M/T Alcides
Updated Nov. 23-2012

To Alcides on the "Ships starting with A" page.

Crew List


Picture received from Lillesand Sjømannsforening.


From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

A picture taken on board this ship is available at the Australian War Memorial (external link). The picture is from Alexandretta, Turkey, May 20-1941, and depicts a "party of men on board the Norwegian tanker Alcides on its departure from Turkey for Port Said. Amongst those on board were members of 2/2nd Battalion who had escaped from Greece and a number of escaping Norwegians". According to this Guestbook message, one of them was Hjormund Kummen, who later served on Somerville. Alcides' voyages in this period are shown on Page 2.

Related items on this website:
Life in Imprisonment - Details about the 12 days the 3 officers from Alcides spent in the Japanese I-10, summaries of various personal accounts about life at Ofuna, Omori etc.
POW's
Norwegian Guestbook message from the son of Captain Karlsen.

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

Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.

Voyage Record From Sept.-1939 to July-1943:

(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database).

Follow the convoy links provided for more information.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
Since the listing on the archive document doesn't start until Apr.-1940, accuracy of earlier entries in A. Hague's record cannot be confirmed.
1939	Sept. 13	Singapore	Suez	Oct. 2	Independent	–
	Oct. 6	Suez	Abadan	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 19	Abadan	Singapore	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 7	Singapore	Sydney, N.S.W.	Nov. 24	Independent	–
	Nov. 28	Sydney, N.S.W.	Pladjoe	–	Independent	–
	Dec. 15	Pladjoe	Singapore	Dec. 17	Independent	–
	Dec. 26	Singapore	Brisbane	Jan. 10-1940	Independent	–
1940	Jan. 15	Brisbane	Townsville	Jan. 17	Independent	–
	Jan. 22	Townsville	Sourabaya	Jan. 29	Independent	–
	Febr. 4	Sourabaya	Balikpapan	Febr. 6	Independent	–
	Febr. 11	Balikpapan	Singapore	Febr. 15	Independent	–
	Febr. 22	Singapore	Fremantle	March 2	Independent	–
	March 8	Fremantle	Pladjoe	–	Independent	–
	March 17	Pladjoe	Singapore	–	Independent	–
	March 20	Singapore	Fremantle	March 29	Independent	–
	Apr. 1	Fremantle	Adelaide	Apr. 6	Independent	–
	Apr. 7	Adelaide	Melbourne	Apr. 9	Independent	–
	Apr. 16	Melbourne	Fremantle	–	Independent	–
	Apr. 24	Fremantle	Singapore	May 2	Independent	–
	May 6	Singapore	Melbourne	May 22	Independent	–
	May 23	Melbourne	Geelong	May 25	Independent	–
	May 27	Geelong	Melbourne	May 28	Independent	–
	May 28	Melbourne	Pladjoe	June 12	Independent	–
	June 13	Pladjoe	Singapore	–	Independent	–
	June 17	Singapore	Melbourne	July 3	Independent	–
	July 6	Melbourne	Hobart	July 7	Independent	–
	July 11	Hobart	Balikpapan	July 27	Independent	–
	July 29	Balikpapan	Melbourne	Aug. 13	Independent	–
	Aug. 17	Melbourne	Sydney, N.S.W.	Aug. 20	Independent	–
	Sept. 2	Sydney, N.S.W.	Palembang	Sept. 17	Independent	See also Page 1
	Sept. 18	Palembang	Singapore	Sept. 19	Independent	–
	Sept. 23	Singapore	Adelaide	Oct. 7	Independent	–
	Oct. 8	Adelaide	Port Pirie	Oct. 12	Independent	–
	Oct. 13	Port Pirie	Palembang	Oct. 27	Independent	Via Adelaide (Page 1)
	Oct. 28	Palembang	Singapore	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 5	Singapore	Colombo	Nov. 12	Independent	–
	Nov. 21	Colombo	Bombay	Nov. 25	Independent	Compare w/Page 1
	Nov. 27	Bombay	Port Sudan	Dec. 6	BN 10	Convoy available at BN 10 (external link) Compare w/Page 1
	Dec. 9	Port Sudan	Suez	Dec. 12	Independent	–
	Dec. 19	Suez	–	–	BS 11	Dispersed Dec. 27 Convoy available at BS 11 (external link)
	Dec. 27	Detached from BS 11	Bahrein	Jan. 4-1941	Independent	–
1941	Jan. 7	Bahrein	Aden	Jan. 15	Independent	–
	Jan. 17	Aden	Suez	Jan. 24	BN 13	Convoy available at BN 13 (external link)
	Febr. 10	Suez	–	–	BS 15	Dispersed Febr. 16 Convoy available at BS 15 (external link)
	Febr. 14(?)	Detached from BS 15	Bahrein	Febr. 24	Independent	–
	Febr. 26	Bahrein	Aden	–	Independent	–
	March 10	Aden	Suez	March 17	BN 19	Convoy available at BN 19 (external link) On to Port Said March 28 (Page 1)
	March 28	Port Said	Alexandria	March 29	Independent	–
	Apr. 6	Alexandria	Port Said	Apr. 7	Independent	Missing movements, Page 1
	Apr. 12	Port Said	Alexandria	Apr. 13	Independent	–
	Apr. 21	Alexandria	Haifa	Apr. 23	Independent	–
	May 11	Haifa	Iskenderun	May 12	Independent	–
	May 22	Iskenderun	Port Said	May 24	Independent	On to Suez May 29 (Page 2)
	May 30	Suez	Abadan	June 12	Independent	–
	June 16	Abadan	Aden	June 26	Independent	–
	June 29	Aden	Abadan	July 6	Independent	–
	July 16	Abadan	Aden	July 26	Independent	–
	July 31	Aden	Abadan	Aug. 8	Independent	–
	Aug. 10	Abadan	Aden	Aug. 20	Independent	–
	Aug. 23	Aden	Abadan	Sept. 1	Independent	–
	Sept. 3	Abadan	Aden	Sept. 12	Independent	–
	Sept. 16	Aden	Abadan	Sept. 24	Independent	–
	Sept. 25	Abadan	Bombay	Oct. 3	Independent	–
	Oct. 29	Bombay	Abadan	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 7	Abadan	Aden	Nov. 14	Independent	–
	Nov. 19	Aden	Suez	Nov. 24	Independent	Later arrived Port Said Nov. 30 (Page 2)
	Dec. 5	Port Said	Alexandria	Dec. 6	Independent	–
	Dec. 19	Alexandria	Unknown port	–	Independent	Not included, Page 2
1942	March 28	Alexandria	Haifa	March 30	Independent	–
	Apr. 8	Haifa	Port Said	Apr. 9	Independent	–
	Apr. 12	Suez	Aden	Apr. 18	Independent	–
	Apr. 18	Aden	Mombasa	Apr. 27	Independent	–
	June 24	Mombasa	Abadan	July 7	Independent	–
	July 10	Abadan	Mombasa	July 29	Independent	–
	Aug. 1	Mombasa	Aden	Aug. 7	Independent	–
	Aug. 12	Aden	Mombasa	Aug. 21	Independent	–
	Sept. 1	Mombasa	Abadan	–	Independent	–
	Sept. 18	Abadan	Bombay	Sept. 26	Independent	–
	Nov. 27	Bombay	Bandar Abbas*	Dec. 4	BP 60A	Arr. Abadan independent Dec. 5-1942 Convoy available at BP 60A (external link) *Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2
	Dec. 6	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	Page 2 gives arrival Dec. 9
	Dec. 10	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	Dec. 16	PB 16	Convoy available at PB 16 (external link)
	Dec. 18	Bombay	Trincomalee	Dec. 24	BM 35	Convoy available at BM 35 (external link)
	Dec. 26	Trincomalee	Colombo	Dec. 28	Independent	–
	Dec. 28	Colombo	Bombay	Jan. 1-1943	MB 22	Convoy available at MB 22 (external link)
1943	Jan. 7	Bombay	Abadan	Jan. 13	BP 65	A. Hague says: Independent from Bandar Abbas Convoy available at BP 65 (external link)
	Jan. 17	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	Jan. 20	Independent	–
	Jan. 24	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	Jan. 30	PB 23	Convoy available at PB 23 (external link)
	Febr. 6	Bombay	Trincomalee	Febr. 12	BM 41	Convoy available at BM 41 (external link) Via Colombo (Page 3)
	Febr. 15	Trincomalee	Colombo	Febr. 16	Independent	–
	Febr. 17	Colombo	Bombay	Febr. 22	MB 25	Convoy available at MB 25 (external link)
	Febr. 25	Bombay	Bandar Abbas	March 2	BP 70	Convoy available at BP 70 (external link) See also Page 3
	March 5	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	March 8	Independent	–
	March 9	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	March 15	PB 30	Convoy available at PB 30 (external link)
	March 16	Bombay	Trincomalee	March 23	BM 46	Convoy available at BM 46 (external link)
	March 26	Trincomalee	Colombo	March 28	Independent	–
	March 28	Colombo	Bombay	Apr. 1	MB 30	Convoy available at MB 30 (external link)
	Apr. 3	Bombay	Bandar Abbas	Apr. 7	BP 75	Convoy available at BP 75 (external link)
	Apr. 7	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Apr. 9	Independent	–
	Apr. 11	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	Apr. 13	Independent	Compare w/Page 3
	Apr. 16*	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PB 36	For Fremantle Detached Apr. 20 Convoy available at PB 36 (external link) *See also Page 3
	Apr. 20	Detached from PB 36	Fremantle	May 12	Independent	–
	May 17	Fremantle	Abadan	June 8	Independent	–
	June 10	Abadan	Mombasa	June 25	Independent	–
	June 28	Mombasa	Abadan	July 9	Independent	–
	July 10	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	July 13	Independent	–
	July 14	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PB 48	A. Hague says: Detached July 17 Convoy available at PB 48 (external link)
	July 17	Detached from PB 48	–	–	Independent	Sunk - See "Final Fate" below"

Final Fate - 1943:

Alcides served as oiler for allied war ships at Mombasa for a while (the British had established a naval base there after the Japanese had taken Singapore). Early in the summer of 1943, she departed Mombasa alone to load a cargo at Abadan for Fremantle. For this voyage, Captain Henriksen was replaced by Arne Karlsen on July 9. A shipment of oil was loaded in Abadan, before she departed at 01:00 on July 11 (this date according to Norwegian source - Voyage Record says July 10) with expected arrival Fremantle Aug. 8. On July 13, she stopped at Khor Kuwai in order to supply Empire Taj with 500 tons fuel oil and other supplies, and departed again that same afternoon for a convoy port in the Persian Gulf, arriving the same evening (see also Page 3), leaving in convoy at 12:00 the following day, but left the convoy around midnight on the 15th as per the Commodore's orders (A. Hague says she was detached from Convoy PB 48 on July 17 - external link), so that she was sailing alone, following the cources and instructions provided by the Admiralty, when she was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-10 (Tonozuka).

According to the radio operator's account, they had been awakened by a big "bang" at 04:15 on July 23, so all guns were manned though nothing further happened at that time and nobody could explain what had caused the noise. Later that morning, they had some problems with the engine and stopped to repair. By 10:00, everything was in working order and she proceeded at maximum speed, adopting a zig-zag course. At 10:30, while the radio operator was outside the radio room with the captain, 3* torpedoes hit - 1 in the middle of the stern deck, 1 in the engine room and 1 in the poop deck. Tremendous explosions resulted, columns of smoke and oil were sent high in the air, a gaping hole was seen on the port side of the after deck where oil was gushing into the sea, another gaping hole went through the area where the crew's cabins were located and into the engine room. It was thought that the 3rd torpedo had hit where the ammunition was stored, thereby causing the explosions.

* "Handelsflåten i krig", Book 4 by Guri Hjeltnes mentions a 4th torpedo hitting the ammunition store, while the official sinking report signed by the radio operator, the captain and the 2nd mate (New York Oct. 16-1945) only mentions 2 torpedoes, 1 hitting between the engine room and the bridge, the other in the engine room, position given as "about 3 degrees south and 68 degrees east".

The radio operator immediately tried to send out S.O.S., but both transmitters had been destroyed in the explosion, so all he could do was make sure all the codebooks were thrown overboard. The ship sank very quickly by the stern; only the midships lifeboat and the aft, starboard boat were intact, and the crew had great difficulties launching them. 1 fell down when one of the Indian seamen cut the lines too early and in the process, the captain was severely injured with a fracture to his spine. The radio officer, as the last one to leave, had to use a rope to lower himself into the oil covered sea, then swam across to one of the lifeboats. At this time the ship had stopped sinking, her bows pointing to the sky; it was believed that the empty foreward hold with trapped air in it delayed the speed of her sinking, thereby saving a few lives.

2nd Mate Odvar L. Olsen had command of 1 of the boats and ordered the men to row towards their shipmates in the water, while the other boat commanded by 2nd engineer Karsten Johansen followed suit. While this was taking place, Alcides disappeared in the deep and shortly thereafter the submarine came up and ordered the boats alongside, but they continued to pick up survivors from the water.

Alcides had a complement of 52 - 32 from India(?), 15 Norwegians, 1 Norwegian/American, 1 Australian and 3 British gunners. 12 were found to be missing in all, believed to have gone down with the ship or otherwise drowned, including the 3 gunners who had been on the platform getting things ready for the regular noon exercise. 1st Engineer Fridtjof Johnsen and Mechanic Andreas Ramberg were among the missing, as was the Australian Sydney Hutchinson, who had been injured and had drowned, according to 1st Mate Johan Fahlstrøm. All the others had been able to get off the ship, 40 men in 2 lifeboats.

The men on the sub were now becoming threatening and Captain Karlsen ordered both boats to go alongside, whereupon he, along with Radio Operator Johan Arthur Johansen (age 24), and 2nd Mate Odvar L. Olsen (also mentioned above) were taken on board. The prisoners, who had been placed in a tiny room on the sub, heard the shots and the screams from their shipmates as they were massacred. Total loss of men, 49.

Jürgen Rohwer says in a footnote in his "Axis Submarine Successes" that I-10 reported the release of prisoners from a Norwegian ship. He also says that the sinking was credited to a German raider, but that there is no report of such an attack.

Crew List:
Norwegian, unless otherwise noted

Survivors
P Captain Arne Karlsen	P 2nd Mate Odvar L. Olsen	P Radio Operator Johan A. Johansen
Casualties:
† S 1st Mate Johan Fahlstrøm	† Carpenter Lay Wing (Chinese)	† 1st Engineer Fridtjof Johnsen	† S 2nd Engineer Karsten Johansen	† S 3rd Engineer Thorstein Findal	† 4th Engineer Reidar Olsen
† S Mechanic Hans Einar Henriksen	† Mechanic Andreas Ramberg	† S Mechanic Ansgar Karunn Henriksen	† S Mechanic Martin Gundersen	† Mechanic Sydney Hutchinson (Australia)	† S Mechanic James (Tollefsen?) Stargham (U.S.A.)
† S Steward Hans J. Kristiansen	† Gunner Thomas McCall (Gt. Britain)*	† Gunner Ralph Dunmore (Gt. Britain)*	† Gunner Edward Shannon (Gt. Britain)*	† S Gunner Torger Martin Våga	† S Gunner Harald Kaasa
† Sebastio Dias (India)	† Pascial Mansol Alfonso (India)	† Anthony Noronha (India)	† Eusoof Mohamed (India)	† Esmali Adam (India)	† Consesao M. Barbuzo (India)
† Camilo Fernandes (India)	† Marcelino De Dias (India)	† Antonio Beneditto Alfonso (India)	† Ibrahim Cassam (India)	† Mohamood Mohamed (India)	† Hasson Eusoof (India)
† Adam Allee Hansan Khan (India)	† Jose Camilo Pinto (India)	† Jose Mangalios Alfonso (India)	† Abass Oomer (India)	† Saibku Bhicooku (India)	† Fakir Mohamed (India)
† Khan C. Khan Allee (India)	† Allee Oomer (India)	† Eonoos Sk. Osman (India)	† Mohamed Adam (India)	† Ebrahim Cassim (India)	† Hoosein Eussof (India)
† Ahmed Mohamed (India)	† Mohamed Hasson (India)	† Khan D. Khan Ahmed (India)	† Mohamed Bapoo (India)	† Ebrahim Dawood (India)	Ahmed Adam (India)
† Allee Esmali (India)	1 more from India?

If Alcides did indeed have 32 from India on board (as stated in all my sources), there appears to be 1 too many here (there are 53, instead of 52). It's possible that the Chinese crewman has been included as Indian. I also notice that several of the Indian names are very similar, perhaps one of them are listed twice with a different spelling, for instance Hoosein Eussof and Hasson Eusoof might be one and the same man? Some of the names look more Italian to me that Indian, but I've been told, via this message in my Guestbook, that they were Portuguese - I'm leaving them as they are listed in the official list.

* There's a Gunner Ralph Omar Dunmore commemorated on Panel 74, Column 2 at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. The date of his demise is given as July 23-1943 so this could very well be Alcides' gunner. More information on him can be found on this page on the Commonwealth War Graves Commision website. I also found Thomas Charles McCall, commemorated at Plymouth Naval Memorial; see this page. Edward Oswald Shannon is also listed, also commemorated at Plymouth Naval Memorial; his details can be found on this page (all these links are external)

Related external links:
Stavern Memorial commemorations - The Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway lists 13 Norwegians; James Tollefsen Stargham is not mentioned (he was American/Norwegian), but there's a Mate Peder Torvildsen who's not included in the crew list. "Våre falne", a series of 4 books which names Norwegians who died during the war, states that Peder Torvildsen served on an Australian ship when he became ill and died at a hospital in Sydney N.S.W. on Jan. 2-1942; he's buried at Rockwood Cemetery. It's possible he had served on Alcides at some point(?)

Omori Tokyo Base Camp No. 1 - Includes a roster where 9 Norwegian seamen (from Alcides, Madrono, Kattegat) are listed with their POW numbers.

Japanese submarines

Back to Alcides on the "Ships starting with A" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Handelsflåten i krig", Book 4 by Guri Hjeltnes, the radio operator's misc. articles in several issues of the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren", "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume I, and misc. other, including official report written in New York on Oct. 16-1945 (ref My sources).