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M/S Skjelbred To Skjelbred on the "Ships starting with S" page.
Owner: Skjelbreds Rederi A/S Built by Burmeister & Wains Maskin- og Skipsbyggeri, Copenhagen in 1937. Captain: Torjus Emil Johnsen Related item on this website:
Skjelbred is listed as sailing in Convoy HX 245 in June/July-1943, bound for Glasgow with general cargo, station 11. As can be seen when following the link, several Norwegian ships took part. She must have gone straight back across the ocean, because in Aug. that same year she was one of several Norwegian ships in Convoy HX 252 from New York (in which Santos was lost), destination is given as Leith Dock, general cargo and explosives, station 44. As it turned out, this was to be her last eastbound Atlantic convoy voyage, as she was lost when returning to the U.S. the following month.
Left Leith in ballast* on Sept. 12-1943 for Methil, then continued to Loch Ewe in convoy on Sept. 14, departing for New York the following evening in Convoy ON 202. According to a report I found in Issue No. 2 for 1974 of the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren", Skjelbred had station 102 in the convoy, while a visitor to my website says she was in station 108. The captain simply gives the station as "No. 2 on the right wing", so if there were 10 columns it would mean station 102.
At 02:20 GMT on Sept. 23-1943 she was struck on the port side between hold No. 5 and the after peak tank by a torpedo from U-238 (Hepp). At the time of attack she was on a course 260° true, sailing at a speed of 6.5 knots in smooth seas, but weather was overcast with poor visibility, some fog and no moonlight, so it was very dark, wind west force 3. There were 4 lookouts; 2 on flying bridge and 2 gunners on the after gun platform. There was a loud explosion which threw a column of water high in the air on the port side. The plates of No. 5 hold and after peak tank ruptured, water was leaking into No. 5 hold (eventually had 12' of water), the tunnel shaft and engine room, engines immediately stopped, the aft port lifeboat was blown away and the steering gear was broken. Several crew members attempted to abandon ship immediately after the torpedo had struck, but were ordered back on board by the captain. Emergency steering was applied and slow speed ahead with hard right rudder attempted after about an hour, but she went in circles to starboard, the rudder having been bent, so the engines were stopped again. She listed to starboard and was slightly down by the stern as she drifted back. Several messages were sent to the Commodore, advising him of her condition. Captain Johnsen planned to rig up an emergency rudder, but when the escorting British Northern Foam arrived towards morning, the 43 men from Skjelbred were ordered on board, under repeated protests from the captain who felt the ship could be saved and taken to the nearest port. However, as no escort vessel could be spared to stand by her, he had no choice but to obey orders. Skjelbred was left in a sinking condition with a list to starboard at 07:10 GMT (53 18N 40 24W), but was not seen to sink . They were landed in St. John's on Sept. 26, where the maritime inquiry was held on Sept. 29 with the captain, the 2nd mate, the 1st and 3rd engineers, Able Seaman Alexandersen (lookout) and Able Seaman Saltnes (helmsman) appearing. The captain later travelled to New York by train, arriving there on Oct. 2. The captain later stated that Skjelbred, being capable of 16-17, should not have been placed in such a slow convoy. After departure Loch Ewe speed had been 9.5 knots, but when other ships joined, the speed was reduced to 6.5 knots (Convoy ON 202 and Convoy ONS 18 had joined up). Several ships were sunk in this convoy - follow the link provided above to Convoy ON 202 for more information, including a report on the passage of ON 202 / ONS 18 (many Norwegian ships took part); see also my page about Oregon Express, as well as the external link at the end of this page. Crew List - No casualties:
Related external links: Convoys ONS-18/ON-202 - article. The Australian War Memorial has a picture of this ship. It can be found by running a search through their collection search page. NOTE: Rohwer has this ship listed as a steam ship. The strange thing is that he also has a Skjelbred with the same tonnage listed in his other book, "Allied Submarine Attacks" (again as a steam ship), under the name Wartheland, damaged on May 17-1943 by an unexploded torpedo from the Russian submarine S-56 (Shchedrin), position 70 49N 29 34E. It would appear from this she was under German control in May-1943, yet torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic in Sept.-1943? I also have some information that the Norwegian M/S Falkanger, seized by the Germans in April-1940 while building, was completed as Kriegsmarine target ship Wartheland. There's obviously some confusion with regard to Skjeldbred/Falkanger/Wartheland, but a posting to my Ship Forum comes to the rescue. It says there were 2 Wartheland, one being the Falkanger listed on my F-page. The author of this posting also gives information on another Wartheland, built in 1907, 3716 gt (G. Freymann, Danzig) and this is the one that was torpedoed by S-56 in Kongsfjord on May 17-1943 (the entry in "Allied Submarine Attacks" with regard to Skjelbred must be an error). According to the forum message, this ship was also damaged by bomb off Petsamo on Jan. 30-1944, involved in a collision off Kirkenes on Apr. 29 that same year, and sunk in an air attack in Eidsfjord on Dec. 12-1944. The website "Sjømennenes Minnehall" (Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway) has listed a casualty on a D/S Varteland, after a bomb attack at Nordfjordeid in Dec.-1944, see link below. Related external link: Back to Skjelbred on the "Ships starting with S" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II and misc. (ref. My sources).
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