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Manager: Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg Launched May 27-1936 by Akers Mekaniske Verksted A/S, Oslo (Yard No. 468), completed July 31. Captain: Halfdan M. Andersen Related items on this website: Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
As will be seen when going to Page 1 above, Tabor left Bergen, Norway on Apr. 7-1940, just 2 days before the German invasion - she arrived New York Apr. 20. According to the external website that I've linked to below, Tabor was in Convoy SL 101, which departed Freetown on Febr. 21-1942 and arrived Liverpool on March 15; Tabor stopped at Belfast Lough that day. Her cargo is given as potash and general, and she had station 61 of the convoy. Other Norwegian ships also took part (Dagrun, Drammensfjord, Elin K. and Tanafjord). The following month, she's listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 83, which originated in Liverpool on Apr. 4-1942 and arrived Halifax on the 17th. Tabor, however, was bound for New York, where she arrived Apr. 20, having sailed from Clyde on Apr. 4 - see Page 3. This convoy will be added to an individual page my Convoys section, but in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. On arrival New York on Apr. 20-1942, the following were on board (from "List or Manifest of Aliens employed on the vessel as members of crew", received from Walter Guthrie, son-in-law of William Doig - *Denotes those who were members of crew on last voyage to the U.S., the others were not. *Denotes those who were discharged while in New York): Also, there's a passenger, Diplomat Ivar Anders Andersen. Birger A. Stangvik, who signed on in New York on Apr. 27-1942, is said to have been left in hospital (with Boatswain Mathisen, who died, as already mentioned). The following also signed on: Tabor's subsequent voyages are listed on Page 3 (as can be seen, she left New York again on May 11-1942 for Table Bay and Aden). Convoy information for some of these voyages can be obtained by following the instructions provided at the external link below. Related external link:
Torpedoed southeast of Cape Agulhas by U-506 (Würdemann) on March 9-1943, position 38 30S 23 10E, while on a voyage from Port Said via Aden to Cape Town in ballast (200 tons salt). She had sailed from Aden on Febr. 22. The torpedo, which came from the port side, detonated in the tunnel in No. 4 hold and set the tunnel and engine room on fire. The elctrician was killed there, while the 1st engineer managed to get up on deck but was very seriously burnt all over his body. 1 man in the tunnel (Mechanic Sørensen?) was blown aft by the force of the explosion and was able to climb up the ladder. All electric lights went out and machinery was rendered inoperable. SOS was sent out with the emergency set, but this was not acknowledged. The survivors were able to get away in 4 lifeboats before a 2nd torpedo hit in the engine room (at 07:00, half an hour after the first one according to the captain's report), causing a tremendous explosion and fire, but when Tabor still didn't sink the U-boat started shelling her until she finally sank 2 hours later. The shelling had set the bridge and midships intallations on fire as well. After the ship had gone down, the U-boat came over to the lifeboats to ask the usual questions about ship and cargo. Several of the men were injured and were taken care of as best they could, the injured having been distributed in No. 4 boat (motor boat) and No. 3 boat. It was decided that these 2 boats should go on ahead in order to reach land as quickly as possible to get help for the injured. The 1st engineer died quietly the first evening and was buried in the sea the next day. The boats encountered stormy weather and high seas, so that boat No. 1 lost contact with the others. On March 17, No.'s 3 and 4 boats with 22 on board arrived Still Bay where the men were taken under medical care, then moved to Riversdale the same day. Mechanic Sørensen and Able Seaman Jakobsen were admitted to a hospital. Boat No. 2 arrived Cans Bay on March 18 with 10 survivors who were sent to Hermanus the following day. The men in the No. 1 boat had seen land in the morning of March 19, but that same day, when about 5 n. miles off land near Cape Agulhas, their boat capsized, and though all 12 had managed to get back in they were unable to keep the water out of it due to the heavy seas. They tried to row towards land, but in the cold water they eventually gave up and at 3 o'clock that afternoon Mechanic Foss Hansen died; by 6 o'clock another 9 were gone. The sea washed 6(?) of the bodies overboard, while the 2 survivors, 2nd Mate Devold and Able Seaman Vindnes desperately tried to reach land, until they only 20 meters from shore encountered a coral reef stretching as far as they could see in both directions. Too exhausted to row around it, they took the risk of heading straight for it and were thrown across by the seas (7 miles west of Cape Agulhas). They broke into an empty house they found where they slept till the next morning, when they met some soldiers who helped them get to Bredasdorp where they were given medical care, before being moved by ambulance to Fairmont Nursing Home in Cape Town. 12 had died, 34 had survived. Jürgen Rohwer lists Tabor as a steamship, but that's incorrect. He gives the position 37 30S 23 15E (also found in Lloyd's War Losses). U-506 gives his grid position at the time of attack as KY 9415 (37 27S 23 12E). Charles Hocking gives the date as March 7, position "about 250 miles south of Port Elizabeth". Crew List:
Related external links: Back to Tabor on the "Ships starting with T" page. Other ships by this name: This was Wilhelmsen's 2nd of 3 ships by the name Tabor. The first one was built in 1905, sold in 1924 to A. Bruusgaard, Drammen, later became the Greek To Kyma (1928), broken up in Italy 1933. The 3rd Tabor was built 1952, sold to Liberia in 1968, renamed Pelasgos in '69, broken up in 1972. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Wilh. Wilhelmsen fleet list, "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II, Norwegian Maritime Museum, and misc. as mentioned within above text - (ref. My sources).
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