M/S Tarifa
Updated Aug. 16-2012

To Tarifa on the "Ships starting with T" page.

Crew List


Source: Roger W. Jordan collection.


From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

The Australian War Memorial also has a picture of this ship, taken in Fremantle (external links).
See also this external page (click in the photo to enlarge) as well as Uboat.net (also external).

(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database).

Final Fate - 1944:

Tarifa was on a voyage from Suez and Aden to Melbourne with a cargo of, among other things, 8240 tons Phosphate, 1290 tons crude oil, and 500 bags of mail, when she was torpedoed and sunk by U-510 (Eick) on March 7-1944, about 250 n. miles east of Socotra, position 12 48N 58 44E. She had a crew of 47 and also had 101 military personnel from Australia and New Zealand and 1 other passenger on board (under Captain A.I.F. S. R. Dawson). She had left Aden in the evening of March 2 (Page 4) and joined a convoy the following day (Convoy AB 33 - external link), but had left the convoy on March 6 and continued alone, while zig-zagging.

The explosion occurred between holds No. 3 and 4, and a few seconds later another explosion occurred near No. 5 hold. 2 were killed on impact, while a 3rd, Gunner Harry Stiansen was fatally injured and was declared dead by a military doctor after he had been taken into a lifeboat from the water. ("Nortraships flåte" gives his name as H. Kristiansen). He was later buried in the sea.

No SOS could be sent from the ship because all the radio equipment and the radio station had been destroyed. One of the aft lifeboats had been destroyed in the second explosion, but 5 lifeboats were successfullly launched, with the captain leaving the ship as the last man at 11:25, about 5 minutes after the attack had occurred, and a few minutes later Tarifa was gone (Page 4 gives the time as 07:30 GMT, March 7). The survivors were distributed in such a way that as many as possible were taken into the lifeboats and rafts, with each boat taking a raft in tow. At about 11:35, the U-boat was seen surfacing about a mile off, before disappearing in a northerly direction. Distress calls were sent out via the emergency set in the lifeboat, but no replies were received. Another attempt was made at midnight, but again the signals were not acknowledged.

The boats set sail for Socotra, but the next day it was decided that the captain's boat should go on ahead to get help as quickly as possible, and after having taken 3 men from the raft into the boat, the rest of the people on the raft he had been towing were distributed between the other boats, before the raft was let go. With a total of 22 men in the boat the captain left the others. He landed at the Royal Air Force base on Socotra at 19:00 on March 12 where arrangements for the rescue of the remaining crew and passengers were made. On March 13 the first aircraft left the base and within an hour the boats and rafts were spotted, whereupon a Royal Naval vessel was directed to their position. At 03:00 on March 14th, they were all taken on board the British frigate HMS Avon which landed them in Aden (the lifeboats and rafts were shelled and sunk). See also this Guestbook message. The captain was taken to Aden by aircraft that same day, while the others were landed there by a British vessel. By March 16 all the survivors were assembled in Aden.

According to an article written by an able seaman on board at the time, Tarifa had previously made voyages to East Africa, Mauritius, Reunion, Tamatave (Madagaskar), Mombasa, Tanga, Dar es Salaam, Beira, Lourenco Marques, then to Australia where she took on board a cargo for Suez (mostly food stuffs), departing Melbourne on Jan. 2-1944. He says she later headed to El-Quseir (Kosseir) to load a cargo of phosphate for Australia, but stopped by Suez to pick up the soldiers, pilots and Navy personnel who were going home to Australia and New Zealand (compare these voyages with the information found on Page 4). They were to live on deck on this voyage. Tarifa then continued to Aden for bunkers before heading east in a convoy, but left the convoy near Ras al Hadd. The able seaman says they were hit by 2 torpedoes, 1 between No. 2 and 3 hatch, the other on the poop; she sank in 10 minutes. Only those who were on the after deck were forced to jump overboard, the rest were able to get in the 5 boats and some rafts. 1 of the casualties had been crushed between a lifeboat and a raft on the poop deck, another died in his cabin (the 2nd mate stated at the subsequent inquiry that the torpedo struck right below Gunner Olander's cabin, where he was sitting reading at the time). After a week's sailing they were picked up and taken to Aden, where the soldiers were placed in a camp, while the crew were given hotel rooms.

The maritime inquiry was held in Liverpool on Apr. 25-1944 with the 1st and 2nd mates, the 4th engineer and the steward attending. All the witnesses had travelled from Aden to Port Said with Tricolor (according to Tricolor's Voyage Record for this period; she left Aden on March 24 and arrived Port Said March 29), continuing to the U.K. with the British Mahanada (this ship is listed in Convoy MKF 30, which left Port Said on Apr. 8 and arrived Liverpool Apr. 21), while the captain travelled from Aden to Australia.

For info, U-510 was also responsible for the attacks on Alaska, B.P. Newton and Erling Brøvig - follow the links for details.

Crew List:
The 3rd and 4th mates were on watch on the bridge when the attack occurred. The former travelled to London via Liverpool, while the latter remained in Aden.
The 2nd mate was in his cabin amidships - later in the captain's lifeboat.
The 4th engineer was on watch in the engine room, as were the mechanics Albrektsen and Andersen.
The 2nd cook had previously survived the attack on Belita.
("The World's Merchant Fleets 1939" by Roger W. Jordan states that 6 died, 146 survived).

Survivors
Captain Hans Bjønnes	1st Mate Reidar Stensvold	2nd Mate Finn Gitmark	3rd Mate Amund C. Wetlesen	4th Mate Arthur Toft Nilsen	Radio Operator John Bruce Esplin (British)
2nd Radio Operator Eric Ofchinsky (Nationality?)	Carpenter Alf Tidemann Stang	Boatswain Asbjørn Bollerud	Able Seaman Mauritz Arvesen	Able Seaman Julius Storteig	Able Seaman Henry Karlsen
Able Seaman Lars Larsen	Able Seaman Jacob Jacobsen	Able Seaman Sigvald Brandal	Able Seaman Fridtjof Siverten	Able Seaman Johan Pettersen	Ordinary Seaman John Greatorex (Australian)
Ordinary Seaman Roos Ewings (Australian)	1st Engineer Peder Egenæss	2nd Engineer Briand Røhme	3rd Engineer Alf Sømoe	4th Engineer Finn Bjørnsen	Electrician Helge Kveseth
Mechanic Jørgen Martinsen	Mechanic Henry Andresen	Mechanic Karluf Nilsen	Mechanic Kristian Jørstad	Mechanic Lars Vik	Mechanic Emil Albrektsen
Mechanic Jens Hansen	Mechanic Ivar Ahlstrøm	Oiler William Conway (Australian)	Gunnery Officer Gunder Johnsen	Steward Hans Gule	Cook Reidar Haraldsen
2nd Cook Nils Kongstein	Mess Boy Raymond Harris (Australian)	Saloon Boy Donald Taylor (Nationality?)	Saloon Boy Chu Pak Hin (Chinese)	Saloon Boy Shui Bang Pang (Chinese)	Gunner Kristian Johnsen
Gunner Harald Kolberg	Gunner Dag Ånestad	Gunner Ivar Moldevær	+ 101 passengers
Casualties
† Passenger R. R. Gordon* (Australian soldier)	† Gunner Erling Olander	† Gunner Harry Stiansen

Related external links:
Stavern Memorial commemorations - Able Seaman/Gunner Harry Nicolay Stiansen and Gunner Erling Sæther (Olander) are commemorated at this memorial for seamen in Stavern, Norway.

Operations information for U-510

U-510 | Alfred Eick

Back to Tarifa on the "Ships starting with T" page.

Wilh. Wilhelmsen later had another ship by this name, from 1948 till 1969.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Wilh. Wilhelmsen fleet list, "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II, Norwegian Maritime Museum and misc. others as named within above text - (ref. My sources).