Koenjit
Koenjit under her former name Stjerneborg - Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Koenjit | ||
| Type: | Motor merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 4.551 tons | ||
| Completed | 1929 - Burmeister & Wain´s Maskin & Skibsbyggeri A/S, Copenhagen | ||
| Owner | Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd NV (W. Ruys & Zonen), Rotterdam | ||
| Homeport | Rotterdam | ||
| Date of attack | 13 May, 1942 | Nationality:  Dutch | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-156 (Werner Hartenstein) | ||
| Position | 15.30N, 52.40W - Grid EE 6353 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 37 (0 dead and 37 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Halifax - Capetown - Alexandria | ||
| Cargo | War material and the motor boat Letitia Porter as deck cargo | ||
| History | Built as Danish Stjerneborg for C.K. Hansen, Copenhagen. On 12 May 1940, the Stjerneborg was seized by Netherlands in Soerabaja and renamed Koenjit. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 03.58 hours on 13 May 1942, the unescorted Koenjit (Master R.M. Rosenhof) was torpedoed by U-156 about 300 miles north-northeast of Barbados. One torpedo struck aft in the engine room and she began to sink over the stern. All crew members abandoned ship in two lifeboats, except the master and the first mate Folmer, who stayed aboard and searched for possible crew members still on board. They later had to jump overboard as the ship sank and swam to the boats. The U-boat surfaced and Hartenstein asked for the name, nationality and destination of the ship. The answers he got from the crew were so short and so vague that he was not able establish the identity. He then gave the position to the survivors and left after the ship disappeared under the surface. The motorboat Letitia Porter carried on deck went down with the Koenjit. | ||
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