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M/S Herstein To Herstein on the "Ships starting with H" page. Manager: Sigurd Herlofsen & Co. A/S, Oslo Built in Copenhagen 1939. Captain: Gottfred M. Gundersen Related item on this website:
Herstein is listed among the ships in Convoy BS 1 (external link), which left Suez on July 7-1940 and dispersed on July 10. She was one of the Norwegian ships that helped search for survivors of HMAS Sydney in Nov.-1941, but none were found (Pan Europe and Hermion were also involved in this search, and according to this posting on my Ship Forum, Nordnes and Ohio also took part). Sydney had sunk, and had herself been sunk (with a loss of all her men) by the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran on Nov. 19 (survivors from the German cruiser had been rescued from rafts and lifeboats southwest of Carnarvon, West Australia by allied ships on Nov. 24). My page about Hermion has some links to more details on Sydney's loss (incl. link to a complete crew list).
On Dec. 28-1941 Herstein, on charter to the Australian Government, departed Sydney, together with Cunard Line's Aquitania and M/S Sarpedon (also British). Together they carried 4250 troops and 10 000 tons equipment for reinforcement in the defence of Port Moresby in New Guinea. Four cruisers were escorting. The convoy (designated ZK5 - external link) reached its destination safely on Jan. 4-1942 and unloaded the cargo, whereupon Herstein continued to Rabaul, New Britain, which had been attacked by Japanese aircraft several times. She arrived the latter on Jan. 14-1942 to unload some general cargo that had been loaded in Sydney and Port Moresby (about 1200 tons). She had finished discharging on Jan. 18 and was moved in order to start loading a cargo of copra in all her holds the following day. On Jan. 20, after having loaded around 2000 tons of copra, about 100 aircraft attacked the harbour. At that time, Captain Gundersen was ashore visiting the agent's office, but he saw her being bombed. 3 dive bombers came down low and Herstein was hit by 3 bombs amidships, 1 of them exploding in the engine room, resulting in a fire that quickly spread all over the ship. Her anti aircraft guns were in continuous use, until the second bomb exploded in the bridge area, rendering both guns inoperable. The crew and officers had to jump overboard and swim ashore. The Swedish Steward Karl Thorsell was on his way down the gangway, but returned to the ship and was not seen again, so he was assumed killed in the bombing and subsequent fire. The rest of the crew made it ashore, but 1st Engineer Peter Brandal, Boatswain Gerhard Olsen and Cook Arthur Landhaug had to be admitted to a hospital, while another 4 had received minor burns. The crew members were accommodated at a hotel. In the course of the night Herstein drifted across to the other side of the harbour, and was still on fire the next morning. Total loss. That afternoon confirmation was received that the Japanese were preparing to land in Rabaul. Herstein's crew was given some money and advised to leave the city or try to get away from the island altogether. Those who were able to, proceeded towards the coast or up to the mountains. Captain Gundersen was separated from the others, and joined a group of Australians, then wandered more than 300 miles over land and along the coast for 78 days. Half of them died due to illness or hunger, some were killed by Japanese soldiers underway. The survivors were eventually rescued by an expedition from New Guinea and taken to Port Moresby. Captain Gundersen was picked up by a motorboat together with some British men and was later sent to Sydney, arriving on Apr. 26. Hearings were held there on Aug. 13-1942.
The rest of Herstein's crew members were taken prisoners by the Japanese. On July 1-1942 they were under transport on the prisoner ship Montevideo Maru, when that ship was torpedoed and sunk by the American submarine Sturgeon (SS-187), about 65 miles west off Cape Bojeador, Luzon, 18 37N, 119 29E. All on board died, incl. about 1,050 allied POWs en route to Hainan Island (position and numbers from Robert Cressman). My page "Merchant Marine Prisoners of War" has the names of, and details on Herstein's crew members who died when Montevideo Maru was sunk. One of the casualties was the Australian Saloon Boy James Tynan, who is commemorated at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra - follow this link Commemorative Roll Database. By using his last name as keyword, James Tynan will appear in the search result. He was 16 years old. (See also the fourth WW II plaque on this page). External websites with info related to the text on this page: More on those who died / Herstein - Norwegians only are commemorated at Stavern Memorial (as mentioned, see also my own Crew List). Website about Montevideo Maru - A detailed account, which also has this link to an interview with a survivor who indicates there might have been several more survivors than earlier reported. The sinking of Montevideo Maru - A section of The Australian War Memorial, includes a picture of the ship, and downloadable PDF files, one of which contains a list of some of the people who left New Britain on board Montevideo Maru (contains 168 names), the cover letter is dated Oct. 10-1945. The sinking of Montevideo Maru The forgotten prisoners of Rabaul - from the website Brave Women Back to Herstein on the "Ships starting with H" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Misc. sources, incl. "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, and "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume I - ref. My sources.
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