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M/T Lise To Lise on the "Ships starting with L" page. Owner: Skibs-A/S Lise. Built by William Doxford & Sons Ltd., Sunderland in 1931. Captain: Sigmund Frette. Related item on this website:
Lise is listed in Convoy HGF 32 from Gibraltar to the U.K. in May-1940, bound for Swansea with crude oil, station 23. She subsequently joined Convoy OB 169*, voyage Swansea to Abadan via Cape in ballast (convoy left Liverpool June 17, dispersed on the 22nd), and the following month we find her in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 61, bound for Swansea with fuel oil and diesel oil (joining from Bermuda).
The same site has her in station 82 of Convoy SL 71, which left Freetown on Apr. 8-1941 and arrived Liverpool on May 4. Follow the link for more convoy info - the Norwegian Lisbeth and Dagfred also took part. Lise subsequently joined Convoy OB 323, leaving Liverpool on May 17, dispersed on the 25th. The following month she can be found among the ships in Convoy HX 134, bound for Swansea with diesel oil, again joining from Bermuda, and in July she's listed in Convoy OB 349, which left Liverpool on July 21, dispersed on Aug. 1. Her destination is given as Curacao on that occasion. She returned to the U.K. in Sept. in Convoy HX 149 (in station 44) along with the Norwegian Daghild (station 63), Brasil (83), Thorsholm (33), Innerøy (35), Thorshov (station 64), Somerville (66?), Glittre (24), Aristophanes (station 43), Harpefjell (86), Norvik (Panamanian flag, Norwegian managers and therefore included on this website, in station 84, behind Brasil) and Brant County (87), as well as an unnamed Norwegian tanker in station 73. Lise, bound for New York, now went back across the Atlantic with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 22*, which left Liverpool on Oct. 2-1941, dispersed on the 15th. Christmas that year was spent in Convoy HX 165 (left Halifax on Dec. 15-1941, arrived Liverpool on the 30th). She started the new year by joining the westbound Convoy ON 54*, in order to travel back to Halifax, leaving Liverpool on Jan. 6-1942, disperesd on the 17th. She's also listed in Convoy HX 182 in March-1942, together with several other Norwegian vessels. HX 182 arrived Liverpool on Apr. 9, and this turned out to be her last eastbound North Atlantic voyage.
Related external link:
On Apr. 22-1942 Lise can be found in station 12 of Convoy OS 26. This convoy is not included in my own convoy section, but more information is available at the external website that I've linked to above. She was on a voyage from Southampton and Belfast Lough to Curaçao in ballast, having departed Southampton on Apr. 19, sailed in the convoy for a while, but left the convoy and was sailing alone when she was shelled, torpedoed and set on fire by U-69 (Gräf ) on May 12-1942, 13 53N 68 20W (95 n. miles north of Bonaire, according to the captain's report). Officer on watch at the time was 2nd Mate Larsen, Able Seaman Silden was at the wheel, Ordinary Seaman Wendt was keeping a lookout on top of the wheel house, and Mechanic Kvalestad was by the aft gun. The lookout sighted the U-boat on the surface only a cable off the ship on the port quarter, on the same course as Lise, and reported this to the 2nd mate who ordered the wheel hard to starboard, while at the same time sounding the alarm. The lookout was immediately sent down to the captain to call him, but before he had gotten down the bridge ladder, the U-boat commenced firing. The attack appeared to be concentrated on the after part, shells exploding all over, the port lifeboat was destroyed, the ammunition room set on fire. Now, as per the captain's report, another(?) U-boat came up on the port side of the ship and started firing on the midships section and the bridge. Machine guns were also used, but the gunfire caused the worst havock. 12 were killed near the gunners' platform during the intense shelling, as many of those who were not on duty were asleep on the after deck (the captain's report states that the attack took place at 3 in the morning, Rowher gives the time as 09:03, German time). The captain, who came on the bridge as soon as he was called, asked for the radio operator, but nobody knew where he was. His attempt to obtain telephone connection with the gun platform aft failed, and seeing the destruction he stopped the engine and signalled with the steam whistle for the crew to abandon ship, waited a while, then gave the signal again, hoping that the attacker would cease the firing upon hearing that the ship was to be abandoned, but the firing continued unabated. On the midships boatdeck were now the 1st mate, the 2nd mate, the 2 men on watch and Able Seaman Henriksen who had come from the aft of the ship. They tried to launch the motorboat on the port side but had to give it up due to the heavy firing on that side, so the captain gave orders to launch the small dinghy on the starboard side instead. The motorboat was hit shortly thereafter and the petrol tanks in it set on fire. At that moment, seeing the U-boat less than a cable off on the port beam, the captain cocked the double Hotchkiss gun on the port bridge wing and fired at the unwelcome intruder, which stopped firing while this was going on, but soon started up again when the captain stopped. Captain Frette then threw the box with the confidential documents overboard before heading to the boat deck, only to find no lifeboats left on the ship. The 2 port boats were destroyed, the starboard boat was away from its davits, the dinghy was drifting away as its painter had carried away. None of the crew could be seen anywhere except the 2nd mate who was still on the boat deck where he had lowered the dinghy. The 2 of them jumped overboard and were later picked up by the dinghy. The starboard boat was seen some distance away but they could not make out how many were in it. The shooting continued for quite a while, and when there was a brief break they started pulling back towards the ship which was on fire in several places, especially the after section, at that time laying low in the water. Suddenly, a torpedo hit Lise amidships on the port side, whereupon she slowly went down, stern first, an estimated 1 1/2 hour after the attack had started. In addition to the captain and the 2nd mate, the 1st mate, Ordinary Seaman Wendt, Able Seaman Henriksen (wounded) and Ordinary Seaman Larsen were in the dinghy. At daybreak they found a raft with the 3rd mate (wounded), the steward, the 2nd engineer, Mechanic Syvertsen, Able Seaman Silden, the radio operator and the Chinese electrician (wounded), making their total number 13. The latter 7 had sheltered from the gunfire as best they could, then had attempted to launch some rafts, succeeding in getting the painting raft out just as the torpedo struck the ship. The raft had capsized, but they hung on and managed to push it away from the ship. After Lise had gone down they had found the other rafts and had been able to climb onto one of them. The radio operator had tried to send out a distress call, but had found the equipment destroyed by the gun fire. The 13 remained in the area for some time, then all 7 from the raft were transferred to the dinghy, whereupon they headed towards land, but after a while, realizing the dinghy was too heavily laden, it was decided to have a draw for a place in it, with the "losers" having to stay on the raft, except for the wounded men who remained in the dinghy. They returned to the raft again, and after the men had been distributed, the two vessels parted company, with the 8 in the dinghy setting sail for land so that they could get a search party sent out. Land was sighted on May 13, and that evening they were picked up by Femern, on hire to the Dutch Navy, but with a crew of mostly Norwegians, which landed them at Curacao. All 8 were taken to a hospital for treatment. A B-17 and ships were subsequently sent out to look for the remaining 5 on the raft, but they were not located until May 31 by an aircraft which directed the Dutch ship S/S Socrates to their aid. They were also taken to Curacao on June 3.
For the first few days after the dinghy had left them they drifted with a sea anchor while awaiting assistance. On the 3rd day they thought help had arrived when an aircraft came in low above them, but in spite of their waiving with clothes fastened to the oars and otherwise doing everything they could to attract attention, the aircraft kept flying. After having been drifting for 4 days, they realized help was not coming so they started preparing for a long stay. They had a fair amount of bread and water, but implemented a strict rationing, just in case. A mast was made with oars tied together, using strips of canvas for sail. The course was set out with the help of the sun and the stars, as they had no compass or maps. 2 men kept watch at all times. On the 7th day they spotted a tanker steering straight for them, but it was zig-zagging and soon passed the raft without it being seen. The tanker was so close at one point that those on the raft could actually see the people on board. Most of the time the weather was in their favour but a couple of times things looked bleak for them, with heavy winds and seas washing over them, so that they had to tie themselves down as well as their water kegs, so important for their survival. Fortunately, the raft contained wool sweaters, and these proved really useful, in that there were 2 for each man, and they wore one as a sweater, the other as "pants", so even though they were wet most of the time they were able to stay fairly warm. Threads were pulled out from pieces of canvas, then twirled together to make a fishing line, and a hook was made out of the handle of a bread tank. The first fish they caught was a small shark which they cooked and ate, joking that they'd better eat the shark before they themselves were eaten by same. They were not at all impressed with the flavour, but they later caught other kinds of fish that tasted much better than the shark had done. One time they caught a fish that was so big that all of them were needed to kill it. For cooking they fried oil in a can, holding another can containing the food above it. They also caught a large turtle, keeping it as "prisoner" as spare provisions for a while before they ate it. The raft was continuously chased by sharks, and one time a shark bit into their steering oar, but they manged to pull free of it. Finally, in the afternoon of May 31, after having spent 20 days on the raft, they saw an aircraft far away. It suddenly altered course and came straight towards them, then circled a few times while attempting to throw something down to them, but it fell in the water and they were unable to retrieve it. After a few minutes it flew off again, but they knew then that they had been spotted so they treated themselves to a "party" with an extra water ration. 2 hours later a ship was seen coming their way, and they were taken on board Socrates, which was en route to Curacao. The aircraft had dropped a message to this ship, notifying them of the raft, whose occupants had then sailed a distance of 700 n. miles. As mentioned, they were landed in Curacao on June 3-1942.
As it turned out (but not known to the others at the time) the starboard lifeboat had also been successfully launched and had 8 men in it, all of whom had been aft when the attack occurred, some alseep in their cabins, others on deck. They had seen many of their shipmates killed and mutilated. When those 8 saw no other survivors at daybreak they headed for land, reaching Carrizal in Columbia on May 15. They subsequently travelled by ship, then by car to Guribia where they stayed for a few days, before being picked up by a plane and taken to Barranquilla, staying there for 8 days (there was a Norwegian colony of people there who assisted them in every way). They left Barranquilla on May 26 on the Norwegian Washington Express and were landed in New York on June 2. The maritime inquiry was held in Willemstad on May 20-1942 with the captain, the 3rd mate, the 2nd engineer, Able Seaman Silden, Ordinary Seaman Wendt, Able Seman Henriksen and the steward appearing. At that time they had heard the news that those in the starboard boat had been found, but the 5 on the raft were still missing. The attack was so intense that it was believed that up to 3 U-boats had taken part. Among the 12 casualties were the British Charles Alexander Jones, aged 16, from Liverpool, England, Neil McEwan from Glasgow, Scotland, born 29-7-23, Leslie Harland from Sheffield, England, born 4-5-25. This list was sent to me by the brother in law of Charles Alexander Jones (ref. link to Guestbook massages further up on this page). It has since been compared to what can be found in "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig" and adjusted accordingly. * = the 5 who were on the raft.
Steward Norheim and Ordinary Seaman Wendt joined M/T Thorsholm. Electrician Thiam remained in hospital for a while. The remaining 10 in Curacao got passage for New Orleans with the Dutch passenger ship Crijnssen, leaving Curaçao on June 7. They were Captain Frette, 3d Mate Hildemar Nilsen, 2nd engineer Sverre Gustavsen, Able Seaman Jens Henriksen and Able Seaman Sverre Silden as well as the 5 from the raft. In the straits of Yucatan on June 11 (June 10, 18:35 ship's time) they again survived being torpedoed (U-504). 8 of Lise's crew ended up in a lifeboat with several others, 1 was among the survivors in a gig, while Ordinary Seaman Fredrik Larsen was in another boat. The gig, the boat holding 8 from Lise (incl. the captain) and another boat from the Dutch ship were picked up that afternoon by the American steamer Lebore, while Ordinary Seaman Larsen's lifeboat landed on a beach on Yucatan. He turned up in New York much later on.
The story is still not over. Lebore was on a voyage to Panama. On June 14 she too was torpedoed (U-172), and for the 3rd time captain Frette and the other 8 who had been picked up by Lebore had to abandon ship and find a place in a lifeboat. They were scattered over 3 different boats, but on the 16th they were all together again on board the American gunboat (PG-50) Erie, which landed them in Panama on the 17th. About a week later the captain was able to get transportation from Balboa to Miami on a plane, and arrived New York on June 25-1942. The 8 who had remained in Panama got passage with Panama Express. Radio Operator Anker Sivertsen signed on this ship as radio operator, while the other 7 came along as passengers and were landed in San Pedro, then travelled to New York with arrival July 7 (they were the 1st mate, the 2nd mate, the 3rd mate, the 2nd engineer, Mechanic Syvertsen, Able Seaman Henriksen and Able Seaman Silden). Meanwhile, the aforementioned Ordinary Seaman Fredrik Larsen, whose lifeboat had landed at Yucatan, had eventually been able to get in contact with people and after a stay in Mexico he, and the others from that lifeboat came to New Orelans, then to New York on July 6. 1st Mate Haugar Lyngås later experienced a 4th torpedoing soon after he had joined M/T Katy in the spring of 1945. Katy was torpedoed on Apr. 23 that year. External websites related to the text on this page: Operations Information for U-69 Jan Visser has some information on Back to Lise on the "Ships starting with L" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume I, and misc. others for cross checking info.
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