M/T Lincoln Ellsworth - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/T Lincoln Ellsworth

To Lincoln Ellsworth on the "Ships starting with L" page.

Crew List

Source: Bjørn Milde, Norway (from his own postcard collection).

Owner: A/S Laboremus
Manager: T. Dannevig & Co., Oslo
Tonnage: 5580 gt, 3205 net, 8340 tdwt.
Signal Letters: LCSN

Built in Gothenburg 1927.

Captain: Kristian Olsen.

According to the first external website that I've linked to at the end of this text, Lincoln Ellsworth sailed in Convoy SL 54 from Freetown in Nov.-1940. The Norwegian Norse King and Evita are also listed.

Final Fate - 1941:

Torpedoed forward of amidships on the port side and set on fire by U-94 (Kuppisch) on April 6-1941, position 62 37N 27 06W, while on a voyage alone from Reykjavik to Trinidad in ballast, having left Reykjavik on Apr. 5 (she had arrived there with Convoy HX 114). All 29 survived and were rescued from their two lifeboats two days later. According to the captain's report presented at the subsequent maritime inquiry the survivors in the boats had observed a 2nd torpedo striking forward of the engine room, whereupon she was shelled from both sides, before sinking by the stern about an hour and a half after the first torpedo had hit. (Rohwer mentions only one torpedo).

In the afternoon of Apr. 7 the 1st mate's lifeboat had been spotted by an aircraft, which dropped food and water down to them. The survivors in this boat were picked up near Sandar by HMS Skyrock, while those in the captain's boat were rescued by HMS Derbyshire that same day (Apr. 8?), also near Sandar. They were all landed in Reykjavik where the maritime hearings were held on Apr. 29, with the captain, Able Seaman Jonasson (helmsman), Ordinary Seaman Tørresen (lookout) and the 3rd engineer appearing.

There used to be a website entitled "Islandia" which no longer appears to be online. The text for Apr. 8 on that site mentioned that16 seamen from Lincoln Ellsworth were rescued that day by several small fishing boats out of Hellissandur.

Crew List - No Casualties:

Captain Kristian Olsen	1st Mate Martin Terjesen	2nd Mate/Radio Operator Anker Marthinsen	3rd Mate Peder Espeseth	Able Seaman Kåre Kim Mathisen	Able Seaman John Jonasson (Icelandic)
Able Seaman Olaf Holm (Danish)	Able Seaman Jens Møller Rømedal (Danish)	Ordinary Seaman Hans Mikkelsen	Ordinary Seaman Osvald Heggeseth	Ordinary Seaman Albert Tørresen	Ordinary Seaman Hjalmar Dahle
Deck Boy Samuel Scott (British)	1st Engineer Olav Olsen	2nd Engineer Hans Grava	3rd Engineer Knut Ågestad	Assistant Ludvik Meinseth	Trimmer Alexander Pettersen
Mechanic Karl Evensen	Mechanic Olaf Greibesland	Pumpman Jacob Risvold	Oiler Sverre Pedersen	Oiler Georg Hornmoen	Oiler Reidar Jacobsen
Oiler Nils Bokker Andersen (Danish)	? Tsen An (Chinese)	Steward Viktor Berg Melkersen	Cook Henning Smedberg	2nd Cook Chin Hing (Chinese)

Related external links:
SL Convoys - Mike Holdoway's new section on the SL and SLF convoys. He also has a section on the OS and OS/KMS convoys. As will be seen, Lincoln Ellsworth is listed in Convoy SL 54.

Operations Information for U-94 - As can be seen, this U-boat was also responsible for the sinking of several other Norwegian ships.

U-94 | Herbert Kuppisch

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Back to Lincoln Ellsworth on the "Ships starting with L" page.

The company later had another tanker by this name, built in 1948. The Clydebuilt Ships website has more details on this ship.