D/T Frontenac - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Summary of Captain William Thorsen's Report on Torpedo Attack - Oct.-1942:

William Thorsen had just recently survived the sinking of D/T Moira. His personal account of both incidents is included in "Menn uten medaljer". The Moira was torpedoed on June 17-1942 (follow the link to D/S Moira for the captain' story), and William Thorsen then joined Frontenac, probably at the end of Aug. that year. He starts his account by saying that just as they were about to depart on his first trip an American ship ran into them while proceeding up the Hudson River and they were delayed while repairing. He says she was a good ship, with a 4 inch gun aft, 2 Oerlikons and other armament amidships, and 2 aft. After repairs they proceeded to Curaçao, and then joined a convoy at Guantanamo (Cuba), bound for New York.

Frontenac was torpedoed by U-436 (Seibicke) while in Convoy HX 212 on Oct. 27-1942, was damaged but managed to reach Lamlash alone on Nov. 4. The whale factory Kosmos II was sunk in this convoy which had departed New York on Oct. 18-1942 (the Norwegian Abraham Lincoln was the Vice Commodore vessel).

Frontenac's cargo was 10 500 tons oil. The captain says there were 52 ships that went out to meet up with the other ships in the convoy off Halifax. 2 of them were Swedish according to him, but there's only one Swedish ship listed in this convoy, and only 45 left from New York, while another 7 joined from Halifax on the 21st (see the link above). The commodore, an elderly English officer had embarked an old English passenger ship, 2 corvettes were in front, 2 on each side and 2 behind them. Frontenac was in the 1st position in row 3* on the starboard(?) side, Kosmos II was inside her, while the floating factory Sourabaya (British, 10 107 gt) was in front of Kosmos II. For the first few days Newfoundland based aircraft were with them, and before the planes returned to base they warned the ships an attack could be expected around 30 ° W, as a Uboat had been observed every day. Captain Thorsen says the weather looked promising, with strong winds from north/northeast, with snow and heavy seas, causing them problems in keeping up with the 9 knot convoy speed, but at the same time reducing visibility for possible U-boats. By Oct. 27 they had reached 30° W, weather still "good" with hailstorms, strong northeast winds and heavy seas. Next to Frontenac was Kosmos II, playing "Ja vi elsker" (Norwegian national anthem) over the loudspeakers. That very morning they were told that a large group of U-boats was lying in wait ahead of them, and an attack could be expected that night.

*Note that Frontenac is, in fact, listed as sailing in station 12, which is the second ship in the first row - port wing of convoy. Kosmos II was in station 22 (in other words, right next to Frontenac) and Sourabaya in station 21, which corresponds with what Captain Thorsen says.

It appears that Frontenac was the first ship to be hit; the captain says he immediately saw Sourabaya in front of him, with her men trying to get away in lifeboats, then Kosmos II "stopped" a torpedo with her middle*. Just behind them was a small American ship in sinking condition (this was probably Gurney E. Newlin, though she was not small, 8225 gt). The captain claims that the 2 Swedish ships now turned all their lights on to illuminate the Swedish flag on the sides, and is furious that neutral ships were allowed in a convoy if they were to be permitted to light it up at the first sign of danger (again, note that these ships do not appear to have been part of the convoy, the neutral ships were sailing in the opposite direction - see the Commodore's report for HX 212). Sourabaya now came drifting towards Frontenac and all efforts went towards avoiding a collision with the out of control factory. There was no response in the engine room to orders, nor was there anyone at the helm, so the English radio operator was told to take over and managed to turn her away. Several lifeboats were "dancing up and down like nutshells on the enormous waves". Flames were shooting up from the front of the ship, and even when she emerged from a deep dive, the water had done nothing to extinguish the flames. He could hear the propeller "whip the water as if it were a Mix-Master". Finally, Frontenac made a giant effort to rid herself of the flames by performing a deep nose dive, and when she came out of it the flames were gone.

*According to Jürgen Rohwer Kosmos II was torpedoed (by U-606) a full 6 and a half hours after Frontenac was hit, making the date Oct. 28, then sunk by U-624 early in the morning hours of the 29th.

The next problem was the fact that Frontenac was so front heavy that the propeller was just whipping in thin air at the back, so they needed to make the front part lighter in order to help the aft part drop, thereby giving the propeller some water to work with again. Mate Arntzen volunteered for the job of going down in the foreward tanks to open the valves and start the pumps. The oil was thick, and flowed out very slowly, but by the next afternoon they were rid of about 1000 tons oil, though this operation had of course left a trail of oil in the water behind them, which could easily have provided a path for U-boats to follow. Damages on the ship were extensive, but she stayed afloat and for 7 days they sailed on, having initially headed straight south at full speed, which was no more than 4 knots while trying to empty the foreward tanks, but once that operation had been completed normal speed could be resumed. On the 8th night they estimated they were about 50 miles west of Ireland. The captain was extremely tired and irritable as he hadn't been out of his clothes or in a bed for the 7 days and nights. All of a sudden a large convoy appeared in front of them, and soon a destroyer came alongside Frontenac, but after having signalled who they were and their convoy number they were left alone again, while the convoy continued south. Later, they found out that they had encountered the Torch armada. Frontenac reached port with no further incident, but date and port of arrival are not given in this account.

According to an article in "Krigsseileren, Issue No. 4-1994 (by Ian Millar), Captain Thorsen, 1st Mate Sigurd Arntzen and Pumpman Emil Larsen all received "Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea" for saving their ship on this voyage. This article states that the torpedo struck the bow in the foreward deep tank which contained the fuel oil. A fire erupted under the forecastle head and the fuel oil exploded, but the fire was under control in an hour and a half. The article further states that 1st Mate Arntzen and Pumpman Larsen both went down into the pump room with a rope attached to them for safety and had the pumps going in a short time, with the result that the ship's head lifted, gradually allowing the speed to be increased to 4 knots. "6 days after the torpedoing they made contact with a destroyer which remained with Frontenac until she reached Londonderry". Follow link to Nyholt for a description of this medal and names of others who received it.

George Monk, England has told me that the captain, 1st mate and pumpman also received the following (his source: Seedies List of awards to the British Merchant Navy which includes awards to Allied merchant seamen):

Captain Thorsen - Hon OBE (Civ)
1st Mate Arntzen - Hon MBE (Civ)
Pumpman Larsen - BEM (Civ)

More Convoy Voyages:

On March 5-1943 Frontenac resumed service with a new forepart and continued sailing through the rest of the war. In May that year she can be found among the ships in Convoy HX 237 from New York to the U.K. The Norwegian Sandanger and Brand became stragglers and were sunk.

In July-1944 she's listed as sailing in Convoy HX 300 from New York; her destination is given as Milford Haven and Portsmouth. She must have gone straight back to the U.S. after unloading, because in Sept. that year she shows up in Convoy HX 307 along with 7 other Norwegian ships, namely Buenos Aires, Fagerfjell, Idefjord, John Bakke, Kaia Knudsen, Thorsholm and Stiklestad, all listed on this website. Frontenac was on a voyage to Clyde, station 62. Towards the end of Oct. that same year she's listed as sailing in Convoy HX 315 from New York.

In Jan.-1945 she was back in New York, joining Convoy HX 332 (in which Solør was torpedoed).

Related external links:
HX-212, 26 - 29 Oct 1942
U-436 | Günther Seibicke

Deaths on Sourabaya - (Norwegians only listed, Sourabaya lost 77 men, 81 survived). This website says that the first one listed, Oskar Arnold Dalen died following a war related accident in Liverpool in Nov.-1940, the other 2 died in a "war action", but no date is given for their demise. (Sourabaya was British, managed by Chr. Salvesen & Co., Edinburg).