D/S Eva - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

In July that year, A. Hague has included her, together with the Norwegian Brisk and Grado, in Convoy OA 184, which left Methil on July 14 and dispersed on the 18th, Eva arriving Sydney, C.B. independently on July 27. See the external link provided within the Voyage Record above.

Final Fate - 1940:

She left Sydney, C.B. on August 15-1940 in Convoy SC 1, bound for Sharpness with a cargo of 1750 tons of lumber, but lost sight of the convoy the next evening due to unsuitable coal taken on board in Sydney (she was only able to do 6 knots), and sailed alone across the Atlantic. This convoy also had other Norwegian ships; follow the link for more info.

On Aug. 27, when about 60 miles east of Rockall, she was torpedoed on the starboard side between Hatch No. 3 and 4 by U-28 (Kuhnke) in position 57 50N 11 15W (J. Rohwer gives the position as 57 48N 11 51W), causing an immediate starboard list. The radio operator attempted to send out SOS but received no reply, and just before they abandoned ship the antenna fell down so he stopped.

Lifeboats were launched; 3 men were injured while 2 were found to be missing, namely the Swedish Engine Boy Helge Sture Hult and Able Seaman O. Unneland. However, the men in the port lifeboat heard cries from the water and spotted one of the missing men (Unneland), who had been blown overboard and had kept himself afloat with the help of some debris. As the starboard lifeboat passed astern of the ship, the other missing man was seen still on board, clinging to a wire which was hanging from the awning stanchion, with the seas breaking over him and the poop. They shouted for him to jump, but when he did not reply a line was thrown to him - however, he made no attempt to catch it, seemingly in shock or semi conscious. It was impossible for the lifeboat to get close enough to the ship because of the lumber floating around her, so Ordinary Seaman Gunnar Andersen jumped into the water, climbed on board and got a line fastened around him. He had a nasty wound on his temple and the entire back of his head was covered with blood. Unfortunately, while trying to pull him into the boat, the line slid off him and he disappeared underneath the timber that had fallen off the ship. A search for almost an hour proved in vain.

While this was going on, U-28 had surfaced and had been lying still about 1 1/2-2 miles off, but after the lifeboats had rowed away from the ship the U-boat commenced firing at Eva, hitting the port side foreship, then came alongside the port boat to ask the usual questions about the ship's nationality, cargo etc., before firing another few shells at the ship, then took off.

The lifeboats headed for the Hebrides, and after having rowed for about an hour an aircraft appeared and circled for a while above the wreck of Eva. The men in the boats sent up rockets but the aircraft went away, having shown no indication that it had seen them. The SOS that had been sent out had been registered by radio stations on land, and in addition to the aircraft the British destroyers Hurricane and Havelock were sent out. Hurricane arrived that night and, though finding none of the crew, extinguished the fire on board. Thinking she could be saved, a tug was summoned, but Eva was later washed ashore 1 mile from Butt of Lewis Light (total loss).

The 17 survivors continued on their way, and in the morning of Aug. 29 they saw land straight ahead, estimated to be about 20 miles off. When they later spotted a steamer approaching they thought for sure they would be picked up, but the ship went right passed them only 3-4 miles away, though they had sent up rockets and waved a shirt from a pole. The lifeboats approached land around midnight, then continued along the coast until the very early morning hours of the 30th, at which time heavy fog set in so they anchored up. When the fog lifted at 09:00 the captain decided to go ashore to see if he could find people and after having walked for 10 minutes, he arrived at a house where he was able to telegraph for a doctor and to arrange for further transportation. They had arrived at Boligarry, Isle of Barra. The captain then returned to the boats and got everyone ashore.

After having been fed, and the doctor had examined the injured men, they were taken to Castle Bay. On Sept. 3 they left the latter for Oban, then continued by train to Glasgow, and from there to London, with arrival around midnight on Sept. 4. The maritime hearings were subsequently held there on Sept. 12 with Captain Waage, the 1st mate, the 2nd mate (on bridge duty), Jr. Ordinary Seaman Holtane (helmsman), Ordinary Seaman Andersen, the 1st engineer and the 2nd engineer appearing.

Partial Crew List:

Survivors:
Captain Ingvald Waage	1st Mate Gustav Barnholdt Røkenes	2nd Mate K. Francis Rasmussen	Able Seaman O. Unneland	Ordinary Seaman Gunnar Andersen	Ordinary Seaman L. Standal
Jr. Ordinary Seaman Arne Holtane	1st Engineer Peder Kristoffersen	2nd Engineer Ole Martin Amundsen	+ 8 more survivors
Casualty:
		† Engine Boy (Galley Boy?) Helge Sture Hult (Swedish)

Related external links:
U-28 | Günther Kuhnke

Back to Eva on the "Ships starting with E" page.

Other ships by this name: Norway had previously had another Eva, originally built in 1877 as Amanda for owners in Hartlepool, 1174 gt. Sailed as Eva for C. G. Brøvig, Farsund from 1901. Renamed Spind in 1915 for Jac. Salvesen, Farsund, sunk by UC 69 on June 19-1917. Haugesund lost a steamer named Eva to WW I. This ship was built in Stavanger in 1908, and belonged to Th. Nordbø, Haugesund, 1080 gt. Sunk by UB-18 on Dec. 31-1916, 18 n. miles south of Lizard Head on a voyage Swansea-Rouen with 1365 tons coal. Crew was given a chance to go in the lifeboats before their ship was shelled and sunk. See also this external page and scroll down to Eva.

A lifeboat (with motor) named Eva escaped from Strøno, Sunnhordland on Aug. 24-1941 with 11 people on board, arriving Lerwick on the 27th. Skipper was Knut Blom. Follow the link for more details.

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. - ref. My sources.