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M/T O. A. Knudsen To O. A. Knudsen on the "Ships starting with O" page. Manager: Knut Knutsen O.A.S., Haugesund Delivered in Aug.-1938 from Deutsche Werft A/G, Hamburg (198) as O. A. Knudsen to Skibs-A/S Marie Bakke, Haugesund. At the time of delivery this was Norway's largest tanker. The building contract had been purchased from Unilever, Rotterdam. Captain: Knut O. Bringedal. A French visitor to my site has told me that O. A. Knudsen was seized off Algeria by French patrol boats on Apr. 12-1940 (just 3 days after the German invasion of Norway) and ordered to Oran. Released a few days later.
The first external website that I've linked to below lists O. A. Knudsen, bound for Clyde, in station 33 of Convoy SL 52 from Freetown in Oct.-1940. The Norwegian Høegh Scout is also listed. The following month (Nov. 20) she joined Convoy OB 246, bound for Capetown in ballast, station 73. Follow the link for more details. O. A. Knudsen is listed in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 125 in May-1941, bound for Barry Roads with cargo of diesel oil in station 83 of the A section of the convoy. In July that same year she can be found in Convoy HX 136, bound for Swansea with diesel oil, joining from Bermuda, then at the end of that month she joined the westbound Convoy ON 3, which left Liverpool on July 31. Her destintion is given as New York on that occasion. She may have returned to the U.K. with Convoy HX 147 in Aug./Sept-1941 (name is misspelt so I'm not sure, might also be Ida Knudsen, in station 112), along with the Norwegian Bralanta (in station 102), Nueva Granada (station 104), Bello (station 114), Solør (station 54), Sandanger (station 103, which means she was the 3rd ship in the 10th column, right behind Bralanta and in front of Nueva Granada), Slemmestad (station 95), Strinda (station 63) and G. C. Brøvig (station 44). Some of these ships, including O. A. Knudsen, subsequently returned to the U.S. with the westbound Convoy ON 20, which left Liverpool on Sept. 25. O. A. Knudsen was bound for New York, and had station 44 of this convoy. Towards the end of Oct. that year we find her in Convoy HX 156 from Halifax to the U.K., again in the company of several other Norwegian ships. The dawning of a new year was seen while in Convoy HX 167, leaving Halifax on Dec. 27-1941. Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Suderøy, Thorshavn, Bralanta, Meline, Noreg, O. A. Knudsen, Abraham Lincoln, Sandanger and several unnamed Norwegian ships. Related external links: See also this
O. A. Knudsen departed Port Arthur, Texas for Liverpool via Halifax on March 1-1942 with a cargo of Pool engine spirit in No. 1 to 5 and Pool Vaporising Oil in No. 6 to 9 tanks. Torpedoed by U-128 (Heyse) at 08:25 on March 5, about 85 miles from Hole in the Wall Light, Abaco Island. At the time she was on course 68° true from Hole in the Wall Light, sailing at a speed of 12 knots and zig-zagging, in moderate seas with a southeast breeze. The 3rd mate was on watch on the bridge, with Ordinary Seaman Risholm at the wheel, Ordinary Seaman Bentsen on lookout and Gunner Mikkelsen by the gun on the stern, while the captain was in the chart room. The torpedo struck on the port side in the pump room and the No. 6 wingtank, killing deckboy George Smith, who had been working on hatch 6. The engine was immediately stopped and boats launched. There was a problem with the port boat but the starboard boat and the motorboat (32 men) were succcessfully lowered. The captain, the 1st and 3rd mates, the 2nd engineer, the boatswain and Able Seamen Friestad and Mikkelsen as well as Johannesen (the latter was injured) stayed on board as the ship appeared to be doing well, and at 08:40 course was reversed and full ahead was ordered to the engine in an effort to reach land, heading for the Hole in the Wall Light at 9 knots. A new antenna had to be rigged up to send distress calls, but while this was taking place, at 09:30, a 2nd torpedo hit aft in the bunkers below No. 9 tank on the port side, blasting open most of the port side, so the engine was stopped and the ship abandoned at 09:40 in the port lifeboat amidships. At 12:00 the 2nd mate was ordered to sail the starboard boat towards land with the 24 men on board, while the motorboat and the port boat remained near the ship to see if she would sink. She had a list to port, but straightened up little by little until she was almost straight. At 13:30 the captain, the radio operator, the 2nd engineer, Boatswain Lunde and Able Seaman Friestad went back on board to try to send SOS, but there was no connection, so they returned to the lifeboat, then the 1st mate, the radio operator, Lunde and Friestad reboarded. A new antenna was rigged up and WAX (a civilian land station) was contacted with the following message: SOS de LJYJ torpedoed position 26 17N 75 50W Please send escort - WAX acknowledged, but no help was ever received, a fact that was strongly criticized later. The 1st engineer expressed the opinion, that the ship could have reached port under her own power, if aircraft or escort had been available to drive off the U-boat; instead the attacks were allowed to go on all day, without any assistance received. The men then picked up 45 gallons of petrol and left the ship, but stayed nearby until nightfall. At 19:30 the captain, the 1st engineer, radio operator, the boatswain, Able Seamen Lund and Eide and Oiler Sirkel went back on board to see if anything could be done to save the ship. However, at 19:45 the U-boats (the captain claims there were at least 2, 1 forward and 1 astern) started shelling the ship*. A surviors' report states the U-boats were lying off about 2 cables, opening fire at the rate of about 1 shell every 30 seconds, firing approx. 40 rounds out of which 10-20 struck the ship. Before the motorboat could come alongside the captain received shrapnel in his face, his side and his leg, the 1st engineer in both arms, the boatswain in his shoulder and arm, Able Seaman Lund in his eye, Able Seaman Eide in his head and oiler Sirkel in his nose. The after deck of the ship started burning, and shortly after the boats had gotten away the gasoline in the forward tanks caught fire and in a very short time the entire ship was ablaze, burning all night, but was not seen to sink. Course was set for The Hole in the Wall**. On Friday the 6th at 17:30 the lifeboat was spotted and they took it in tow. At 23:30 they reached land near the light, but due to the heavy breakers encountered they gave up trying to find a suitable landing place. At 02:00 on March 7 a schooner was sighted, the captain of which offered to tow the boats to Cornwall, Abaco Island, arriving at 07:20 that morning. The injured men were seen to by a nurse while waiting for a doctor from Nassau, but by the time the doctor arrived, Able Seaman Olaus Johannesen was not doing well and had to be left behind in Cornwall while the others continued to Nassau on the 8th. He died on March 10. Because of the bad weather and lack of transportation he had to be buried on the spot. An inquiry was held in New York on March 24-1942 with the captain, the 3rd mate, and Ordinary Seamen Risholm and Bentsen appearing.
Some of the crew members received British awards for their actions. The following was received from George Monk, England (his source: Seedies List of awards to the British Merchant Navy which includes awards to Allied merchant seamen): Captain Knut Bringedal - Commendation
In the book "Tusen norske skip" by Lise Lindbæk (1943) there's an Apr.-1942 radio interview with Able Seaman/Gunner Waldemar Lund who says he had escaped from the south of Norway in a small boat the previous Sept. and was subsequently trained to be a gunner in Canada. He confirms that he received shrapnel in his eye during the shelling from the U-boat and this blinded him. He says they were travelling alone at the time, and adds that George Smidt (spelt differently from my report above) was French, and that the seaman who died later on had previously been a miner at Svalbard and had left for England after the raid there. His story otherwise agrees with the captain's report above. After having received medical treatment at Abaco, a hospital ship from Nassau came to pick them up, and on arrival Nassau the Duke of Windsor was there to welcome them (I've also seen this mentioned in other sources; this was of course the former British king who abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson). The Duke was the Governor of Bahamas and personally provided them all with new clothes. Lund remained in a hospital for 2 weeks and had his eye removed. A footnote to this story says that there was an effort to take him out of service after this, but he vigorously opposed this suggestion, saying that one eye was quite adequate for looking down a barrel and taking aim, and he later sailed for many years as a gunner. Curious about this young man, I checked the book "Englandsfarten" which lists the small vessels that escaped from Norway to England during the war, and found him as the 25 year old skipper of the 22 ft open vessel M/B Fri which departed Søgne on Sept. 26-1941 with 5 people on board and arrived Sunderland on Oct. 6. The book has a detailed description of this harrowing journey. Others who came along were: Einar Kristiansen, David Skråvik, Håkon Stenmo and Frank Åvik, all from Søgne and all born in 1916. W. Lund later came to Lunenburg where he trained to be a gunner, then joined O. A. Knudsen on Dec. 24-1941 (together with Ole Severin Mikkelsen; this must be the very same Ole Mikkelsen who had escaped from Oran in a lifeboat the year before, see M/T John Knudsen After the loss of O. A. Knudsen, Waldemar Lund served on M/S Vanja, D/S Frithjof Nansen, M/S Titania, D/S Edvard Grieg and M/T Petter, all listed on this website.
Related external links: Knutsen OAS Shipping today - with a brief history of the company. To O. A. Knudsen on the "Ships starting with O" page. Other ships by this name: Eli Knudsen previously had the name O. A. Knudsen. Also, this company had previously had a steamship named O. A. Knudsen, delivered in Jan.-1907, 3531 gt. Torpedoed by UB 39 off Beachey Head on March 22-1917 on a voyage London-Cardiff, but managed to get to Southampton, repaired and re-entered service. Ran aground near Cape Pine, New Foundland on June 24-1923 on a voyage Sydney C. B.-Wabana in heavy fog. Total loss. Charles Hocking dates the latter incident June 30-1923, at Gull Island, St. Mary's Bay. Additionally, a tanker by this name was delivered in March-1951, 11 079 gt. Sold in Oct.-1960 to Mariehamn and renamed Ragny. Lost in Dec.-1970 east of Cape May, on a voyage Freeport-Trondheim. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Våre motorskip", Leif M. Bjørkelund & E. H. Kongshavn, article found in Issues No. 2 for 1975 of the magazine "Krigsseileren" (The War Sailor), "Tusen norske skip", Lise Lindbæk, "The World's Merchant Fleets", Roger W. Jordan, Axis Submarine Success of World War Two", Jürgen Rohwer, "Englandsfarten", Ragnar Ulstein, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II, (ref. My sources). Some details were found in a summary of statements by survivors, received from Tony Cooper, England (from British archives).
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