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D/S Bruse To Bruse on the "Ships starting with B" page. (Lillesand Sjømannsforening has a picture of this ship - external link). Manager: Fred. Olsen & Co., Oslo for Norges Statsbaner, Oslo, (Norwegian State Railways) for carrying coal for the railways. Built at Nylands mek. Verksted, Oslo in 1933. Captain was Ole Torolf Brekke (who had previously been 2nd mate, later 1st mate on Bruse I until sold in 1933 - mentioned at the end of this text).
Bruse is listed in Convoy HN 8 from Norway to the U.K. in Jan.-1940. She returned to Norway early in Febr. with Convoy ON 10, and later that month she shows up Convoy HN 15 from Norway, bound for Sunderland in ballast (she had initially started out in the previous convoy, HN 14, but returned to port). She subsequently went back to Norway in the middle of March with Convoy ON 19, then at the end of that month, shortly before the German invasion of Norway, we find her in Convoy HN 22, again bound for Sunderland in ballast. In Aug.-1940 she's listed in station 11 of the Gibraltar-U.K. Convoy HG 41, bound for Blyth with pit props. Follow the links for more info, several Norwegian ships took part in all these convoys.
Torpedoed starboard side forward of the boiler room by U-100 (Schepke) on November 23-1940, position 55 14N 12 20W* while en route to Ipswich with a cargo of 773 standards of lumber in Convoy SC 11. This convoy had several Norwegian ships, including Salonica, which was also sunk. The convoy had departed Sydney C. B. on Nov. 9. Commodore was Vice Admiral F. M. Austin on D/S Llandilo in column 5.
The weather had been bad all along, and in the dark and rainy night of the 22nd, with a westerly gale increasing to a full storm and heavy seas when the convoy was to change course 18° to port, many ships lost their stations, necessitating navigation lights to be lit in order to avoid collisions. Several ships lagged behind. The lights flashed all over the place until the early morning hours of the 23rd, resulting in U-100 spotting the convoy and sinking several ships in the disorganized formation, Bruse being 1 of them. The after mast and the funnel went overboard, the mast crushing the port lifeboat (where 5 men had gathered) and the motorboat as it fell, and shortly thereafter the afterpart of Bruse broke off and sank, taking the lifeboats and 17 men with it. The captain and 4 others had been on the bridge when the torpedo struck. The captain ran into the radio station to try to get in communication with the escort, but the radio was useless so they sent up 3 rockets, and later signalled by torch to report the situation. The Canadian destroyer Skeena came to, but it was impossible to attempt a rescue under the violent weather conditions, so the survivors gathered by a raft which was secured on top of the deck cargo to await daylight. In the morning, after having struggled with it for 2 hours they eventually managed to get the raft on the water, whereupon Skeena was able to pick them up. A 6th survivor, Able Seaman Johan Løkvik (from the afterpart) was already on board the destroyer. He had been pulled under twice by the suction, but had been able to get to the surface where he had come across the waterfilled starboard lifeboat, in which he had found an SOS lamp that he used to attract the destroyer's attention. He had seen several other men in the water, so the destroyer searched for them but none were found. The survivors were landed in Gourock on Nov. 25. Convoy SC 11 arrived Liverpool Nov. 26-1940, having lost 8 ships in all. In addition to the 2 Norwegian ones they were the British Bradfyne (Norse King rescued 4 survivors from one of Bradfyne's lifeboats on Nov. 25 and landed them at Belfast), Justitia, Leise Maersk, the Dutch Bussum and Ootmarsum, all sunk by U-100. Additionally, the British Alma Dawson struck a British mine on Nov. 24 (no casualties). A few days later an aircraft reported that the forepart of Bruse was still afloat with the cargo intact, and she was subsequently towed to shore by the tugs Seaman and Thames, arriving in the Clyde on Nov. 30. She was beached at Ardmaleish Point, Kames Bay where her deck cargo was discharged. In Jan.-1941 she arrived Troon where the rest of her cargo was unloaded. Having been found to be beyond repair she was delivered for breaking up in June that year. The maritime hearings were held in Glasgow on Dec. 2-1940 with Captain Brekke, the 2nd mate, Able Seaman Semmerud (helmsman), and Able Seaman Løvik appearing. (Captain O. T. Brekke later helped build up Nortraship's organization in London, and also served in the Home Guard. After the war he went on to command Bruse III in 1946, thereby serving with Fred. Olsen for over 42 years. He died in 1990).
Related external links: Schepke & U-100 - A section of Tom Purnell's website (he writes extensively about Convoy HX 72). Back to Bruse on the "Ships starting with B" page. Other ships by this name: This was Fred. Olsen's 2nd steamship by the name Bruse, the 1st one was built in Christiania in 1911, sold in 1933 to Airiston Laiva O/Y, Helsinki and renamed Vienti. The company later had another steamer by this name, with the following history: 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), "The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague, and misc. others for cross checking info. - ref My sources.
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