D/S Arcturus

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


From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

Related info on this website:
Thread on Arcturus on my Ship Forum.

Final Fate - 1939:

Norway was still neutral at this time.

Sunk at 09:45 on Dec. 1-1939 following a powerful explosion when on a voyage London-Stavanger with cargo of coal. The torpedo from *U-31 (Habekost) had struck in the port side aft and she started to sink immediately. 2 of the lifeboats were destroyed, but 2 rafts floated clear as the ship sank in 2 minutes, however, 9 crew were unable to get to them and they all died. 8 were able to get on the rafts and tied them together. The next morning they were spotted by a British aircraft which directed a Danish vessel to their location and the survivors were landed at Fredrikshavn, Denmark.

The following men had lost their lives:
Captain Nicolai Ludvik Engene, 1st Mate Roald Karlaug, 2nd Mate Einar Ramm, Able Seaman Aksel Walholm (listed as Aksel Warholm at the Stavern Memorial - see link below), Ordinary Seaman Ansgar Kaspersen, Chief engineer Finn Skage, Donkeyman Karl Helland, Stoker Emil Gundersen Lunde (Emil Sigred Lunde at Stavern Mem.), and Cook Peder Wichmann.

There's quite a bit of confusion surrounding this name, because there were a few other ships named Arcturus and the various sources have a tendency to get them mixed up. Here's what can be found in misc. sources:

Rohwer says this particular Arcturus was torpedoed and sunk by U-21 (Frauenheim) on the date in question. Charles Hocking says she struck a mine on this date, with a loss of 9 lives. Jan-Olof, Sweden has told me that "Lloyd's War Losses, Vol I British, Allied and Neutral Merchant Vessels Sunk or Destroyed by War Causes", 1989 reprint, agrees with the U-boat theory (using the term "submarine"), adding she was on a voyage from Burntisland to Trondheim with general cargo (tea, gas stoves, steel wire, cardboard folders & diaries, boots, shoes and machinery). The first website that I've linked to below says she sank in 2 minutes, adding that 9 died, while 17 survivors were picked up by the Danish cargo vessel. The 9 casualties are named at the same link.

* With the help of Jan-Olof, U-21's KTB and Bob Baird's book "Shipwrecks of the North of Scotland" it has been possible to establish that Rohwer has 2 ships swapped around in his "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two", namely Arcturus and the Finnish Mercator. He says Mercator was sunk by U-31 at 09:27 (compare this to the attack time for Arcturus in the first paragraph above) and Arcturus by U-21 at 04:53. However, the ship attacked by U-21 at 04:53 that morning was Mercator (the wreck has been located off Peterhead, near Aberdeen Scotland).

Related external links:
Those who died - Note that this casualty list appears to be a combination of those who died on the 1277 gt Arcturus and those who lost their lives on the 1682 gt D/S Arcturus which can be found in my Homefleet section of this site. The 2nd captain listed is Johan Fredrik Lampe.

U-21 | Fritz Frauenheim

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

Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab also had a ship named Arcturus after the war, delivered in Dec.-1947. Sold in Febr.-1958 to Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskap and renamed Atle Jarl. Broken up in 1980.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Misc. sources, including info received from T. Eriksen, Norway (his sources: Articles about Bergenske D/S in "Skipet" 1-2.88 by Dag Bakka Jr. and "Norges eldste Linjerederi, BDS 1851-1951", Wilhelm Keilhau). Also, I've used info received from Jan Olof Hendig, Sweden and "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two", Jürgen Rohwer (ref. My sources).