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Owner: Esito D/S A/S Built as Skogstad by Robert Thompson & Sons Ltd., Sunderland in 1906, 346.5' x 50.9' x 23', Triple exp. 3 cyl. 1500 bhp (J. Dickinson & Sons Ltd.). Captain: Guttorm Jacobsen
Victo, with a cargo of lumber, is listed in station 91 of the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 48 in June-1940, having been cancelled from the previous convoy, HX 47. Towards the end of Aug.-1940 we find her mentioned as scheduled for Convoy OA 206, which left Methil on Aug. 29, but she did not sail. See external link below. A couple of months later, at the end of Oct.-1940, she's listed as sailing in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 9, cargo of lumber for Tyne. Towards the end of Febr.-1941 she's listed, with a cargo of steel and lumber for West Hartlepool, in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 24. In Aug. that year she was 1 of 14 Norwegian ships in the westbound Convoy ON 4; her destination is given as St. John's and she had station 34 of the convoy - follow links for further details. Related external link:
Victo left London for Southend in ballast on Nov. 6-1941, then departed Southend the following day in convoy for Tyne. At about 23:30 on Nov. 8, when off Flamborough Head, she was bombed by German aircraft, 54 19 50N 00 15 45W. According to the captain's report the convoy was very scattered at the time and they had no escort. The convoy had also been attacked earlier that afternoon, so the men who operated Victo's guns were ready and fired back when the aircraft was spotted. 3 PAX rockets were fired as well as a few rounds with the 2 Hotchkiss guns and Twin Merlin. At about the same time 3 heavy explosions occurred, 1 in the waterline on the port side, 1 in the bottom of No. 3 hold and a 3rd in the sea on the starboard side. The wheelhouse and upper bridge collapsed, the engine stopped and the lights went out, steam and smoke poured out of the engine room and boiler room, and a 4' wide fracture could be seen in the deck and on the port side of the ship, right across at the forward part of the boiler room, and she was listing heavily to port. After the crew had gotten away in 2 lifeboats they discovered that 5 men were missing, so the captain and 2 volunteers (1 of whom was Ordinary Seaman Reinholdt Jenssen) went back on board and tried to get into the engine room to look for them but had to withdraw because of the hot steam. The bombs were still falling around the ship when they returned to the lifeboat, but while the men in the port boat were being assisted by a British ship, the captain, Boatswain Haveland and 3rd Engineer Hansen reboarded Victo and this time Donkeyman Karlsen and Stoker Andresen were found. They had managed to get up on deck themselves. On the second attempt at entering the engine room, another, badly burnt shipmate was found (1st Engineer Pedersen). They rowed across to the British S/S Lottinge where the injured men were hoisted on board. Victo had now broken in 2 and the forepart had sunk, but the after part remained afloat. They rowed around the wreck in the hopes of finding the other missing men, but none were found so they left at 02:00 (Nov. 9). The survivors in the port lifeboat were picked up by S/S Skipjack, while the others were picked up by Lottinge; all were landed in Tyne later that morning, where the 3 injured men, as well as Ordinary Seaman Didriksen were taken to a hospital.
The maritime inquiry was held in Newcastle-on-Tyne on Nov. 12-1941 with the captain, the 2nd mate, Able Seaman Reinholdt Jenssen, and the carpenter attending. The 2 who could not be found were assumed killed immediately in the boiler room. Full report and survivors' statements are available on Page 2. A visitor to my site has told me that "Shipwreck Index of the British Isles" says Victo lies off Scarborough today. Also, Ron Young has written about this ship in his "The Comprehensive Guide to Shipwrecks of the East Coast 1918 to 2003". He states that the bow section is located 4.10 n. miles NE from Scarborough Rock at a depth of 47m (fairly intact), while the after part drifted for over a mile before going down and is located 2.43 n. miles E from Scarborough Rock at a depth of 30m (collapsed and broken up), a popular diving site today. Crew List:
* Paul Harkestad had escaped from Norway with M/B Fred / Fri in Sept.-1941. Related external link: Back to Victo on the "Ships starting with V" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Damp - Dampskipets æra i Vestfold" (pre war history), "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II (Norwegian Maritime Museum), and misc. (ref. My sources).
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