M/S Sønnavind

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Explosion in Bombay - 1944:

I've come across an article in "Krigsseileren" which suggests that Sønnavind was at Bombay in the spring of 1944 when Fort Stikine caught on fire (Apr. 14), resulting in horrendous explosions and great loss of life. This is the first time I've seen mention of this ship being in the area at the time. The Norwegian ships listed as being there in other sources are Graciosa, Norse Trader, Belray and Braganza, as well as Wallem & Co.'s Iran (Panamanian flag). The article is written by an able seaman who had joined the ship in New York that same month. In addition to 3000 tons ammunition she also had general cargo, as well as cars, and arrived in convoy New York-Gibraltar, where the convoy was disperesed and Sønnavind continued alone to her destination.

He says Sønnavind was about 700-800 meters in front of the unfortunate ship, and he and some shipmates were painting the funnel, while the unloading of ammunition was underway. Suddenly one of them discovered dark clouds of smoke behind them, and through the binoculars they could see that a ship was indeed on fire, and that fire hoses and trucks were working on it. Assuming everything would soon be brought under control they continued their work, and during the coffee break they learned that the vessel's cargo of cotton, loaded on top of 4000 tons of ammunition had caught on fire, and this made them a little more nervous; they couldn't understand why the burning ship had not been moved away so as not to endanger the entire area. They had just climbed back on the ladders to resume their work when the first explosion occurred, burning bails of cotton flying everywhere and the sky black with smoke, followed by more explosions as the bombs and shells blew up. He says several bombs flew up without exploding, one of which landed directly in the hold of a Liberty ship which also had a cargo of bombs, so another deafening bang followed. Panic broke out, with everyone trying to get ashore, including those who had been unloading Sønnavind's ammunition. One of the Indian seamen left a load of bombs just dangling on its way up from the hold, forgetting to stop the electric winch. Fortunately one of the mates noticed it and ran over to stop it.

After a while it became a little more quiet and the crew went back on board where they were divided into groups to check the ship over and make sure there was no burning cotton anywhere on board, and to close all the hatches. Next to No. 1 hold they found what looked like the remains of an iron door, sizzling hot, which had barely missed falling directly into the hold where the ammunition was stored. By this time several ships had sunk and many fires had erupted along the quay.

The captain had called for a pilot so that they could get away from the inferno, but before he arrived an ammunition warehouse blew up in a giant explosion, causing even more deaths. Small vessels were running back and forth picking up bodies, fires were everywhere. Finally, the pilot arrived and they were able to leave the danger area and anchor up further out. They were there for a week before orders came for them to take the ammunition to Karachi. They took on board a cargo of rice for Bombay; a warehouse containing rice had also burnt down. He says that when they arrived Bombay again 4 weeks after the tragedy the place was still smoldering. Entire blocks of houses were gone and thousands of people killed. Sønnavind's cargo of rice was unloaded, whereupon she proceeded to various ports in India, before joining a convoy to head back to New York. In fact, she's listed among the ships in Convoy GUS 45, which left Port Said on July 4-1944 and arrived Hampton Roads on the 29th.

POST WAR:

Sold in March-1963 to Cia. Naviera Unitas S/A (Syros Shipping Co., London), Panama, renamed Argolis. Sold again in 1973 and renamed Topaz III for Asia Bulk Carriers Ltd., London. Broken up in China 1974.

Related external links
The Bombay Explosion - Details of the events and lots of pictures.

List of Ships lost - A section of a story detailing the first and last voyage of Fort Crevier, which has quite a bit of details about the explosion.

Fort Ships of WW II - Alphabetical list of Fort ships (also has the Ocean and the Park ships).

Back to Sønnavind on the "Ships starting with S" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 2 for 1987 (article by Rolf Larsen) - (ref. My sources).