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M/T Elsa To Elsa on the "Ships starting with E" page. Owner: A/S Oljefart II Built in Glasgow 1928. Captain: Alf Hovelsrød Related items on this website: Elsa was one of four Norwegian tankers in Convoy MS 3 which had departed Melbourne for Palembang on Jan. 30-1942, but were ordered to leave Palembang because of the expected Japanese attack (M/T Erling Brøvig has more details). Elsa made it safely to Batavia.
On the morning of April 6-1942 Japanese warships under Admiral Ozawa attacked and sank 19 ships between Cocanada and Vizagapatnam (India) in a matter of just a few hours. M/T Elsa was en route from Madras to Calcutta with 7000 tons kerosene, having departed Madras on Apr. 3. Elsa's armament consisted of one 3" gun placed aft, 2 machine guns on the bridge and 2 "ordinary" guns. She was 35 n. miles east of Cuttack when the 1st mate spotted 3 naval vessels at 06:00 on Apr. 6. He immediately notified the captain who came to the bridge, and when one of the vessels signalled for the ship's name, the captain gave it, thinking the ships were British. At that same moment the ships opened fire. The crew ran to the lifeboats, launching the port and starboard boats as well as the gig while the shells were raining around them. 1 was killed and several injured. The 29 survivors reached land south of False Point the next morning. The locals gave first aid to the injured, whereupon they were all sent to Cuttack where the injured were admitted to a hospital while the others were accommodated at Cuttack College. On Apr. 8 they were sent to Calcutta. The following survivors from Elsa were reunited after 41 years: The 1st mate, the 3rd mate and the steward were also injured by shrapnel in the attack. Bjarne Hansen has an article in "Krigsseileren, Issue 3/1982. He was at the helm when the first shell hit them at about 06:30 that morning, followed just seconds later by another, then a third. Oil was pouring out from her sides. By the time those who had been on the bridge reached the motorboat on the starboard side another shell hit, destroying the boat. They ran to the port side again and launched the gig while the shells were flying around them. In the meantime some others had lowered and gotten into the port lifeboat but many had to jump into the sea. The gig fished several out of the water, including the captain. Those remaining on board succeeded in getting the starboard boat on the water just as Elsa was set ablaze, and shortly thereafter the oil covered water was also on fire so they had to row for life to get away from the flames, and in doing so the 3 boats got away from eachother. The gig reached one of them, then transferred an injured man into it for transport to shore as quickly as possible, while the gig was rowed towards the 3rd boat which was further away with 3 men, reaching it in 20 minutes, whereupon they all transferred to the bigger boat before heading for land. At this time they found the chief engineer to be missing. After a long while one of the men happened to look towards the abandoned gig, and noticed what looked like a person standing upright. They turned around to investigate and there was the chief engineer who had been in the water for about 3 hours and was about to give up when he had spotted the gig and managed with the last of his strength to swim the long distance from the ship and get into it. Elsa continued to burn until she finally went down late that afternoon. The boat reached land the next morning where they met up with the others. 1 man was missing. The survivors later came to Calcutta where they stayed for about 10-12 days before joining other ships. See also John Simpson's account in my Warsailor Stories section which I've linked to further up on this page, as well as within the crew list below. The maritime hearings were held in Calcutta on Apr. 16-1942 with the captain, the 2nd mate, Able Seaman Hansen (helmsman) and Able Seaman Svendsen appearing.
The 2 men denoted * were brothers. It appears Thorbjørn Svendsen, who had been on lookout duty in the mast when the attack occurred, was last seen by his brother when he, Thorbjørn was checking the cabins aft to make sure there was nobody left there. It was believed he had not been able to make it up on deck before the ship was set on fire.
External links related to the text on this page: The Imperial Japanese Navy Back to Elsa on the "Ships starting with E" page. Norway (Wilh. Wilhelmsen) had a steamship by the name Elsa in WW I, built 1904, 3581 gt - torpedoed and sunk by UB 31 off Berry Head on Jan. 24-1918 on a voyage from Sourabaya and Cardiff to Christiania with general cargo and coal. (Denmark also lost a ship by this name in WW I). The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Krigsseileren, Issue 3/1982, "Tusen norske skip", Lise Lindbæk, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I (Norwegian Maritime Museum) and misc. - ref. My sources.
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