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Owner: Dampsk.-A/S Bjørn Built by Götaverken A/B, Gothenburg in 1927. (Jürgen Rohwer states Tyr was built in 1926, and so does Roger Jordan. My Norwegian sources say 1927. I guess this could simply mean that she was launched, or that building commenced in 1926, completed in 1927). Captain: Jens Eidbo.
Tyr is listed in Convoy SL 43, which departed Freetown on Aug. 11-1940 and arrived Liverpool on the 31st. In Oct. that year she was scheduled to sail to Durban with Convoy OB 231 (left Liverpool on Oct. 19), but cancelled and instead joined the next convoy, OB 232, on Oct. 21. This convoy also had other Norwegian ships, namely Heien, Lysaker IV, Måkefjell, Polyana, Rimfakse, Siak and Skiensfjord, all listed on this website - ref. alphabet index at the end of this page. Bolette and Selbo were scheduled, but did not sail. Tyr lost a crew member to an accident in Dec. that same year - see the text under "Stavern Commemorations" at the end of this page. In Jan.-1941 she was in Convoy SL 62, in which the Norwegian Austvard had also started out (lost touch and sunk by aircraft on the 30th). The Norwegian Borgland also took part in this convoy, which left Freetown on Jan. 10 and arrived Liverpool on Febr. 3-1941. The external website that I've linked to below has more details on both the SL convoys mentioned here, as well as OB 231 and OB 232. Note, however, that another section of the site (based on Arnold Hague's research) lists Tyr in Convoy SL 63S on Jan. 18, but not in SL 62 - I'm not sure which is correct. The same site also has Tyr in Convoy WN 85 (departed Clyde Febr. 14-1941, arrived Methil Febr. 18) and in Convoy FS 417A, which departed Methil on Febr. 20-1941 and arrived Southend on the 22nd. The Norwegian Einar Jarl and Freidig are also included in the latter. Einar Jarl is also listed in WN 85, as are Ingertre and Kul. Follow the links provided. Tyr was attacked by aircraft near the Humber Lightship in the evening of March 14-1941. She was not hit directly by bombs, but had to be towed into Immingham due to engine damages. Related external links:
Tyr departed Hull on Febr. 4-1942 in ballast for Halifax via Methil and Loch Ewe, and after having corrected her compasses she anchored up to await a convoy. Shortly after noon a German aircraft came over, dropping 2 bombs, both of which missed, partly because of the strong wind and partly because of the heavy fire from Tyr and the ships around her. She continued her voyage on Febr. 6, and again a German aircraft appeared, dropping a bomb in front of the bows of one of the ships in the convoy, and about half an hour later another 2 aircraft came over and dropped 4 bombs which landed right next to Tyr, though without causing any harm, and the aircraft were met by heavy fire from the escorts as well as the ships in the convoy. (Note that she's included, together with the Norwegian Bestum and Loke, in Convoy FN 624, which had originated in Southend on Febr. 5-1942 and arrived Methil on the 7th - external link). Tyr dropped anchor off Methil on Febr. 7, then left in convoy in the morning of Febr. 14, arriving Loch Ewe on the 16th (she's listed in Convoy EN 46 which left Methil on Febr. 13 and arrived Oban on the 16th - external link), then departed in a convoy for Halifax shortly after noon on Febr. 19*. By the morning of March 7 only 3 ships of the convoy were within view in the heavy rain and hail, and when the wind and seas increased Tyr lost her steering, so her engine was stopped. The following day, March 8 the weather had improved somewhat, but she was now alone on the ocean.
At 16:00 the next day, March 9, she was struck by a torpedo from U-96 (Lehmann-Willenbrock), 43 12N 61 15W*. The torpedo hit on the starboard side and went straight through the fireroom before detonating in the port side of the ship. She sank by the stern in 8-9 minutes. All on board had gotten in 3 lifeboats when the U-boat appeared, course for Sable Island was pointed out to them and apologies made for having had to sink their ship. The boats set sail for Nova Scotia and tried to stay together, but in the increasing seas and wind it proved impossible. The 3rd mate's boat with 9 on board was found after 16 hours by a Canadian patrol vessel and landed in Halifax that same evening. The 1st mate's boat was seen by a Canadian aircraft and after having been in the boat for 52 hours its occupants were rescued by the Canadian HMCS Georgian on March 11 and landed in Halifax on the 12th, where they were met by the Norwegian Consul Juell and Captain E. Johnsen from Nortraship. They were all taken to Camp Hill Hospital for medical care. The captain's lifeboat with 13 on board was never found. 18 had survived.
According to an article in "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 2 for 1982, 2 of the survivors were reunited after 40 years, both living in Hull in England at the time without having known about each other. They were the Norwegian Arne Sørensen and the British Dennis Atkins. Crew List:
Related external links: Back to Tyr on the "Ships starting with T" page. Wilh. Wilhelmsen had a steamship by this name, built Sunderland 1895, 2226 gt. Sold to Stettin in 1921 and renamed Wotan. Broken up in Germany 1934. 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. (ref. My sources).
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