D/S Røsten

To Røsten on the "Ships starting with R" page.

Crew List

Final Fate - 1942:

The eastbound coastal convoy WP-183, escorted by the destroyer Brocklesby was in Lyme Bay between Dartmouth and Portland when the 2nd S-Flottille with 7 E-boats attacked shortly after midnight on July 9-1942. Røsten, on a voyage from Barry (departed Barry Dock on July 7) to Shoreham with coal was torpedoed, port side, by S-109 (Cmdr. Dross) at 01:45 and as she sank immediately, the people on board had to jump overboard. A couple of hours later 9 were picked up by the destroyer and taken to Portsmouth, while the captain?*, the 2nd mate, the 1st engineer, the steward, and Stoker Torgersen were picked up by the British steamer Gripfast. The E-boats sank 5 merchant ships and an escort trawler (I've read that this was in fact a Norwegian whaler) before they withdrew, but at dawn the convoy was again attacked, this time by aircraft. Gripfast got two direct hits and sank, 2 of the previously rescued Norwegians were killed on board, namely the 1st engineer and the steward who had gone down below, while the other 3 who had remained on deck in the galley ended up in the sea again, 2 of whom were rescued by a Dutch steamer and taken ashore. Captain Tollisen was aided by another man who had a lifevest on, but as it took a while for help to arrive, Tollisen told the man to let go of him and save himself.

* The information that the captain was among the 5 rescued by the British steamer comes from an article about him written by Søren Brandsnes (in the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren"). This article also includes the details about the captain being assisted by another one of Røsten's men after ending up in the water when the British steamer was sunk. However, when including the captain among the casualties from Gripfast, the numbers don't add up correctly; if 9 were picked up by the destroyer and only 2 survived from Gripfast's loss, we end up with 11 survivors instead of 12 - perhaps 10 were picked up by the destroyer, or maybe a total of 7 died, as stated by "Nortraships flåte"?

A visitor to my website has informed me that "Shipwreck Index of the British Isles" gives location as 24 miles south/southwest of Portland Bill. This source says Røsten was built in 1919 by A/B Östersjövarvet, Norrköping, ex Grippen, ex Comp. Stm. (?? not sure what this means).

Other ships lost were the British Manor (anti-submarine trawler, ex Verdunois, ex Manor, in other words, NOT a Norwegian whaler), sunk by S-63, the British tanker Pomella, by S-67, and the Dutch steamship Reggestrom, by S-50. The Norwegian D/S Kongshaug (Commodore ship), and D/S Bokn were also sunk in this E-boat attack, follow the links for more info.

The maritime inquiry was held in Cardiff on July 29-1942 with the 1st mate, Able Seaman Jensen and Stoker Torgersen appearing.

Captain Tollisen had also been on Cate B when that ship was sunk (follow link for details), as well as on D/S Deneb at the time of her demise.

Crew List:
Able Seaman Hansen, Ordinary Seaman Larsen (son of the 1st mate) and Stoker Torgersen were injured.
("Nortraships flåte" states that the captain, 3 Norwegian and 3 British seamen from Røsten died).

Survivors
1st Mate Leif Larsen	2nd Mate Hallvard Halgjem	Able Seaman Sjur Ulvenes	Able Seaman Karl Hansen	Able Seaman Reidar Bergeton Jensen	Ordinary Seaman Alfred Larsen
2nd Engineer Hjalmar Andresen	Stoker Otto Larsen	Stoker Karl Torgersen	Stoker Sverre Stuanes	Cook Sverre Antonsen	Gunner ? Westcott (British)
Casualties
† Captain Tolle Tollisen	† Able Seaman Nils Nilsen	† 1st Engineer Nils Hægre	† Steward Thorvald Carlsen	† Mess Boy Eluina Varipati * (British?)	† Gunner Albert Graham (British)

Related external links:
Stavern Memorial commemorations - The Norwegians only are commemorated here.

Convoy WP 183 - The information is incomplete.

Back to Røsten on the "Ships starting with R" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Krigsseileren" No. 1 for 1988, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II, and misc. (ref. My sources).