D/S Selvik

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

Manager: Einar Wahlstrøm, Oslo
Tonnage: 1557 (1574?) gt.

I found the following in the 1941 section of a war time diary for the northeast of England (external site by Roy Ripley and Brian Pears):
"Friday, 18th/Saturday, 19th April,1941 - Co Durham. An enemy bomber attacked shipping off Seaham Docks. As a result of the attack a Norwegian seaman was wounded in the left arm. He was brought ashore at Seaham Harbour and conveyed to Sunderland Infirmary. He was from the 'SS Selvic' which had been lying off Seaham Harbour awaiting entry to the docks with other three ships. There was no damage to the ships". (Please be aware that not all info in these diaries is correct).

In Sept.-1941 we find Selvik in the westbound Convoy ON 19, bound for Iceland, station 26. In Dec. that same year she shows up in the westbound Convoy ON 43, bound for Iceland with coal. This convoy will be added to my Convoys section, in the meantime, see this section listing ships in all ON convoys

Reported to have sunk a U-boat, but did she?

Captain Johs. Pedersen Nesholt joined Selvik in Sept.-1941; he had commanded D/S Altair when she was torpedoed the year before. In "Menn uten medaljer" he tells a story which I've seen in a couple of other Norwegian sources as well. He says they were in Cardiff in Apr.-1942 when they were told to go to Canada for a cargo of lumber, carrying coal on the way over. The captain refused to undertake the trip across the Atlantic without proper armament (they were ordinarily in service on the coast of England), but Commander Robert of Naval Control in Cardiff felt Selvik wasn't sturdy enough for a gun to be installed. The captain kept pushing until he finally got his way, several guns were installed so that in the end Selvik looked like "an angry warship" whereupon they departed Glasgow on May 10-1942 to join a convoy. By the 2nd night 7 ships had already been lost to U-boats. Selvik lost the convoy and found herself alone on the ocean in the morning. That evening a U-boat was spotted and they proceeded to fire with their newly installed guns, getting a couple of direct hits (according to the captain's story). At that time one of the convoy escorts joined them, and Selvik kept going in order to try to catch up with the convoy, which she managed to do around midnight.

On arrival Halifax congratulations on their success awaited them, and they found out that 28 survivors had been picked up from the U-boat; whether she was sunk or damaged is not clear from this story. In fact, I've been unable to find a record of this incident. U boat net lists U-352 as sunk that month, but date is given as May 9, south-west of Cape Hatteras, by US Coast Guard cutter USS Icarus, 15 died, 33 survived, and as far as I can see that's the only U-boat sunk that month. However, my guess that Selvik was in Convoy ON 92 at the time has since been confirmed, though it would appear she did not sink a U-boat. This convoy departed Liverpool on May 6-1942. The dates are a little off in Captain Pedersen's story, but it's easy to remember that detail wrong so many years after the war. Convoy ON 92 lost 5 ships to U-boats on May 12, namely Cocle, Cristales, Empire Dell, Llanover, Mount Parnes, and 2 on May 13 when Batna and Tolken were sunk.

Gunners on Selvik in this period were John Emanuel Johnsen, Kyrre Johan Jensen and Edgar Olsen, though it appears the latter was not on board during this particular voyage. The other 2 were awarded Krigsmedaljen for their actions in the fight against this U-boat. I've also seen an eye witness account by someone who was on board Lisbeth at the time (which would indicate that Selvik was not alone on the ocean as claimed in the captain's story). This account clearly states that the men from the U-boat were seen coming out and a corvette picking them up (this fact is also recorded in Selvik's log). There's also a June 23-1942 report from Nortraship who, through the Dept. of Foreign Affairs had received a statement from Montreal saying that the U-boat was hit at close range by 3 shells, and that 28 survivors had been handed over to Canadian authorities. Did Selvik hit a U-boat at all during the passage, and if so, which one could it have been? If anyone has records of such an attack, please tell me. I can be reached via my Guestbook or through the contact address at the bottom of this page.

George Monk, England has told me that Captain Pedersen Nesholt received a British "Commendation", but I'm not sure if this was in any way connected to the above incident? (his source: Seedies List of awards to the British Merchant Navy which includes awards to Allied merchant seamen).

Selvik returned to the U.K. with the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 87 in June-1942, and in July she joined the westbound Convoy ON 112, bound for Halifax - will be added to my Convoys section, in the meantime, please go to ON 112 on this page. She went back to the U.K. the following month with Convoy SC 96, cargo of lumber for Mersey.

To Africa - Nov.-1942:

Captain Ulve? Selvik served as ammunition and supply ship for the Torch operations, commencing in Nov.-1942. She's listed as making a voyage from Oran to Gibraltar with Convoy MKS 3X on Dec. 5-1942. Later that month, on Dec. 26, she was at Bone when attacked by several aircraft. Most of the bombs went in the water due to the effective fire from the 2 Norwegian and an English vessel close by, but one bomb hit the English ship, which had a cargo of petrol, and it was immediately engulfed in flames. Selvik's crew could hear the screams and saw the gunnery crew fighting for life. Aboard Selvik a fire had developed in Hatch No. 3 and the captain ordered the crew to head for shore in the lifeboats. Shortly thereafter 1st Mate Gunnar Feiring asked for volunteers to go back on board, whereupon he and 9 others were able to save the ship. The attacks continued all through the day, and due to the constant explosions they were again ordered to the lifeboats, but again volunteers went back on board to save the ship.

Selvik was also attacked by aircraft at Bone several times from Jan 2-1943 and through Jan. 17 but escaped without damage.

All her gunners were Norwegian; these are named in "Tilbakeblikk" as follows:
Rolf Gunnar Caspersen, Odd Asbjørn Olsen, Johs. Kornelius Larsen, Knut E. Ross Bendiksen, Kristoffer A. Pedersen, Kristian K. Moldenæs, O. Storm Bogen, Kåre Henry Ek, A. Einarson Husabø, Selmer R. Olsen, Jørgen W. Moberg, Andreas O. Johansen, and John Johnsen was also still on board.

In March-1943 we find her mentioned in Convoy MKS 9, voyage Philippeville-Algiers - scroll down in the table on my page for that convoy. On Apr. 21-1943 she was in Philippeville and was again attacked by aircraft. This time a FAM mine (Fixed Aerial Mine) was used in her defence when a single aircraft was seen heading straight for her, and when swinging away to avoid it the aircraft ended up dropping its bombs in the sea, where they detonated without doing any harm. Just a week later Selvik was again in Bone when that harbour was attacked by aircraft in the evening of Apr. 27-1943.

According to the external website that I've linked to at the end of this text, Selvik was in Convoy OS 53/KMS 23 in Aug.-1943, voyaging from Clyde to Gibraltar in station 46 - follow the link for convoy details (the Gibraltar portion, KMS 23, will be added to my own site in due course - in the meantime, see the section listing ships in all the KMS convoys). The following month she made a voyage from Bizerta to Oran with Convoy MKS 25 - scroll down to the second table on that page.

On Oct. 4-1943 Selvik was 1 of 4 ships damaged by German aircraft in the eastbound Convoy UGS 18. She went out of the convoy, but when the damages proved to be minor she joined up again.

Selvik rescued survivors from D/S Sneland I in May-1945, follow link for details on what had happened to this ship.

POST WAR:

Sailed as Marg for A/S Wilhelms Rederi, Fredrikstad from 1947. Purchased in 1954 by A/S Raagan (Thorleif Lea), Haugesund and renamed Gatt. Beached near Hoek van Holland having sprung a leak in strong winds and heavy snow on Jan. 12-1955, voyage Rotterdam-Dunston. Refloated in July-1955, condemned and broken up.

Related external links:
OS and OS/KMS Convoys - As can be seen Selvik is listed in Convoy OS 53/KMS 23, as are several other Norwegian ships.

Back to Selvik on the "Ships starting with S" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Våre gamle skip", Leif M. Bjørkelund & E. H. Kongshavn, "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Menn uten medaljer", A. H. Rasmussen, and "Tilbakeblikk" - (see My sources for further info on these books).

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