M/S Gundersen
Updated Oct. 31-2008

To Gundersen on the "Ships starting with G" page.

Crew List


Source: Sverre Johansen, Norway.

Another picture is available on this external page (click in it to make it lrager).

Final Fate - 1942:

Gundersen, on charter to United Fruit Co., New York, departed Tela, Honduras on June 29-1942 with a cargo of bananas for Galveston. Torpedoed in the port foreship (hatch 2) in the evening of July 1* by U-129 (Witt) in position 23 33N 92 35W. At the time of attack she was on course 297° true, sailing at a speed of 13 knots (zig-zagging) in clear weather and calm sea, with bright moonlight and a visibility of 10 miles, wind northeast force 5, 2 lookouts, 1 on each side of the bridge; no other ships were in sight.

The foreship broke off and sank in seconds, the radio antenna was wrecked, the engines stopped, immediately flooding. 3 lifeboats were launched, but the motorboat was destroyed by the ship's propeller, so those who were in it had to be rescued by one of the other lifeboats. 4 were found to be missing, but those in the lifeboat saw some flashes of light on the after part of the ship which was still afloat. However, they were afraid to go too close, fearing she would be shelled, and 20 minutes after the torpedo had struck the U-boat did open fire (about 8 grenades and about 100 shells of smaller caliber). Gundersen caught on fire and sank about 45 minutes after having been torpedoed.

The U-boat approached the boats to ask the usual questions about the ship and cargo etc., then took off on the surface in a northeasterly direction. The lifeboats rowed back to where Gundersen had gone down in order to look for the missing men - 3 were found on a raft and were transferred to the boats. At dawn they rowed around searching for the remaining missing crew member, but to no avail. The British mess boy was believed to have been asleep in his forward cabin when the attack took place and therefore probably killed in the explosion. The 22** survivors were rescued later that morning by D/S Dea and landed in Progreso, Mexico in the afternoon of July 3.

*Rowher places this attack at 06:16 on July 2 German time, while Captain Jørgensen's report gives the time as 23:15 on July 1 (time zone used not known).

** According to a memorandum, containing a summary of statements by Gundersen's survivors (dated July 13-1942 and signed by U.S.N.R. Ensign E. D. Henderson), there were 25 survivors in all, including 3 survivors from the previously torpedoed Bushranger. This is not mentioned at all in Norwegian sources, but it agrees with information given in a message in my Guestbook from the son of Dea's radio operator at the time, Fred S. Milthorp, who also said they picked up 25 survivors (for info, a link to more of the radio operator's story can be found by clicking on the link to Dea above). Bushranger had been sunk a whole month before Gundersen was sunk; perhaps the 3 passengers had joined her in Tela just for passage to the U.S.? - The external website that I've linked to at the end of this page has more on the loss of Bushranger. This memorandum gives the time of attack on Gundersen as 23:15 LAT on July 1, adding that the survivors were picked up by Dea on July 3 and landed at Progreso at 16:00 LAT. Gundersen was seen to sink at 00:05 LAT on July 2, plunging by the bow.

The hearings were held in New York on July 16-1942 with the captain, the 1st mate and Able Seaman (lookout) Nymark appearing. The captain had been asleep in his cabin, while the 1st mate was on watch on the bridge. Able Seaman D. Brown was at the wheel and 2nd Engineer Haarvik and Mechanic Borgersen were in the engine room.

Only 12 hours earlier Witt had torpedoed and sunk another Norwegian ship, D/S Cadmus, which had departed Tela on the same day as Gundersen, and on July 19 he could add another one to his list, D/S Port Antonio - follow the links for details. U-129 had also been responsible for the attacks on Nordvangen and L. A. Christensen. See also Trafalgar and Astrell.

Crew List:

Survivors:
Captain Bjarne Jørgensen	1st Mate Alf Bjarne Justad	2nd Mate Haakon Helle	3rd Mate Nils Johannessen	Carpenter Borgner Opsal	Able Seaman Hans Nymark
Able Seaman Ansgar Galles	Able Seaman Karsten Hansen	Able Seaman Daniel Brown (Dutch - British?)	Ordinary Seaman Karl Gustavsen (Swedish)	Ordinary Seaman Whitman Ebanks (British)	1st Engineer Kristian Dahl
2nd Engineer Oluf Haarvik	Assistant Magne Hetland	Electrician Kåre Sigurd Johnsen	Mechanic Tore Borgersen	Mechanic Olaf Bliksaas	Oiler Johannes Harkestad
Oiler Alston Scott (British)	Oiler Thomas Lucas (British)	Steward Yngvar Magnusssen	Cook Arne Hansen	+ 3 passengers?
Casualty:
† Mess Boy Clyde Ebanks (British) See this Guestbook message

* The poster of the above mentioned Guestbook message has since told me that not only was Clyde Ebanks her cousin, but Alston Scott was her father's brother, and Selvin Scott of M/S Cadmus her dad's brother-in-law, while Clinton Foster (also of Cadmus) was a distant cousin. This is the sort of findings that makes having a website like this so rewarding.

Related external links:
U-129 | Hans Ludwig Witt - Uboat.net also has information on the loss of Bushranger.

Back to Gundersen on the "Ships starting with G" page.

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) - (ref. My sources). The memorandum mentioned in my text above was received from Tony Cooper, England.