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D/S Eika To Eika on the "Ships starting with E" page.
Manager: K. Sandaas, Kragerø Built in Langesund, Norway 1939. Captain: Kristian Klausen.
Torpedoed and sunk by U-51 (Knorr) on Jan. 29-1940 on a voyage from Torrevieja, Spain to Aalesund with a cargo of salt, position 43N 10 35W, 16 died, 2 survived (Norway was still neutral at the time). The 2 survivors were rescued from their raft by the U-boat. Eika had been requisitioned by the Norwegian authorities for the voyage to Spain. Rohwer gives the position 50N 10W, while Charles Hocking simply says 200-250 miles off Ushant.
In the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 1 for 1973 there's an interview with one of the survivors from D/S Eika, Harald Støle (messboy). He and his brother Arne Støle were both on board, Arne as a steward. Harald Støle was 16 years old when he joined in the summer of 1939. He says the torpedo hit just after 15:00 while he and a number of his shipmates were in the messroom having coffee. By the time he got out on deck the ship had broken in 2 and sank right underneath him, taking him down with her, but he was able to get to the surface and grab hold of a raft. The stoker Alfred Johansen from Kopervik was with him, but no-one else were to be seen. After a couple of hours the U-boat approached, threw them a line and took them on board where they were given dry clothes. He says they were very well treated on the U-boat and were allowed to wander freely, except in the engine room which was off limits. Harald Støle had his 17th birthday on board on Febr. 4 and on this occasion he was called in to the commander who gave him a drink and some chocolate. He says they spent 11 days on the boat and on arrival Willemshaven they were taken to a military place where they were locked in a room. In the subsequent days they were questioned about D/S Eika and her voyage, Støle even had to make a drawing of the ship. After 8 days they were taken to a store where the uniforms they had been given to wear on the U-boat were exchanged with civilian clothing, before they were placed on a train for Hamburg. They were met by the Norwegian consul who saw to it that they were sent home to Norway; by train to Hirtshals, then ferry to Oslo. According to this article the German U-boat commander officially claimed that Eika had used zig-zag maneuvers, had no neutrality markings and had altered course and steered directly towards the U-boat to ram it. He continues: "In order to avoid this attack the steamship was sunk with a torpedo". The Norwegian Dept. of Foreign Affairs also received a note saying: "The circumstances leading to the torpedoing of the steamship Eika is a typical example of what the consequences can be for neutral ships when they do not pay heed to the German Government's repeated warnings against un-neutral or suspicious behaviour". Harald Støle says the ship had large neutrality markings on her sides and the name "Eika - Norge" painted in bold letters, as well as a large Norwegian flag which had a light shining on it during the night.
The above was found in "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 1 for 1973, interview with Harald Støle (the names of casualties correspond to the list of missing men given in above mentioned newspaper article). He also mentions a Trygve Bjerka as one of the ones who went down with the ship, but he's not included in the casualty list (though might be the same as Trygve Kristoffersen). Just a little over a week later this company lost another ship, namely D/S Silja, sistership of Eika, and the Kragerø area alone had thereby lost 23 men. K. Sandaas later had another ship by the name Eika (which Harald Støle joined for a while). Related external links: Back to Eika on the "Ships starting with E" page. Other ships by this name: Norway had previously had another steamer named Eika, built 1903, 695 gt - disappeared on a voyage from Dunston for Murviken in Febr.-1934 (having left Dunston on Febr. 6). Wreckage, lifebuoys, a lifeboat and the bodies of 2 crew washed ashore on the Norwegian coast, but no news of the ship. There had also been a steamship named Eika II, built 1906, 1268 gt - torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the North Sea on Aug. 19-1917; 1 died out of a crew of 17. This ship is mentioned in a thread on my Ship Forum. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Skip og menn", Birger Dannevig, and misc. sources as named within text above - ref. My sources.
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