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D/T Mirlo To Mirlo on the "Ships starting with M" page. Manager: Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg Launched Nov. 29-1920 by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd., Newcastle (Yard No. 976), completed Jan. 31-1922. Captain: Oddmund Berge, later Olav R. Reinertsen. In Admiralty service (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) from 1940.
Mirlo is listed as sailing in Convoy HX 138 in July-1941, bound for Clyde, returning across the ocean the following month with the westbound Convoy ON 5, leaving Liverpool on Aug. 6-1941. She subsequently went back to the U.K. in Sept.-1941 with Convoy HX 148, along with the Norwegian Ørnefjell (55), James Hawson (83), Grey County (93), Stigstad (64), Idefjord (35), Egda (54), Vivi (76), and Herbrand (52), as well as the Panamanian Norvinn (Norwegian managers, therefore listed on this website, station 53, between Herbrand and Egda). In Oct.-1941 we find her in station 83 of the westbound Convoy ON 26, bound for New York, returning in the middle of Nov. with the slow Convoy SC 55, bound for Hvalfjord, Iceland. It appears she subsequently joined Convoy PQ 6 to Murmansk on Dec. 8, though British sources list the British El Mirlo in this convoy. However, as will be seen from this posting to a thread on my Ship Forum, El Mirlo was in another part of the world at that time. 2 of my Norwegian sources also state that Mirlo (Captain Oddmund Berge) served as oiler in Convoy PQ 6 to Murmansk in Dec.-1941. "Skip og Menn" by Birger Dannevig adds that this convoy was attacked by aircraft from Petsamo, and that by that time Mirlo had lost touch in a snowstorm, and proceeded to Murmansk on her own. Both sources claim she returned with Convoy QP 9 in March 1942, but as can be seen by following the link she's not listed in the Advance Sailing Telegram for that convoy. She is, however, listed as returning with Convoy QP 4 on Dec. 29 ("Convoys to Russia 1941-1945" by Bob Ruegg and Arnold Hague states that this was the British El Mirlo). See also the external link below. In May-1942 Mirlo can be found among the ships in the slow Convoy SC 83 from Halifax, in the company of several other Norwegian ships, as will be seen by following the link. Related external link:
Captain Olav Reinertsen. Mirlo was torpedoed starboard side foreship and sunk by U-130 (Kals) on Aug. 11-1942, 870 miles west-southwest of Freetown, position 06 04N 25 53W, on a voyage from Curaçao via Trinidad (for routing instructions) to Freetown with 10 300 tons fuel oil and diesel. She had departed Curacao in convoy on July 26, and arrived Port of Spain on the 29th. All 37 survived. This took place just two days after Malmanger had been torpedoed by the same U-boat. (Rowher gives the position 06 04N 26 50W).
In the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 1 for 1995 and in Issue No. 1 for 1971 I found articles describing the events surrounding the loss of Mirlo. As is common when 2 different people tell a story, some of the details are slightly different, so I've summarized one of the articles, then added the details of the other in a separate paragraph, where the information differs from the first article. The information in the second article appears to be identical to the details found in a report presented at the subsequent inquiry, held in London on Sept. 17-1942. Olaf Johan Oen says Mirlo departed Port of Spain in convoy on Aug. 1-1942 with 12 other ships. After having travelled 300 n. miles the escort left them and each ship continued according to individual instructions. On Aug. 3 at 14:45 the 2nd mate sighted a surfaced U-boat* on the port side. The alarm was sounded and he saw a torpedo approach but it passed in front of her bow, the ship having quickly turned to starboard. The gun crew fired a shot at the boat which immediately submerged. The captain now decided to not follow the original course but proceed more southerly while at the same time zig-zag'ing, altering course every 6 to 9 minutes, thereby being on the right course twice an hour. In the course of the afternoon the radio operator reported several ships in the convoy having been torpedoed.
On Aug. 11, when Oen came on 04:00 o'clock lookout duty he noticed a strong smell of oil and gas, and when daylight came they could see oil all over the ocean around them. They later found out this came from the torpedoed Malmanger. A few hours later, at 10:45 the officer on watch saw 2 torpedoes coming towards Mirlo, 1 of which missed due to evading maneuvers of the ship, the other hit in the foredeck followed by a horrendous explosion, tearing up the deck and flinging oil all over the ship. The donkeyman stopped the engine, and Oen, who was in bed at the time ran up on the boatdeck and helped launch the lifeboats. They succeeded in lowering 3 of them, but had problems with the 4th. The U-boat came alongside the boats, and when it was discovered that a man was missing, Kals gave captain Reinertsen permission to row back to the ship to search for him. While the other lifeboats were waiting for the captain's boat to return some of the U-boat crew came up on deck. 1 of them spoke good Norwegian so the ensuing conversation was easy to follow. The captain returned with the badly injured man and was then taken on board the U-boat where he was very politely treated. Kals apologized for having to sink the Mirlo, saw to it that he had the bandages and everything else he needed to treat the injured man, told them to convey his apologies to Malmanger's mate for having forgotten to give him the map he had promised him, and said he would send a telegram to the Admiralty with their position so that they could be rescued. (Kals already had two prisoners from Malmanger on the boat at that time - follow the link above for more info). Another torpedo was sent into Mirlo and she disappeared in seconds in a huge explosion of oil and flames, which for a while threatened the people in one of the boats. Oen praises the U-boat commander for his honourable behaviour towards them. He says the nearest coast was 780(?) n. miles away and the 3 boats headed for land. Bad weather caused them to lose contact with eachother on the 3rd day. On the 8th day Oen's boat (with 11 on board) saw land and at the same time a convoy appeared along the coast and they were picked up by a corvette. Oen says they stayed in Freetown for 10-12 days before being taken to England on a British troop transport, and most of the crew subsequently joined other ships. Some additional details from a report on the sinking: The rest of the report more or less corresponds to details in the above article, adding that the complete destruction of the radio room had rendered SOS impossible; that room had also been filled with crude oil in the explosion. Mirlo was quickly sinking by the bow, so orders to abandon ship were given, but while the port amidships boat was being launched a big wave came over it, filling it with crude oil, so only the 3 boats could be used. This report states that the last torpedo hit Mirlo when the captain's motor boat was half way between the ship and the U-boat after having fetched the injured ordinary seaman, hitting on the starboard side, a little forward of the after mast where the tank contained diesel oil, sending flames 200-300 meters in the air before the ship sank within seconds. Time is given as ca. 11:00, and position 06 04N 25 53W, distance from Freetown about 870 miles. With the help of the first aid items that Kals had given them the men in the captain's boat tried their best to take care of the seriously injured Ordinary Seaman Sverre Gustavsen, who had been on lookout duty on the chart house roof when the explosion occurred, but for the first 3 days he was in very bad shape, continuously throwing up blood, and they did not expect him to survive, but to everyone's surprise and relief he gradually improved. After 9 days, when they were about 108 n. miles southwest of Freetown, having sailed about 762 n. miles, the 10 men in the captain's boat were picked up by HMS Canna on Aug. 20 and landed in Freetown on the 22nd. The injured man was taken to a hospital where he was found to have a very severe skull fracture in addition to other injuries. The 11 men in the 1st mate's boat had been picked up by HMS Banff (Y 43) on Aug. 18 and landed in Freetown the next day. HMS Boreas had picked up the 15 in the 2nd mate's boat on the 18th, landed in Freetown on the 23rd. As mentioned, the maritime inquiry was held in London on Sept. 17-1942, with the captain, the 2nd and 3rd mates and the radio operator appearing. They had arrived London the day before.
Related external links: Back to Mirlo on the "Ships starting with M" page. This was the second tanker Wilh. Wilhelmsen owned by the name Mirlo. The first one was also torpedoed by a German U-boat, (U-117) but in the 1st World War; Aug. 16-1918, on a voyage New Orleans-London with gasoline and refined oil, half a mile south by east of Wimble Shoal Buoy, Cape Hatteras (9 died, the captain was among survivors). This ship had been completed in Aug.-1917, 6978 gt, and was placed under the management of H. E. Moss & Co., Liverpool (war requisition) with registered owner W. M. Cohan. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Wilh. Wilhelmsen fleet list, Articles in "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 1 for 1995 and in Issue No. 1 for 1971, "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II - (ref. My sources).
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