Ships hit by U-boats


Svenør

Norwegian Motor tanker


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NameSvenør
Type:Motor tanker
Tonnage7,616 tons
Completed1931 - Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Walker-on-Tyne 
OwnerS. Ugelstad, Oslo 
HomeportOslo 
Date of attack27 Mar 1942Nationality:      Norwegian
 
FateSunk by U-105 (Heinrich Schuch)
Position35° 55'N, 69° 20'W - Grid CA 9945
Complement37 (8 dead and 29 survivors).
Convoy
RouteCuraçao (16 Mar) - Halifax 
Cargo11.410 tons of furnace oil 
History Completed in February 1931. Since 1940 in Admiralty service as Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). 
Notes on event

At 09.28 hours on 27 March 1942, U-105 fired one torpedo at the unescorted Svenør (Master Hans N. Thormodsen) and hit on the port side. The tanker was steaming on a non-evasive course at 10 knots about 300 miles east of Cape Hatteras. At 10.35 hours, the U-boat fired a coup de grâce without much effect and at 10.57 hours a second that hit amidships and broke the ship in two. A fire broke out in the area of the bridge where the master and seven crew members were lost. The survivors abandoned ship in two lifeboats and were not questioned by the Germans. Between 12.46 and 13.19 hours, the wreck was shelled with 76 rounds from the deck gun, causing the tanker to sink completely until 13.40 hours. About 30 minutes later, another ship was sighted and identified as neutral Portuguese steam merchant Cunene, which was directed to the location of the lifeboats by Schuch. The survivors were picked up and landed at Philadelphia on 31 March.

 
More infoMore on this vessel 
On boardWe have details of 37 people who were on board


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