D/S Viva - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Owner: Skibs-A/S Viva
Manager: C. H. Sørensen & Sønner, Arendal
Tonnage: 3798 gt, 7260 tdwt
Signal Letters: LJWJ

Delivered on Apr. 19-1938 from Fredriksstad Mek. Verksted, Fredrikstad (287) as cargo vessel Viva to C. H. Sørensen & Sønner, Arendal, steel hull, 365.2’ x 57.3’ x 20.2’, 3798 gt, 7260 tdwt, 4cyl Compound steam engine (FMV) 353bhp, 11 knots. Transferred to Skibs-A/S Viva (C. H. Sørensen & Sønner, Arendal) on Apr. 21-1938.

Related item on this website:
On my "Find Old Shipmates" Forum there's a message from the daughter of the stoker on board Viva; she's interested in getting in touch with someone who knew her father, Arne Kristian Kristiansen Nordaas (might be identical to the Arne Kristiansen who's listed as carpenter in the crew list below?).

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3

Judging from the information found on Page 1 of the archive documents, it looks like Viva was in Calcutta when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. She had arrived there from Shanghai on Apr. 4, departing for Singapore on Apr. 18. Her 1941 voyages also start on that document and continue on Page 2, which also shows her 1942 voyages and some early 1943 voyages. The rest are listed on Page 3. Convoy information for some of these can be found in the table above.

Viva is listed in Convoy SL 135/MKS 22, bound for London with Government stores. SL 135 had started out in Freetown on Aug. 14-1943, joined up with MKS 22 from Gibraltar on the 26th and arrived Liverpool on Sept. 6; Viva stopped at Loch Ewe on Sept. 5. She's listed in the MKS portion, which can be found at MKS 22. See also the second table on my page about this convoy, which shows us that Viva had been with the convoy from Alexandria. Other Norwegian ships taking part in the combined convoy, which is available via the external link provided in the Voyage Record, were Borgholm, Bosphorus, Nyhorn, Spurt and Thalatta, all listed on this website - ref. alphabet index at the bottom of this page.

Later that month, she made a voyage to New York, having joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 204, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 28-1943 and arrived New York Oct. 15. Several Norwegian ships took part - see ships in all ON convoys. From the U.S., Viva headed to Port Said the following month - ref. Voyage Record above.

All 37 survived and were picked up in 13 00N 55 20E by the British S/S Marwarri (Captain Armstrong) in the morning of Febr. 11 and landed in Aden on Febr. 14.

Summary of Statements:

The maritime hearings were held in Suez on Febr. 29-1944 with the captain, the 1st engineer, Able Seaman Monsen and the 1st and 3rd mates appearing.

The captain was in his cabin when the attack occurred at 21:50 and was thrown bodily into the saloon by the force of the explosion, the ship listing 20-25° to starboard. There was an inrush of water, accompanied by fumes from the exploding torpedo. He got to his feet and went to the navigating bridge where he found the port midships lifeboat in the process of being lowered in charge of the 1st mate. After having assisted in launching the boat, the captain returned to the saloon with the intention of getting the ship's papers, but this was impossible due to the heavy fumes, so he proceeded aft where he joined the crew in No. 4 lifeboat which had been launched in the meantime.

All 3 boats had rowed about 1/2 a mile away from the ship before they at 22:15 observed the second torpedo hit, which appeared to break the ship in 2, the stern part going down first, followed by the forward part which rose out of the water and sank. At midnight, they stopped and divided the crew in equal numbers between the 3 boats.

The 1st engineer, who had been in the engine room, stated that a severe shock was felt when the torpedo struck, and water poured down the engine room skylight and ventilators. After having stopped the engines on orders from the bridge, he joined those in the port midships lifeboat.

The 1st mate was in his cabin and was thrown to the floor by the impact of the torpedo. In spite of the rush of water through the passageway, he suceeded in gaining the chartroom where he was requested by the radio operator to help start the main transmitter, but this could not be done.

The 3rd mate, who was on watch on the bridge, stated that he felt a heavy shock, accompanied by a spout of water which rose to a considerable height and he was thrown off his feet. After having rung down to the engine room to stop engines, and sounded the alarm bell, he proceeded aft to the port boat.

Able Seaman Monsen, who had been on lookout duty on the starboard side of the bridge, later proceeded aft to No. 2 lifeboat (starboard).

Jürgen Rohwer does not mention a 2nd torpedo.

U-188 was also responsible for the attack on Britannia the year before.

On my "Find Old Shipmates" Forum there's a message from the daughter of the stoker on board Viva; she's interested in getting in touch with someone who knew her father, Arne Kristian Kristiansen Nordaas (might be identical to the Arne Kristiansen who's listed as carpenter below?).

Crew List - No casualties:
* The Norwegian Scotia also had a Karl Hustvedt - same person?
Erviken had a Robert Dalstrøm
The name Ole Olsen shows up in several crew lists
(Augvald, Bolette, Bollsta, Hermod, Hill, Ingrid, Ole Wegger, Reiås, Rigmor, Trafalgar, Vinni and several others),
but is such a common name that it's impossible to determine which one, if any, is identical to the Ole Olsen below.
One of the able seamen on board had been torpedoed 3 times before this incident.

Captain Oscar Andersen	1st Mate Erling Ringdal	2nd Mate Rolf Jensen	3rd Mate Peder Pedersen	Radio Operator David Hunter (British?)	Radio Operator Olav Helgesen
Carpenter Arne Kristiansen	Boatswain Abraham Ekeland	Able Seaman Ole Olsen	Able Seaman Guttorm Monsen	Able Seaman Erling Berntsen	Able Seaman Bjarne Bonå
Able Seaman Ivar Sjånes	Able Seaman Jørgen Kjeding	Able Seaman/Gunner Robert Dalstrøm	Able Seaman/Gunner Jarl Kristiansen	Able Seaman/Gunner Harald Kleppe	Ordinary Seaman Henry Murray (British)
Ordinary Seaman Osvald Dyrøy	1st Engineer Carlsberg Andersen	2nd Engineer Rudolf Pedersen	3rd Engineer Leif Hansen	Donkeyman Johan Bjørklund	Stoker Sigurd Olaussen
Stoker Ove Corneliussen	Stoker Ingvald Thorsen	Oiler Maurice Meyers (British)	Oiler * Karl Hustvedt	Oiler Erling Lund	Steward Trygve Ness
Cook Perry Paulsen	Galley Boy Henry Price (British)	Galley Boy Ronald Tarten (British)	Mess Boy Geroge Woodham (British)	Mess Boy Eugen Ingebritsen	Saloon Boy Jarl Kristiansen
Passenger? Harald Brekke	Buesten had a mate by the name Harald Brekke.