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D/S Ingerfem To Ingerfem on the "Ships starting with I" page. Owner: A/S Inger Built by William Doxford & Sons Ltd., Sunderland in 1912. Previous names: Athamas until 1916, Øvre until 1931. Captain: Johan H. Johnsen
His source: Public Records Office, Kew). On charter to British Empire Steel Products Co. Ltd.
In March-1939 we find Ingerfem in New Orleans, leaving for Hull on the 10th, arrival Hull Apr. 3, departing again in ballast on the 15th for Sydney N.S., arriving May 5. A little over a week later she proceeded to Newport, cargo of steel billets, with arrival May 24, then made a voyage in ballast to Murmansk at the end of that month, from there to Antwerp, cargo of Apatite ore, and back to Murmansk in July, then to Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Pernis (arr. the latter July 23) and Leningrad, then on to Antwerp (with pit props), bringing us to Aug.-1939. Towards the end of that month she made a voyage to Archangel (arr. Sept. 5), on to Velsen, then to Quebec with arrival Nov. 23. A few days later she proceeded to Sydney N.S, then on to Aarhus(?).
In Apr.-1940 she was in Baltimore, continuing to Halifax with arrival Apr. 26. There's a note here saying she was time chartered by Ministry of Shipping, to be delivered on May 10 at Halifax. She left Halifax with 2000 standards of timber for the U.K. on May 28-1940 with Convoy HX 46, and it looks like her cargo was discharged at Garston(?). She was also degaussed before heading back to Sydney N.S. at the beginning of July (Convoy OB 178, which left Liverpool on July 3, dispersed on the 7th - see external links below), returning to the U.K. at the end of that month with Convoy HX 62 from Halifax (departure July 31), cargo of pitprops. She arrived Grangemouth on Aug. 19. Some repairs were done at Leith in this period, completed Sept. 5, before she again started on a voyage in ballast to Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 8, arriving Sept. 26 (she's listed in Convoy OA 211, station 64 at the external site below, however, another section of the site has her in OA 212, which left Methil on Sept. 9, dispersed on the 13th). She continued to St. John's on the 29th, w/arrival Sept. 30. Again there's a note in the document saying she went in for repairs on Oct. 4, completed Oct. 25, but I'm not sure where these were undertaken and why. She went back to Sydney, C.B. again on Nov. 11 in order to join Convoy SC 12, which left on Nov. 13 and arrived Liverpool on Nov. 29-1940. Ingerfem anchored at Greenock on Dec. 1. (See also Convoy FS 368 below). Christmas Eve 1940 was spent in Immingham, where some rapairs were completed on Jan. 16-1941. Related external links: See also this chronological list of
She left Imminham in ballast on Jan. 28-1941 (see Convoy FN 395 below), anchored at Methil Roads Febr. 2, sailed the next day (see Convoy EN 66 below), arrived Loch Ewe on Febr. 5, sailed Febr. 10 for Halifax (listed in Convoy OB 283, also available via external link below) with arrival Febr. 24. Her final destination was Tampa, where she was due around March 3, but she was involved in a collison (with Uranienborg?) - date looks like Febr. 25 - and sustained damage to plates. A survey done in Halifax showed that she was extensivley damaged and was sent to New York on March 2 for repairs, arrived March 5, expected to be completed around March 24. This date was later changed to Apr. 6, and she finally arrived Tampa on Apr. 13. On Apr. 19 she sailed for Halifax (arr. Apr. 30) and joined Convoy HX 125A for Liverpool on May 6, cargo of phosphate in station 55 (having been cancelled from the previous convoy, HX 124 which left Halifax on Apr. 30 - she may have missed it). Ingerfem later continued to Garston where she arrived on May 24, leaving again on June 1 for Botwood to load 6100 tons of zinc concentrates, joining Convoy OB 330 (also available at the external link below - Ingerfem arrived St. John's on June 13). On June 26 she left Botwood for Halifax, arriving June 30, continued to Sydney N.S. with arrival July 4, then left on July 12 with Convoy SC 37 which arrived Clyde on July 28. Ingerfem's destination was Avonmouth, where she arrived on July 31 - it looks like she had stopped by Belfast Lough from Convoy SC 37, because she's listed in Convoy BB 54 from there on July 28 (link below). She was ready to leave again on Aug. 8, and sailed for Wabana to load 6100 tons of iron ore, arriving Aug. 28 (westbound Convoy ON 7). Minor repairs undertaken there were expected to be completed on Sept. 3. On the 7th she left Wabana to head back to the U.K. with Convoy SC 43, and again it looks like she stopped by Belfast Lough, because she shows up in Convoy BB 78 from there on Sept. 21. She arrived Cardiff on Sept. 22-1941, continuing to Port Talbot on Sept. 23. On Oct. 7 she departed Port Talbot for Montreal, where she arrived on Oct. 31, having sailed in the westbound Convoy ON 25* (left Liverpool on Oct. 10, dispersed on Oct. 24). She left again on Nov. 16 for Sydney N.S., then departed on Nov. 22 in Convoy SC 56 (cargo of grain, rolled oats and coal), arriving Loch Ewe on Dec. 8, later continuing to Hull with arrival Dec. 16. (She's listed in the local Convoys WN 216 and WN 53, as well as in Convoy FS 673 in this time period - links below).
Related external links:
Left Hull on Jan. 6-1942, and joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 57* (departure Liverpool Jan. 13, dispersed Febr. 7), arrived Freeport on March 22. Intermediate voyages here are given as follows: Arr. Methil Roads Jan. 10 (see Convoy FN 599), sailed Jan. 11 (see Convoy EN 31 below), arr. Loch Ewe Jan. 13, sailed Jan. 18, arr. Hampton Roads Febr. 12 (repairs expected completed Febr. 16), sailed Febr. 19, arr. Galveston Febr. 28, collision damage, repairing at Galveston, sailed March 21. (Re-allocated Gulf Febr., 5727 tons sulphur). She left Freeport on March 25 for Hampton Roads, arr. Apr. 4. There's a note in the document saying she was detained w/engine trouble, but I'm not sure whether this happened while in Hampton Roads? She sailed again on Apr. 16, arr. New York Apr. 17, continuing to Halifax Apr. 18 with arrival Apr. 20 (see Convoy BX 8 below), subsequently joining Convoy SC 81 on Apr. 23, arriving Garston on May 11. Another note says that voyage repairs (in Garston) started May 13, completed May 17. The following day she left Garston for Wabana (joined the westbound Convoy ON 96* for this voyage - left Liverpool on May 19, arrived Halifax on June 7), arrival Wabana June 2. She loaded 6200 tons of iron ore, before leaving Wabana on June 7 for St. John's, then returned to Loch Ewe with arrival June 20 (listed in the Newfoundland section of Convoy SC 86). She now shows up in a couple of local convoys, namely WN 299 and FS 837 - links below. There's mention of some boiler defects, which were repaired at Aultbea, as well as Middlesbrough, completed July 2, whereupon she departed Middlesbrough on July 9 - see Convoy FN 755 below (via Loch Ewe July 12-13 - see Convoy EN 109) in order to return to Wabana with arrival there on July 25, having sailed in the westbound Convoy ON 112*, which left Liverpool on July 13. On the 31st she proceeded to St. John's, from whence she sailed on Aug. 2 with 6200 tons iron ore, arriving Loch Ewe on the 14th with Convoy SC 94, then later continued to Middlesbrough where she arrived on Aug. 18 (she's listed in Convoys WN 323 and FS 884 in this time period). SC 94 had lost 11 ships - follow the link for more details. See also external link below. She's now appears in Convoy FN 795, and it looks like she subsequently travelled to Loch Ewe - see Convoy EN 129 below - joining the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 126 at the end of Aug., station 53 - several other Norwegian ships took part, follow link for dates and cruising order (convoy will be updated with more info). Ingerfem arrived Halifax on Sept. 16, where it looks like some repairs were undertaken again, before she continued to St. John, N.B. on Sept. 27 (see Convoy HF 3 below), arriving Sept. 29. On Oct. 2 she left St. John for Halifax where she arrived on the 4th (see Convoy FH 4), then sailed on Oct. 6 with the Halifax portion of Convoy SC 104, which had originated in New York on Oct. 3. This convoy was attacked and several ships were sunk, including Fagersten and Senta (see also link to Potentilla below), but Ingerfem made it safely to Gravesend on Oct. 28 (she's listed in the local Convoys WN 353 and FS 944 in this time period). On Oct. 31 she was again ready to leave Gravesend, arrived Leith Nov. 3/4 (see Convoy FN 854) for repairs which were completed on Dec. 7. There's now a gap in the dates - she arrived Loch Ewe on Dec. 23/24 (in fact, she's listed in Convoy EN 176) and according to her movement card, she sailed again in ballast for Halifax on the 25th, while Norwegian sources say she sailed on the 24th. Further developments have been noted in the next paragraphs.
Related external links: The battle for SC 94 Group Wotan and the Battle for Convoy SC 104 - Article with a very detailed description of the convoy battle (a section of Rob Fisher's Home Page).
Ingerfem left Loch Ewe in ballast for Halifax with Convoy ON 156 on Christmas Eve-1942 (see * below), but had engine problems and lost touch with the convoy after three days. In the afternoon of Dec. 29 two British aircraft signalled that it would return that evening with instructions as to whether she should continue to Canada or return to Scotland (due to the engine problems), but the aircraft did not return. Instead Ingerfem was spotted by U-631 (Krüger) which sent a torpedo into her at 10:30 that evening. This is stated by the sole survivor, Gunner Ole Næss, at the Maritime hearings, so it's probably ship's time(?). Most of the crew went in two lifeboats, while the captain, 3rd mate and a Norwegian gunner were seen struggling with a 3rd lifeboat from the bridge, but before they succeeded in lowering it the ship broke in two and sank, 59N 21W, 5 mins after the torpedo had detonated. One of the lifeboats with 33 men in it was later lost. The other also had problems in the bad weather. It kept taking in water and the 8 men in it struggled to keep it going for 3 days, until it capsized on Jan. 1-1943. All 8 managed to get into it again, but 7 of them had simply lost their desire to go on, and 1st Mate Otto Andreas Jacobsen and 2 crew died that same day, standing upright in the boat. 7 more days went by, with the boat continuously taking in water and it turned over yet again. The 5 remaining men again managed to straighten it out, but that night 4 of them died, leaving Ole Næss alone in the boat. He managed to "bury" the dead in the sea, but it had all been too much for him and he jumped overboard. A wave immediately washed him back into the boat. He drank large amounts of seawater in an attempt to end his life, but that didn't succeed either. On Jan. 11-1943 he was spotted about 500 n. miles west of Scotland by the American fruit carrier Steemac**. He was unconscious in the boat, and couldn't be straightened out so he was lifted in a sitting position onto Steemac, where the doctor on board gave him the best care possible, until he could be taken to the hospital in Ards District, County Down on Jan. 13, suffering from severe shock and salt water sores. There, he was nursed back to health again, though his legs for a long time were threatened by gangrene, but he was spared from amputation. He was 20 years old. 40 of his shipmates had died.
Crew List:
Related external links: Back to Ingerfem on the "Ships starting with I" 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. as named within above text (ref. My sources).
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