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D/S Bravore To Bravore on the "Ships starting with B" page. Owner: A/S Vore. Built by Kockums Mekaniska Verkstads A/B, Malmö, Sweden in 1916. Captain: Otto Tjørve.
Departed Tyne in the evening of Apr. 20-1940 in convoy for Rouen with a cargo of 1991 tons coal. According to "Nortraships flåte" she had a crew of 19 and 5 French soldiers. At the mouth of the Thames on the 22nd the convoy was split up, with some of the ships heading for London, while Bravore and 4 other vessels (2 of which were French, 1 British) continued to The Downs. Captain Tjørve became the first Nortraship captain to die when Bravore struck a mine about 4 naut. miles off Ramsgate that day (the above mentioned forum posting says it was an aereal mine laid by 9th F.D.). They had procceeded up to the buoy outside Ramsgate and were waiting for further orders from the "order-boat". A tremendous explosion occurred, probably on the port side near No. 2 hatch forward of the bridge, causing all the hatches on the after deck to fly into the air. Eye witnesses stated that the ship was lifted high, then went down in 15-20 seconds. On the bridge were the captain, the 2nd mate, the helmsman, (Ordinary Seaman Gunnersen) and 4 French soldiers. Deckboy Ryan was on the forecastle and Able Seaman Ellingsen was at work aft. Out of this group only the 2nd mate survived. He was in an open area on the starboard side when the explosion occurred and was flung through the window of the bridge side shelter and into the water about 30 meters, far enough to get clear of the suction. When he came up only the stern and part of the bridge could be seen of the ship. He saw the captain some distance away and as the sea carried him towards him he could see that the captain's face was covered in blood and one of his hands had been torn off. He tried to get a hold of him from behind but had to let go because he only had a small piece of planking to hold on to, and didn't have the strength to hold on. He later caught hold of a lifebuoy. He also saw one of the French guard go under, and observed a patrol boat trying to save somebody (this was probably the 1st mate). The 2nd mate was picked up by the Dutch Badzo shortly thereafter. He remained in a hospital in Ramsgate until May 14 having broken 4 ribs and injured 2 vertebrae in his back in addition to other injuries from flying through the glass. The first engineer and the cook, who had been in their cabins had managed to get out. The first engineer had been asleep, but had a rude awakening when he was flung up to the ceiling of his cabin. When he opened the door he encountered steam coming from the engine room, but kept his arm in front of his face and ran aft to the poop where he waited with the cook until they were both picked up. The cook had gone straight into the sea when he opened the door of his cabin, and was carried by the sea towards aft past the engine room door as Bravore was sinking by the bow, got one leg over the rail and was thrown down on the after deck by the suction, got up into the rigging on the after mast, then slid down the derrick hoist to the poop (the water was so shallow that the poop remained above water after the ship had sunk). A small motorboat from shore later rescued them both and took them to Deal. The 1st mate and a French soldier were asleep in a cabin on the lower bridge, but somehow managed to get out although the cabin was completely destroyed. When the 1st mate came to the surface, all he could see of the ship was part of the funnel. After half an hour he too was picked up by Badzo, as was the French soldier who had come across one of the lifeboats that had previously been on deck. They were both given first aid, and were later taken to a hospital in Ramsgate. A visitor to my website has told me that "Shipwreck Index of the British Isles" gives the position as 1 mile south of Gull Stream Buoy, Goodwin Sands, mine laid by U-boat. However, according to a message on my Ship Forum, posted by Roger W. Jordan, it appears Bravore had struck a mine that had been laid by aircraft of the 9th Fliegerdivision. She was one of three vessels (the others were British) sunk on mines laid by the 9th FD. The minefield on which Bravore sank consisted of a total 26 mines. The position of sinking was 51 18 38N 01 30 54E. Mr. Jordan adds: "I do not have the identity of all three ships that sank on these mines, but one of the two British ships was Rydal Force, which struck about 370 metres south of Gull Buoy. This would be about 0.75 miles north of the position in which Bravore struck". In fact, the 2nd mate says that while he was at the hospital he spoke to some survivors of a British ship that had been at anchor in the Downs when Bravore struck the mine. This ship had struck a mine the following day. From the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, dated April 29-1940: The maritime hearings were held in London on May 9-1940 with all the Norwegian survivors appearing. Some of the names below were initially taken from this newspaper, but has since been compared to what can be found in "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I and adjusted accordingly.
Related external link: Back to Bravore on the "Ships starting with B" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I (Norwegian Maritime Museum), and misc. others for cross checking info. - ref My sources.
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