Ranja
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Ranja | ||
| Type: | Motor tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 6.355 tons | ||
| Completed | 1928 - Götaverken A/B, Gothenburg | ||
| Owner | Hagb. Waage, Oslo | ||
| Homeport | Oslo | ||
| Date of attack | 17 Mar, 1942 | Nationality:  Norwegian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-71 (Walter Flachsenberg) | ||
| Position | 38.00N, 65.20W - Grid CB 4941 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 34 (34 dead - no survivors) | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Houston - Halifax - UK | ||
| Cargo | Petroleum | ||
| History | On 23 Jan, 1941, the Ranja (Master J. Nicolson, British) was one of five Norwegian ships that left Sweden to escape to Great Britain (Operation Rubble). The tanker was attacked by German aircraft one day after leaving Gothenburg in 58°45N/04°10E, wounding the Swedish first mate Nils Rydberg who died of wounds in a hospital after all ships arrivied in Kirkwall on 25 January. He was post humously awarded Order of the British Empire. The ship carried a crew of 26 men, 15 of whom were British mostly from ships that had been lost in the Battle of Narvik, among them three able seamen from HMS Hunter (H 35). | ||
| Notes on loss | At 18.58 hours on 17 Mar, 1942, the unescorted Ranja (Master Andreas Mossin) was hit near the bridge by two torpedoes from U-71 about 450 miles east-southeast of Philadelphia. The tanker caught fire in the fore-ship and developed a port list. A coup de grâce at 19.54 hours hit under the forward mast and stopped the vessel that was now on fire from stem to stern. The U-boat left the area at 20.00 hours when it became clear that the ship will sink. The master, 31 crew members and two gunners were lost. | ||
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