M/S Fernlane

To Fernlane on the "Ships starting with F" page.

Crew & Passenger List

Source for both pictures: Historical Department, MAN B&W Diesel, Copenhagen - (see their museum website, external link). They also sent me this picture, as well as this one.

Final Fate - 1941:

Fernlane departed Gourock on April 17 and joined a convoy for Freetown. She had a cargo of 1585 tons salt, 103 tons iron constructions, 8 gliders and 26 loaded trucks from Manchester. She left the convoy on April 23 and continued south alone. Torpedoed at about 08:25 GMT on May 7-1941 by the Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli (Cossato), position 10 02N 20 17W. The first torpedo hit in the afterpart of the ship, setting the engine room on fire, but those who were on duty there managed to get to the boat deck, and stopped the engine from there. The ship had just been making a hard to port 75° course alteration when the torpedo hit and continued to swing to port after the explosion; the wheel and therefore the steering had been affected by the explosion. All 4 lifeboats were launched, 3 of which were ordered to row away from the ship, while the radio aereal, which had fallen down was rigged up again by the carpenter and the 3rd mate whereupon the captain sent out a distress call at 08:10 GMT* (the radio operator had already gone in one of the other boats). When a second torpedo was observed on the port side the remaining men, including the captain also took to the lifeboat, and just after this boat had set off (from starboard) the torpedo detonated in the engine room (at about 08:40), causing Fernlane to list heavily to port and start to sink. The sub now surfaced about 2 n. miles off to port, went around in front of the ship and sent off a third torpedo which hit amidships on the starboard side. She listed heavily to starboard, broke amidships and sank quickly by the bow. The sub went under and disappeared out of sight.

*The cruiser Dorsetshire had caught the radio signals but was not in a position to be able to assist. (Charles Hocking gives the position as "about 400 miles from Sierra Leone", claiming a German U-boat was the culprit).

The entire crew of 32 and the 3 passengers (and a dog?) survived. After having transferred some food, water and equipment from a nearby raft the motor boat took the other 3 boats in tow at 11:00 and headed for Bissagos Islands. When the petrol was almost used up on May 10 they decided to save the rest until they were closer to land, so the boats set sail. Around 22:00 that night they saw land, but decided to wait until daylight before attempting to land. Early the next morning, May 11 they continued along the coast to look for signs of an inhabited spot and when they saw some houses on the beach at around 08:00 they went in. They had landed at Carabella Island, where they were fed and given lodgings, and after the motorboat had been overhauled and more petrol added they continued to Bissau on the 13th, with arrival that same evening. With the assistance of the British consul they were equipped with the necessary clothes etc.

The 3 passengers were given passage to Freetown on a British cable ship on May 18 while the others had to wait until May 26 before they could find a ship that was willing to take all of them from Bissau, arriving Freetown that same afternoon, via Bathurst with the Portuguese M/S Africa Ocidental. The British radio operator had taken ill on the voyage from Bathurst and was transferred to the British hospital ship Oxfordshire. On June 6, 25 men including the captain departed Freetown for Takoradi with the British passenger vessel M/S Abosso. They were landed at Cape Coast Castle on June 16, continuing to Takoradi by bus, then left for New York with M/S Bajamar on June 20. The following 7 had remained in Freetown to await passage to England: Radio Operator A. Hastings, Boatswain A. Ellingsen, Able Seaman K. Bergland, Ordinary Seamen H. Rabba and K. Malmquist, as well as the 2 Chinese crew members who were to be sent to Singapore from England.

The maritime hearings were held in New York (date?) with the captain, the 1st mate, the 2nd engineer, Mechanic Olsen and Ordinary Seaman Raknes appearing.

Enrico Tazzoli headed south after sinking Fernlane and sank M/T Alfred Olsen a few days later (on May 10).

Crew & Passenger List - No casualties:
* 2nd Mate Sørensen had previously served on Brandanger, and was on board when that ship was torpedoed in 1940. He also served on the Swedish D/S Sir Ernest Cassel, as well as M/T Gard 1943, and M/T Dalfonn 1945.
** 3rd Mate Fritz W. Cederholm later joined Montevideo. Here's a Guestbook message from his son.

Captain Henrik Anker Irgens	1st Mate Alf Vasbotten	2nd Mate Henry Sørensen *	3rd Mate Fritz W. Cederholm**	Radio Operator Archibald Hastings (British)	Carpenter Arne Olsen
Boatswain Alf Ellingsen	Able Seaman Karl Bergland	Able Seaman Ingvald Godøy	Able Seaman Alf Nordskog	Ordinary Seaman Hjalmar Raknes	Ordinary Seaman Henrik Rabba (Estonian)
Ordinary Seaman Knut Malmquist (Swedish)	Ordinary Seaman Ole Moe	Ordinary Seaman Kåre Bentzen	Ordinary Seaman Warg Reinertsen	1st Engineer Otto Hansen	2nd Engineer Phillip Alexander Holst Quale
3rd Engineer Ragnvald Blomvik	4th Engineer Olav Fjærn	Electrician Sverre Tobiassen	Mechanic Olav Olsen	Mechanic Harald Pettersen	Mechanic Denis Aksnes
Mechanic Johannes Kjønø	Oiler Otto Damskog	Oiler Erling Johansen	Steward Paul Larsen	Cook Sjur Madsgård	Galley Boy Ong Poh (Chinese)
Mess Boy Arne Larsen	Saloon Boy Wong See Djou (Chinese)	Passenger Graham Moore (British)	Passenger Leslie Thomas (British)	Passenger Lawrence Ross (British)

Related external links:
Lillesand Sjømannsforening's website (Lillesand Seamen's Association) has a picture of Fernlane, along with pictures of several other Norwegian ships.

Commander Carlo Fecia di Cossato - with a link to a list of the ships sunk by this submarine.

Italian Submarine Operations in the Atlantic Ocean

Italy at War

Back to Fernlane on the "Ships starting with F" 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. other for cross checking details - ref. My sources.