so he must have left the ship by then. Related external link:
When Braganza had finally been declared seaworthy again, a cargo was loaded for Durban (note that she's listed as leaving Bombay in Convoy BA 74 on June 25-1944 - external link), where coal was subsequently loaded for Buenos Aires. There they took on 4000 tons of linseed and 6000 tons of canned meats, before heading to Rosario for more cargo, then on to Montevideo, where some new people came on board (named in the crew list below). From Montevideo, Braganza was to travel alone to Freetown to join a convoy for the U.K., but at about 14:00 on Oct. 12-1944, 2 days after departure Montevideo (approx 32 40S 48 30W - position varies according to source), a fire erupted in the engine room in the after part of the exhaust pot for No. 4 cylinder, and the engine was immediately stopped. The fire spread at a furious speed, and all efforts to extinguish it, both with fire hoses and chemicals proved in vain. Burning pieces of wood started falling into the engine room and by 14:20 the situation had become so bad that the engine room had to be exited through the escape hatch in the tunnel. The port lifeboats could not be launched because the entire port side of the boatdeck was on fire, but the starboard motorboat (No. 1) and the starboard aft boat (No. 3) were put on the water, the latter was manned. The tackle of No 4 aft boat had caught on fire and the boat fell burning into the water, but No. 3 boat rowed across to it and managed to extinguish the fire, then transferred some people to it. No. 2 boat (forward port boat) ended up hanging down by the foreward tackle because the aft tackle burnt across, but they succeeded in cutting the tackle and pull the boat forward and away from the flames. At 15:00 the ammunition for the Oerlikons on the boat deck started to explode, and when the fire had spread to the holds all hopes of winning the battle with the flames were abandoned and all on board left the ship, No. 2 boat leaving at about 16:40 with the 1st mate in command, and the captain leaving the ship as the last man in No. 1 motorboat at about 17:00. The 1st mate's boat transferred some men to boat No. 3, whereupon boat No. 2 sailed away. The motorboat also transferred some men, including the captain to boat No. 3, then the latter took the motorboat in tow, which in turn took No. 4 in tow and they prepared to anchor up for the night as a storm was brewing. However, just before they did so the line between No. 3 boat and the motorboat broke, and the other 2 boats drifted away, while No. 3 remained at anchor overnight due to the weather, then headed for Brazil the following morning at 05:00. The men in the motorboat later transferred to Lifeboat No. 4, and these 9 men landed south of Rio Grande in the morning of Oct. 17-1944 (the motorboat had been left on the ocean). Boat No. 3 landed a few kilometers away on Oct. 19. All of them were well received by the locals and were later driven to Rio Grande by the consul where they were accommodated at Hotel Paris. Radio Operator Jon Veiberg, who must have been in Boat No. 3 commanded by the 2nd mate, says they had been stopped on the 1st day by a U-boat wanting to know the ship's name, possibly alerted by the fact that Braganza had "blown up in a fire ball around midnight". He says that on the third day a large cargo ship in ballast passed by in a southwesterly direction, but did not see them in spite of flares being fired. Towards evening of the 6th day a light house was spotted. Since this was assumed to be northern Uruguay, a neutral country and, therefore, a place they wanted to avoid so as not to risk being interned (according to international law, being members of a nation at war), they kept rowing north along the coast. The next day a southbound ship was spotted, but again they were not seen. Just after noon that day they were able to take the boat through the breakers and onto the beach (in Rio Grande du Sol province). Towards midnight they were picked up by an Army truck and taken to town, where they met up with the men from the boat that had arrived 2 days before. In the meantime, the 1st mate's boat with 18 men had moved away in No. 2 lifeboat as mentioned. They could see their burning ship all night until 04:00 in the morning of Oct. 13. They had also dropped a sea anchor due to the storm, and remained so all day and the next night, their boat filling with water several times. Passenger Magnus Olsen started acting in such a way that he had to be watched, as did the boatswain and Lars Teien. Magnus Olsen died around midnight on Oct. 14, and Boatswain Nygård passed away at 02:00 on the 15th, Lars Teien 2 hours later. All 3 were buried at sea that day. They still had a sea anchor out, but that afternoon the weather improved enough that they set sail for Brazil. The following day, Oct. 16 they came across a lot of debris, some of which was recognized as coming from Braganza, so they drew the conclusion that she had sunk. Late in the afternoon of the 18th they were picked up by the Argentinian D/S Rio Salado and landed at Rio de Janeiro in the afternoon of Oct. 22 where they were accommodated at the Seamen's Hostel. It appears all the survivors were eventually reunited at Rio de Janeiro, later to be flown to Natal on American Air Force cargo planes, before continuing to Miami 2 days later, via Georgetown, then by train to New York, where the hearings were held on Nov. 10 and Nov. 13-1944. The following were questioned: The captain, the 3 engineers and the assistant, the 1st and 2 mates, the repairman, Mechanic Petersen, Oiler Holst, Stoker Nichols, and Mechanic Travers. Crew List:
Related external links: The Bombay Explosion - Details of the events and marvellous pictures. To Braganza on the "Ships starting with B" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Jon's Odyssey", Jon Veiberg, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I - Norwegian Maritime Museum (extract from ship's journal, captain's report and misc. statements given at the maritime hearings) - ref My sources.
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