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M/T Sandefjord To Sandefjord on the "Ships starting with S" page. Owner: Viriks Rederi A/S Built in Gothenburg in 1929. Previous name: Herbjørn until 1937. Captain: Torger S. Torgersen Her voyages are listed on this original document received from the National Archives of Norway.
According to the archive document above, Sandefjord was on her way from Aden to Bahrein when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. She arrived Bahrein on Apr. 15, having departed Aden Apr. 4. Her final destination is given as Abadan, where she arrived Apr. 21, later making voyages to Karachi and Bombay. Unless some voyages are missing from the document, she appears to have spent a long time at Bombay; she had arrived there on May 11 and departure is given as Sept. 8 (for Bahrein).
As mentioned on my page about D/S Hjalmar Wessel Admiral Scheer had attacked Convoy HX 84, escorted by the well known Jervis Bay in Nov.-1940. It was after this incident Admiral Sheer continued on south, sinking or capturing a number of British ships, one of them being Duquesa which was later used in connection with the capture of the Norwegian whaling fleet (see Norwegian Victims of Pinguin). British Naval forces searched in vain for the culprit, and in Jan.-1941 Admiral Sheer headed for the allied shipping routes off West Africa. Sandefjord was on a voyage from Cape Town to Freetown with a cargo of 11 000 tons crude oil when she was captured by Admiral Scheer (Krancke) on Jan. 18-1941 - she had left Cape Town on Jan. 9 (see archive document). Roger W. Jordan's "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939" gives the position for Sandefjord's capture as 11S 02W, while "Nortraships flåte" places the incident in 06 29S 04 25W. Unfortunately (for Krancke), Sandefjord's cargo was not suitable fuel for the Admiral, but would, on the other hand, be of great value in Germany, so a prize crew was placed on board under the command of Leutenant Goetsch and she was sent further south to await orders. On Jan. 24, she met up with the auxiliary cruiser Thor and several ships that had also been taken as prize. More than 200 prisoners were transferred from these ships to Sandefjord, which then headed north, reaching the Gironde inlet on Febr. 27. 31 Norwegians from Sandefjord were later sent home to Norway, some on the German Donau in May-1941, together with the whalers taken by the raider Pinguin (crew lists can be found on this page, continuing on this page) as well as crews from Polykarp, Storstad, Norvard, Ringwood and Granli. 5 Portugese from Goa and British India and 1 Dutch crew member were placed in German captivity (I'm unsure of who they are in the crew list below). Sandefjord was subsequently renamed Monsun on March 17 under the German flag. Admiral Scheer, meanwhile, continued to attack a number of allied ships in the South Atlantic, then headed for The Indian Ocean. Monsun was bombed and set on fire at Nantes on Sept. 25-1943. Scuttled at Nantes on Aug. 10-1944. Raised in March 1945 and repaired.
Renamed Briére under the French flag in 1946 (Societe Anonyme Courtage et Transports, Havre). Renamed Cape Mount in 1954 (Transoceanic Transportation Co., Monrovia). Sold in 1955 to Trader Line Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda, and renamed Cedar Trader. Sold in 1964 to Hong Kong breakers while idle in that port with damage. Again, see also this external page, which also has a picture of Erling Nøstvold* and states that he later joined Freikoll and was onboard when attacked by MTB's. He later went to the Shetlands. Related external link: Back to Sandefjord on the "Ships starting with S" page. Other ships by this name: Viriks Rederi also had a Sandefjord later on, built in 1950. Here's a picture of this ship. The site also has info and pictures of other ships owned by Viriks Rederi. As can be seen when going to the latter link, the company had another Sandefjord built in 1968, and also in 1974. An earlier, small steamer named Sandefjord (87 gt) is mentioned in "Damp - Dampskipets æra i Vestfold". This vessel was built in Gothenburg in 1875, used for local cargo and passenger service. Later had the names Malangen and Skjold - still operating in 1966 (became a barge). Also, Haugarland had originally been built as Sandefjord. Additionally, Arendal Dampskibsselskap had a ship named Sandefjord in more recent years (built 1974). The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II (Norwegian Maritime Museum) and misc. as named in the above narrative - (ref. My Sources).
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