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D/S Marianne To Marianne on the "Ships starting with M" page. Owner: A/S Nesjar Delivered in July-1920 from T. van Dnijvendijk, Lekkerkerk, Holland as Haraldshaug to D/S A/S Haug (A/S Merctor), Haugesund. (Tonnage is given as 1920 gt, 1112 net, 3150 tdwt in "Våre gamle skip"). 265.4' x 42.4' x 18.6', tripe exp. 207 nhp (Hardinxveld). Sold in Sept.-1928 to Sigurd Brekke, Bergen and renamed Nygaard. Company went bankrupt in Apr.-1930 and the ship was sold the following month at auction together with A. W. Brekke (ex Elida Clausen) to A/S Nesjar (Eilert Lund), Bergen and registered as Marianne. Captain: Henning Drevik Marianne is listed in Convoy RU 14 from Reykjavik to the U.K. in March-1942, but returned to port and later joined the next convoy, RU 15. The Norwegian Hildur I is also listed in RU 14, and Fidelio sailed with Marianne in RU 15. In May that same year we find Marianne, carrying vehicles and bound for Cardiff, in Convoy RU 22 from Reykjavik. She also appears to have been scheduled for Convoy RU 32 in July, but did not sail, nor does she show up in any of the subsequent convoys.
Marianne was 1 of 5 ships sunk in a convoy which was attacked by the 4th S-Flottille (Bätge) on Dec. 12-1942. She had departed Rochester in ballast on Dec. 10, arriving Southend that same day where she joined a convoy for Sunderland, leaving in the morning of Dec. 12. A visitor to my website has told me she was in Convoy FN 889. Torpedoed by S-63 (Block), 345° 2 miles from No 4 Buoy, Lowestoft, causing her to list heavily to port, while a tremendous amount of steam made it impossible to get from the bridge to the boat deck for a while. The wheelhouse was blown away and the alarm didn't work. Some had been blown overboard by the explosion, which occurred in the stoker room amidships, others had to jump into the water and swim away when the ship capsized on top of the port lifeboat which had been launched by 1st Mate Werge (the officer on watch), Able Seaman Taarland (helmsman at the time) and Radio Operator Spjutøy. On the bridge when the attack occurred were also the captain, Able Seaman/Gunner Tjøtta and Gunner Hutchkins, while Able Seaman Steffensen and Gunner Anderton, who were both killed, were on watch aft. The ship went down in about 1 to 1 1/2 minute. The captain and 5 others found 2 of Marianne's rafts which somehow had gotten connected to each other, and were on these for about 2 hours before being picked up by a British ML and later landed in Great Yarmouth. Others were picked up by various vessels that came to; another 4 were also landed in Great Yarmouth, while 6 were landed in Newcastle. Able Seaman/Gunner Rasmussen had last been seen drifting off on some debris. Those who were on the rafts attempted to get to him, but it was impossible to reach him. He called out to the captain, saying he had lost his leg. The men in the engine room were assumed killed on impact. Maritime inquiry was held in London on Dec. 16-1942 with the captain, the 1st mate, Able Seaman Taarland and Able Seaman/Gunner Tjøtta appearing. The 1st mate stated that the water was full of people, not only from Marianne, but also from other ships* that were struck after she had been attacked (she was the first ship to be torpedoed). Able Seaman/Gunner Tjøtta, who had been on watch by the machine gun on the starboard side of the bridge, had been blown overboard by the blast and clung to various debris until he was picked up by a lifeboat from a Greek ship, then transferred to a British rescue vessel and taken to Gt. Yarmouth.
Marianne was the last Norwegian shipwreck in the English coastal trade in 1942.
Related external link: Back to Marianne on the "Ships starting with M" page. Denmark lost a steamship by this name to a mine in the Sound on May 28-1946 - built 1924, 1239 gt. Eilert Lund later had 2 more ships named Marianne - information on one them can be found in a thread on my Ship Forum, starting here. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Våre gamle skip", Leif M. Bjørkelund & E. H. Kongshavn, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II (Norwegian Maritime Museum) and misc. (ref. My sources).
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