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M/S Tyr To Tyr on the "Ships starting with T" page. Owner: Dampsk.-A/S Bjørn Built by Götaverken A/B, Gothenburg in 1927. (Jürgen Rohwer states Tyr was built in 1926, and so does R.W. Jordan. My Norwegian sources say 1927. This could simply mean that she was launched, or that building commenced in 1926, completed in 1927). Captain: Jens Eidbo (from 1941, previously served on Svint). Related items on this website: Her voyages are listed on this original document received from the National Archives of Norway. Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each (it'll be noticed that some of the listings are incomplete).
According to the archive document, Tyr was on her way from Vancouver to Table Bay when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. Later that year, she's listed in Convoy SL 43, which departed Freetown on Aug. 11 and arrived Liverpool on the 31st - Tyr, cargo of iron ore, stopped at Greenock on the 29th. According to the external website that I've linked to below, she was later scheduled for Convoy OB 231 (left Liverpool on Oct. 19), but instead joined the next convoy, OB 232, which originated in Liverpool on Oct. 21 and dispersed on the 26th, Tyr arriving Durban on Dec. 2 (having sailed from Clyde on Oct. 22). This convoy also had other Norwegian ships, namely Heien, Lysaker IV, Måkefjell, Polyana, Rimfakse, Siak and Skiensfjord (Commodore Vessel). Bolette and Selbo were scheduled, but did not sail. From Durban, Tyr proceeded to Lourenco Marques that same day, with arrival Dec. 4. While there, she lost a crew member to an accident on Dec. 6, namely Motorman Arne Magnus Asbjørnsen - see the text at "Stavern Memorial commemoration" below. In Jan.-1941, Tyr is listed in Convoy SL 62, in which the Norwegian Austvard had also sailed before she lost touch and was sunk by aircraft on Jan. 30 - follow the link for more details. The Norwegian Borgland also took part in this convoy, which left Freetown on Jan. 10 and arrived Liverpool on Febr. 3. Tyr, however, returned to Freetown, later joining Convoy SL 63S on Jan. 18, and arrived Oban Febr. 14 - cargo of iron ore (see links provided in the table above). According to the archive document, she left Oban again the next day and arrived Methil Febr. 18, having sailed in Convoy WN 85, along with Einar Jarl, Ingertre and Kul. A. Hague has also included her in Convoy FS 417A, which departed Methil on Febr. 20 and arrived Southend on the 22nd; Tyr arrived Immingham that day. Einar Jarl had again been in company, as had Freidig; again, follow the links provided within the Voyage Record (note that the listing for the FS convoy is incomplete). In the evening of March 14-1941, Tyr was attacked by aircraft near the Humber Lightship. She was not hit directly by bombs, but had to be towed into Immingham due to engine damages. It'll be noticed, when going back to the archive document, that there's subsequently a long gap in her voyages, from March 30-1941, when she's said to have arrived Hull from Immingham, to Febr. 4-1942, when she left Hull in order to sail to Halifax. Related external links: Stavern Memorial commemoration - This is Arne Magnus Asbjørnsen, mentioned above. According to "Våre falne", a series of 4 books naming Norwegians who lost their lives during the war, he served as a motorman on Tyr when he died in an accident in Lourenço Marques on Dec. 6-1940 and was buried there.
As already mentioned, 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 (external link, incomplete listing), which had originated in Southend on Febr. 5 and arrived Methil on the 7th; Tyr had left Humber on Febr. 6, according to the archive document. She dropped anchor off Methil on Febr. 7, then left in convoy in the morning of Febr. 14, arriving Loch Ewe the next day (she's listed in Convoy EN 46 which left Methil on Febr. 13 and arrived Oban on the 16th - external link, Marianne is also named). Tyr departed Loch Ewe again shortly after noon on Febr. 19 in a convoy for Halifax. The convoy designation is not given, but according to A. Hague, this was the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 68, which had originated in Liverpool on Febr. 19. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section in due course, in the meantime, the ships sailing in it (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. The Norwegian Aun, Carrier, Danio, Evanger (Commodore Vessel), Ingertre and Rio Verde are also listed. (The straggling Greek Lily was sunk - by U-587; see this external page). 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, 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. (This time and position are from the 1st mate's report - J. Rohwer gives position as 43 40N 61 10W at 21:09 on March 9, German time). 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 were made for having had to sink their ship. The boats then 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 spotted 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 at the time without having known about each other. They were the Norwegian Arne Sørensen and the British Dennis Atkins. For info, U-96 was also responsible for the attacks on Caledonia, Torungen and Sveve - follow the links for more info. More details on the other Norwegian ships mentioned on this page can be found with the help of the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index. 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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