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M/S Chr. Knudsen To Chr. Knudsen on the "Ships starting with C" page.
Owner: A/S Borgestad. Delivered from Burmeister & Wains Maskin- & Skibsbyggeri, Copenhagen, Denmark (335) in Aug.-1925 as Chr. Knudsen to A/S Borgestad, Porsgrunn. 381.2' x 54.7' x 25.9', 2 x 6 cyl. 4 TEV DM (B&W), 1780 bhp. Captain: Bjarne Sand. Related items on this website:
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. Errors may exist, and some voyages are missing. Compare Arnold Hague's records with these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
As can bee seen in the above Voyage Record, A. Hague has included Chr. Knudsen in Convoy SL 32, which left Freetown on May 17-1940. Her cargo consisted of cereals and she had station 43, bound for Cork, where she arrived on June 2. The Norwegian Spero and Strombus are also listed; see the external link provided in the table above. In Aug.-1940 she was scheduled for Convoy HX 64 (she had a cargo of scrap iron and was bound for Swansea), but instead joined the first slow Sydney, C.B.-U.K. Convoy SC 1, departing Sydney, C.B. on Aug. 15 (Norwegian Eva was sunk). In Oct. that same year she joined Convoy OB 228, which left Liverpool on Oct. 13 and dispersed on the 17th. The Norwegian Astra, Brask, Dokka (sunk - see Dokka), Gudrun, Noreg, Polyana and Topdalsfjord also took part. In Jan.-1941 we find her in Convoy SLS 61, departing Freetown on Jan. 1, arriving Liverpool on the 26th. In May that same year she's listed, together with Atle Jarl, Rolf Jarl and Storanger, in Convoy OG 62, which left Liverpool on May 15 and had Gibraltar as its destination. Chr. Knudsen, however, was bound for Three Rivers, where she arrived independently on May 31, having detached from the convoy on May 20. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named on the page listing ships in all OG convoys. She later joined the eastbound Convoy SC 36, cargo of wheat, station 22. This convoy, which departed Sydney, C.B. on July 1-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 19th, is not yet available among the SC convoys included on my own website (will be added), but I've linked directly to Hague's listing in the table above, and as can be seen the Norwegian Berto (returned), Bjerka, Bollsta, Don, Einvik, Loke, N. T. Nielsen Alonso, Rena, and Rym are also listed. The following month she made a voyage to Freetown with Convoy OS 4, originating in Liverpool on Aug. 23. This is the convoy in which Segundo was sunk, follow link for details. Beth, Elg, and Ingria are also said to have taken part in OS 4. Chr. Knudsen was scheduled for Convoy SC 62, at the end of Dec.-1941, but instead joined Convoy SC 63 on Jan. 3-1942, cargo of manganese ore for Middlesbrough. Follow the links for more info on these convoys. In March-1942, Chr. Knudsen is listed, with destination New York, in station 54 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 72. This convoy will be added to my Convoys section in due course - in the meantime, please go to ON 72 in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. Sirehei also joined, but returned to port.
Chr. Knudsen departed New York again alone on Apr. 8-1942 for Cape Town with general cargo and Nitrate. Assumed torpedoed and sunk on or around April 10-1942, possibly by U-85 (Greger). This U-boat was in turn sunk with all her men by USS Roper on April 14, which is one of the reasons why there has been such uncertainty over the loss of Chr. Knudsen. - This was the first U-boat not to return safely from Operation Paukenschlag. In my Norwegian guestbook there's a message from Wolfang Klaue, dated July 18-2001, translated into Norwegian on request. At that time Klaue, together with an American friend, was about to write the story of U 85. (He was born in Greger's hometown, Lieberose, Greger being his father's neighbour). They wanted to tell the story from 3 sides, that of the U-boat, that of the victims of this boat's attacks and that of the crew of the American destroyer Roper, which sank U-85. The message was posted in an effort to find relatives of the victims of Chr. Knudsen, and/or former employees of the Borgestad company in Porsgrunn. In Sept.-2002, Wolfang Klaue contacted me again to let me know about an article that appeared in the Norwegian Newspaper "Aftenposten" on Sept. 20, showing the fruits of his investigations. The article states, among other things that the mayor of Lieberose, Kerstin Michelchen has given Borgestad's an official apology for the sinking of Chr. Knudsen, and that shipowner Christen Knutsen personally travelled to Lieberose to meet the mayor. Christen Knutsen says this was not the first time that Captain Bjarne Sand had his ship sunk from under him by a German U-boat - the first time was near Nantucket on Oct. 8-1916, and on that occasion he got a "receipt" from the U-boat commander confirming that he had sunk the ship (also a Gunnar Knudsen vessel, also named Chr. Knudsen - see "Other ships by this name" at the end of this page). This is now hanging on the wall of the shipping company's office in Porsgrunn. Klaue's own father could easily have become a victim himself, having been picked by Greger as crew for U-85, but when he arrived Kiel to join the boat, it had already departed for Horten. Crew List - No survivors:
Related external links: Back to Chr. Knudsen on the "Ships starting with C" page. Other ships by this name: This company had also had a Chr. Knudsen back in 1875, built in Porsgrund that year for J. C. & G. Knudsen, Porsgrund, 587 gt. This vessel was sold in 1903 to new owners in Porsgrund and renamed Nordkap (P. Jacobsen). Condemned after having sprung a leak when on a voyage Liverpool-Port Arthur, Texas on Apr. 1-1906. In July-1905 a new Chr. Knudsen (steamship) was delivered to A/S Borgestad (Gunnar Knudsen), Porsgrund, built in Middlesbrough, 3878 gt. Converted to tanker in 1912, 4224 gt. Torpedoed by U-53 on Oct. 8-1916 off Nantucket Light Ship, voyage New York-London with gas oil (this is the ship mentioned in my text above). Note that this external page has excerpts from her deck journal as well as statements from the subsequent maritime hearings re this incident - text is in Norwegian.
The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I (Norwegian Maritime Museum), and misc. others as named within the text above for cross checking info. - ref My sources.
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