D/S Tunni

To Tunni on the "Ships starting with T" page.


From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

Final Fate - 1942:

Scuttled at Soerabaya on March 2 (possibly the 3rd)-1942 (see Prominent for background history). Tunni had had a cargo of sugar since the middle of Jan.-1942 intended for the Persian Gulf, but she was held back by the authorities, possibly because the Americans wanted her for military transport to the Philippines. The captain was later told through the ship's agents Hodden & Co. that she would be controlled by the Dutch Government, who wished the captain and officers to remain on board. However, at the end of Febr. it was determined at a meeting of all captains that all the vessels at Soerabaya were to be scuttled to keep them from falling into Japanese hands, as any attempts to leave seemed hopeless. At another meeting on March 1 it was decided that Tunni was to be scuttled at 05:00 on March 3. On the day of this meeting all officers and crew were taken off the ship by Dutch Naval personnel. This happened without previous warning, so nobody was able to save any of their personal belongings. By then the destruction of the harbour had already started and it was in flames after oil and gasoline tanks had been blown up, resulting in burning oil flowing into the harbour, so they had to get ashore as quickly as they could. Therefore, none of Tunni's complement actually saw her being scuttled because access to the harbour was prohibited.

With the help of the Swedish Consulate at Soerabaya all stranded Norwegian seamen were accommodated at a house there, but were later placed in internment camps (from Dec. 12-1943?).

Related external link:
1 who died - Chief Engineer Albert Albrigtsen is commemorated at the memorial for seamen in Stavern, Norway (he died while interned).

Back to Tunni on the "Ships starting with T" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Vol II - (ref. My sources).