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M/S L. A. Christensen

To L. A. Christensen on the "Ships starting with L" page.

Owner: A/S Ulabrand
Manager: Hjalmar Røed & Co., Tønsberg
Tonnage:
4362 gt, 2516 net, 7890 tdwt.
Signal Letters: LCSC

Built in Hamburg, Germany 1925.

Captain: Arne Høst Olsen

According to the first external website that I've linked to at the end of this text, L. A. Christensen was in Convoy SL 69 which left Freetown on March 23-1941 and arrived Liverpool on Apr. 18. The same site has her scheduled to sail in station 43 of Convoy OS 13 in Nov./Dec.-1941, but did not sail. Other Norwegian ships were Finnanger, Siljestad, Velox, and K. G. Meldahl. She's also listed among the ships in OS 14 with several other Norwegian ships, and is again mentioned for the next convoy, OS 15 with a notation for the latter saying she did not sail (I would think because she wasn't back from her previous voyage yet?). She can also be found among the ships in Convoy OS 16, on a voyage in station 34 from Clyde to Freetown/Takoradi/Duala with war stores - follow the link for dates and more convoy details.

 Final Fate - 1942: 

L. A. Christensen departed Durban for New York in ballast on May 9-1942 (voyage from Karachi), but was later diverted to Philadelphia. Torpedoed starboard side between No. 1 and 2 holds by U-129 (Witt) at 13:50 ship's time on June 10-1942, 27 44N 63 54W, causing a tremendous explosion, blowing off the hatches and twisting the deck at No. 1 hatch. No SOS was sent out because the radio station was destroyed. The foreship started to sink immediately while listing heavily to port, and she sank vertically down in 10-15 minutes. By then all 31 had abandoned ship in 2 lifeboats and 1 motorboat.

The U-boat came up and took the ship's name off the rafts which were floating amongst the debris, then gave the survivors the position, and distance from Bermuda before taking off in a southerly direction.

The lifeboats set sail with a course for Bermuda. They were picked up at 08:25 the next morning, June 11, by the Norwegian D/S Bill in 28 01N 63 57W and landed at Bermuda on June 12.

Hearings were held in New York on June 23-1942 with the captain, the 2nd mate, Ordinary Seaman Nossum (helmsman), Ordinary Seaman Vistung (lookout) and the 3rd engineer appearing.

For info, her armament consisted of a 4" gun, 2 Hotchkiss, 4 P.A.C.'s and 1 Holman.

Crew List - No Casualties:

Captain
Arne Høst Olsen
1st Mate
Ove B. Hansen Sørhus
2nd Mate
Fridtjof Nilsen
3rd Mate
Vidar Albrektsen
Radio Operator
Asbjørn Halvorsen
Carpenter
Ferdinand Løsnes
Boatswain
Karl Halvorsen
Able Seaman
Rolf V. Scheie
Able Seaman
Jørgen Kieding
Able Seaman
Konrad Ånnøy
Able Seaman
Bjarne Arentzen
Ordinary Seaman
Reidar Vistung
Ordinary Seaman
Finn Nossum
Ordinary Seaman
Hans H. Hansen
?
Amos Everingham
(Australian)
1st Engineer
Harald Jahnsen
2nd Engineer
Kristoffer Ånondsen
3rd Engineer
Ludvig Kvale
Electrician
Guthorm Stensrud
Mechanic
Erling Halle
Mechanic
Hans Hansen
Mechanic
Ragnar Øksnes
Mechanic
Karl Karlsen
Oiler
Joseph Michelsen
Oiler
George Paton
(British)
Oiler
Agnar Martinsen
Steward
Alf Mathisen
Cook
Erling Nilssen
Galley Boy
Donald Duhamel
(Canadian)
Mess Boy
Henry Hughes
(British)
Mess Boy
James Galbraith
(British)

Related external links:
SL convoys and OS/KMS Convoys - As can be seen, L. A. Christensen is mentioned in Convoy SL 69, as well as in OS 13, OS 14, OS 15 and OS 16.

1 who died on board - Ordinary Seaman Håkon Johnsen is listed as having died on Sept. 10-1940 due to illness.

U-129 | Hans-Ludwig Witt

Back to L. A. Christensen on the "Ships starting with L" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume I - (ref. My sources).

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