M/S Segovia

To Segovia on the "Ships starting with S" page.

Crew List

Manager: Fred Olsen & Co., Oslo
Tonnage: 1387 gt, 2100 tdwt.

Built Newcastle upon Tyne 1922 (1921?).

Captain: Carsten E. Christensen.

Final Fate - 1940:

There seems to be some disagreement as to where Segovia was coming from when she was sunk. "Skip og menn" by Birger Dannevig says she was on a voyage from Portugal bound for Bergen with general cargo (oil, cork, wine and almonds) in Jan.-1940 (Norway still neutral). She passed Land's End on the 20th and is believed to have been torpedoed and sunk the next day off the west coast of Scotland. 23 had been on board, including 1 passenger. Another book, "Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam 1824-1962", by Charles Hocking, F.L.A. 1969, states: "The Norwegian motorship Segovia, with a crew of 22, left Lisbon on January 7th, 1940, and Oporto on the 17th for Bergen and Oslo. She was last seen in the latitude of Land's End on the 23rd and was considered to have been sunk by a German submarine".

The Oslo newspaper, Aftenposten from Saturday, Febr. 17-1940 has big fat headlines saying "British cruiser boards German ship in Norwegian waters" then "The Norwegian government protests in London, demands compensation and the handing over of prisoners". Most of the front page deals with the Altmark affair, and Finland/Russia operations are briefly discussed, but then another headline says:
"The Oslo ship Segovia must be considered lost, 22 sailors and 1 passenger have died" - then there's a picture of the ship with the caption "Segovia, photographed at Oslo a while back". The text reads:
"The shipowners, Den norske Middelhavslinje, said that there's unfortunately no longer any hope that the motor vessel Segovia could still be safe. Therefore, she must be considered a total war loss". Names are listed, and I've added them below.

Jan-Olof, Sweden has sent me a copy of another newspaper clipping saying that maritime hearings were held in Oslo on the day the article appeared, March 29-1940. The article agrees with Hocking's departure date from Oporto (Jan. 17), bound for Bergen, setting a course west of Ireland. Her cargo consisted of 140 tons oil, 45 tons cork, 530 tons wine and misc. other general, a total of 750 tons, as well as 80 tons bunkers. On Jan. 20, a report was received via Gothenburg Radio that Segovia had passed the southern point of England, and that was the last anyone heard from the ship. In the days around Jan. 27, drifting debris was observed, including cork. Also, the Danish steamer Harald reported that she on Jan. 28, in 57 57N 08 43W had seen a life ring and debris (cork). Additionally, Wilh. Wilhelmsen's Cubano had run across misc. debris on Febr. 10-11, in the area between 59 20N 15 14W and eastwards to 59 29N 13 10W. The article concludes with the suggestion that she might have struck a mine and sunk so quickly that no one had time to save themselves.

Jürgen Rohwer says that Segovia left Great Britain for Norway on Jan. 22-1940. He suggests she may have been torpedoed and sunk by U-55 (Heidel), though there's no report of the attack. Book 1 of "Handelsflåten i krig" by Atle Thowsen states that one of the survivors from U-55, Oberbootsmaat Friedrich Jacobi indicated that the U-boat had sunk 4 ships in the days leading up to her own sinking on Jan. 30, the times and positions pointing to Segovia having been sunk in the morning of Jan. 21, and the Norwegian Telnes on Jan. 19. The other 2 ships were the Swedish D/S Foxen and D/S Andalusia.

Crew List - No survivors:
Keep in mind that these were found in an old newspaper - I cannot guarantee accuracy

Casualties
† Captain Carsten Christiansen (Oslo)	† 1st Mate John Selmer Helm (Nøtterø)	† 2nd (3rd?) Mate Otto Christiansen (Fredrikstad)	† Carpenter Thor Hansen (Nøtterø)	† Able Seaman Arnt Winge (Skien)	† Able Seaman Nils Lassen (Bærum)
† Able Seaman Arthur Lauritzen (Glemmen)	† Able Seaman Kaare Olsen (Halden)	† Seaman Ole Olsen (Oslo)	† Chief Engineer Sigurd Syversen (Aker)	† 2nd Engineer Anthon Mathisen (Fredrikstad)	† 3rd Engineer Arthur Løkkeberg (Oslo)
† Deck Boy Eilert Eilertsen (Aker)	† Electrician Georg Gustavsen (Horten)	† Mechanic Sverre B. Larsen (Askim)	† Mechanic Anker Martinsen (Slemmestad)	† Mechanic Sigurd Berthelsen (Hvitstein)	† Oiler Odd Gunnar Svanberg (Halden)
† Engine Boy Dag Toresen (Oslo)	† Steward Jens Solberg (Oslo)	† Cook Gustav Sundfør (Flekkefjord)	† Messboy Tore Yndesdahl (Oslo)
† Ole Martin Garder Olsen passenger on board, probably from Trondheim, who came with Segovia from Lisbon (the website below lists him as "Able Seaman").

Related external links:
Those who died - This list is from the memorial for seamen in Stavern, Norway, and has added middle names and birth dates. 22 are named here, but the captain is not included. Also, the man who's listed as a passenger in the newspaper is down as an able seaman on this website.

Operations information for U-55

U-55

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The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Sources mentioned within text. (More details on these books in My sources).