M/S Chr. Knudsen - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/S Chr. Knudsen

To Chr. Knudsen on the "Ships starting with C" page.

Crew List

Source for all the pictures on this page: Historical Department, MAN B&W Diesel, Copenhagen.
Click on this link for a picture from her launching.

Owner: A/S Borgestad.
Manager: Gunnar Knudsen, Porsgrunn
Tonnage: 4904 gt, 2939 net, 8490 tdwt.
Call Sign: LCGH.

Delivered from Burmeister & Wains Maskin- & Skibsbyggeri, Copenhagen, Denmark (335) in Aug.-1925 as Chr. Knudsen to A/S Borgestad, Porsgrunn. 381.2' x 54.7' x 25.9', 2 x 6 cyl. 4 TEV DM (B&W), 1780 bhp.

Captain: Bjarne Sand.

Some War Voyages:

Chr. Knudsen was scheduled for Convoy HX 64 in Aug.-1940, but cancelled (she had a cargo of scrap iron and was bound for Swansea). She instead joined the first slow Sydney, C.B.-U.K. Convoy SC 1. In Oct. that same year she joined Convoy OB 228 - see the external link below.

The external site that I've linked to below also has her in Convoy SC 36 in July-1941. At the end of Dec.-1941 she was scheduled for Convoy SC 62, but instead joined Convoy SC 63 on Jan. 3-1942, cargo of manganese ore for Middlesbrough. Follow links for more info on these convoys.

In March-1942, Chr. Knudsen is listed in the westbound Convoy ON 72; her destination is given as New York. This convoy will be added to my Convoys section in due course - in the meantime, please go to ON 72 in the section listing ships in all ON convoys.

Related external links:
Convoy OB 228 and Convoy SC 36

Final Fate - 1942:

Departed New York alone on Apr. 8-1942 for Cape Town with general cargo and Nitrate. Assumed torpedoed and sunk on or around April 10-1942, possibly by U-85 (Greger). This U-boat was in turn sunk with all her men by USS Roper on April 14, which is one of the reasons why there has been such uncertainty over the loss of Chr. Knudsen. - This was the first U-boat not to return safely from Operation Paukenschlag.

In my Norwegian guestbook there's a message from Wolfang Klaue, dated July 18-2001, translated into Norwegian on request. At that time Klaue, together with an American friend, was about to write the story of U 85. (He was born in Greger's hometown, Lieberose, Greger being his father's neighbour). They wanted to tell the story from 3 sides, that of the U-boat, that of the victims of this boat's attacks and that of the crew of the American destroyer Roper, which sank U-85. The message was posted in an effort to find relatives of the victims of Chr. Knudsen, and/or former employees of the Borgestad company in Porsgrunn. Just recently (Sept.-2002) Wolfang Klaue contacted me again to let me know about an article that appeared in the Norwegian Newspaper "Aftenposten" on Sept. 20, showing the fruits of his investigations. The article states, among other things that the mayor of Lieberose, Kerstin Michelchen has given Borgestad's an official apology for the sinking of Chr. Knudsen, and that shipowner Christen Knutsen personally travelled to Lieberose to meet the mayor. Christen Knutsen says this was not the first time that Captain Bjarne Sand had his ship sunk from under him by a German U-boat - the first time was near Nantucket on Oct. 8-1916, and on that occasion he got a "receipt" from the U-boat commander confirming that he had sunk the ship (also a Gunnar Knudsen vessel, also named Chr. Knudsen - see "Other ships by this name" at the end of this page). This is now hanging on the wall of the shipping company's office in Porsgrunn.

Klaue's own father could easily have become a victim himself, having been picked by Greger as crew for U-85, but when he arrived Kiel to join the boat, it had already departed for Horten.

Crew List - No survivors:
*My Norwegian Guestbook has a message from the grandson of Olav Espe, looking for more info on him (E-mail address can be supplied via my contact address at the bottom of this page). He had also served on Tres and Karlander.

Casualties
† Captain Bjarne Sand	† 1st Mate Trygve Kristian Berg	† 2nd Mate Kåre Asbjørn Strøm	† 3rd Mate Johannes Olsen	† Radio Officer Thomas Youll * (British)	† Carpenter Nils Jensen
† Boatswain Haldor Skjulestad	† Able Seaman Andreas Kornelius Kristiansen	† Able Seaman Thoralf Mikkelsen	† Able Seaman Olav Espe*	† Able Seaman Karsten Oskar Skulebak	† Able Seaman Erik Andersen (Danish)
† Able Seaman/Gunner Ernst Rolf Kristiansen	† Ordinary Seaman Alfred B. Hansen	† Ordinary Seaman Ove Mårtensen (Swedish)	† Ordinary Seaman Carsten Cristofer Værø	† Ordinary Seaman George William Cornforth * Hull (age 18)	† Chief Engineer Trygve Leonard Larsen
† 2nd Engineer Ingeman Kristian Fredriksen	† 3rd Engineer Kaleb Korner C. Høiland	† 4th Engineer Martin Asplund	† Electrician Einar Einertsen	† Mechanic Fredrik Anton Olsen	† Mechanic Bjørge Presthagen
† Mechanic Ivar Baugerød	† Oiler Waldemar Laurin Olsen (Nilsen?)	† Oiler Johan Sverdrup L. Larsen	† Oiler Henry Stewart * Gateshead County Durham (age 19)	† Steward Thor Wilhelm Ulstrup	† Cook Walter Christian Hilt Kühnell
† Galley Boy Robert Hemp (Czechoslovakian)	† Mess Boy Albert Hoggins * Newcastle-on-Tyne (age 16)	† Mess Boy Ernest Anderson* Gateshead County Durham (age 18)

Other ships by this name: This company had also had a Chr. Knudsen back in 1875, built in Porsgrund that year for J. C. & G. Knudsen, Porsgrund, 587 gt. This vessel was sold in 1903 to new owners in Porsgrund and renamed Nordkap (P. Jacobsen). Condemned after having sprung a leak when on a voyage Liverpool-Port Arthur, Texas on Apr. 1-1906. In July-1905 a new Chr. Knudsen (steamship) was delivered to A/S Borgestad (Gunnar Knudsen), Porsgrund, built in Middlesbrough, 3878 gt. Converted to tanker in 1912, 4224 gt. Torpedoed by U-53 on Oct. 8-1916 off Nantucket Light Ship, voyage New York-London with gas oil (this is the ship mentioned in my text above). Note that this external page has excerpts from her deck journal as well as statements from the subsequent maritime hearings re this incident - text is in Norwegian.