M/T Vinga - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Manager: A/S J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi, Bergen
Tonnage: 7321 gt, 4339 net, 10 990 (10 300?) tdwt

Delivered in Sept.-1927 from F. Schichau, Danzig, Germany (1176) as Vinga to A/S J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi, Bergen, 441.6' x 57.4' x 27.7', 6 cyl. 2 TEV DM (builders?), 2700 bhp.

Attacked by Aircraft - 1941:

Vinga, on a voyage from Clyde (sept. 13) for Trinidad, was in Convoy OS 6 (departed Liverpool on Sept. 12-1941, arrived Freetown on Oct. 3) but had lagged somewhat behind due to engine problems, and was stopped and without protection when a German bomber attacked 4 times in the morning of Sept. 15-1941, position 58 01N 13 20W. During the first attack, when machine gun fire erupted, the 1st mate fired back with Vinga's machine gun (she had one 4 in gun and three AA guns on board, all of the latter were manned), but he was riddled by bullets and killed (he was said to have struck the plane[?]). The 3rd mate and others operated the port machine gun under the supervision of the captain, who ordered the radio operator to send out and SOS, which he managed to do before the aircraft came back and a bomb hit amidships, setting the midships section on fire, killing the captain and 6 others, while 4, including the steward, were severely injured. A 3rd attack, with machine gun fire, damaged the starboard lifeboat and injured Stoker Nilsen and Able Seaman Sigurd Lunde (not included in the official crew list). As all the midships officers had now been killed, no orders were forthcoming from the bridge, but the engine was stopped by the 4th engineer, and while he was down in the engine room another bomb exploded 2 meters from the ship, aft port side.

The survivors took to the boats, keeping near the ship in the hopes of finding more survivors. They spotted the saloon boy in the water and took him into the starboard boat. However, this boat was found to be leaking through 2 holes in the bottom, and being unable to keep the water out they all transferred to the port lifeboat, 28 in all. About half an hour later, a British aircraft circled above them, signalling in morse code which none of them could understand. The plane then circled around a spot 2 miles away, throwing down a life buouy, then a smoke bomb, leading those in the boat to understand there might be someone there, and reaching the area they found the injured pumpman among the debris.

The destroyer HNMS Campbeltown took the survivors on board, and as Vinga kept afloat a tug was called for and the following day, Oct. 16, 4 volunteers went back on board, namely Boatswain Hansen, Ordinary Seaman Bredahl, Able Seaman Lund and Galley Boy Nilsen. On the 17th Vinga was taken in tow, arriving Rothesay on the 19th, where she was handed over to Glasgow Salvage Company, Mr. Thomas.

Some additional details received from a visitor to my site:
The destroyer Campbeltown (former USS Buchanan) under Commander W. Harmsen was sent to the scene, when she was enroute to base from escorting Convoy OS 6. Campbeltown first picked up the 33(? this should be 29) survivors and the 8 bodies. Commander Harmsen sent a whaleboat with volunteers and salvage equipment, and these men managed to extinguish the fires, mainly concentrated around the bridge, after many hours of hard work. Later, another fire broke out, which could be extinguished easily. On September 16, Campbeltown was relieved by the corvette HMS Heather. Later, the Dutch tug Zwarte Zee arrived on the scene. The Vinga was taken in tow, and the "convoy", escorted by Heather, passed Rathlin Island on the 19th, and around 15:00 hours, Vinga anchored in a bay of the Firth of Clyde. Zwarte Zee then returned to Campbeltown.

The maritime hearings were held in Greenock on Sept. 30-1941 with the 1st engineer, the boatswain, and Ordinary Seaman Bredahl appearing. Most of the details in the 1st few paragraphs above is a summary of their statements and of an extract from the engine room diary. The witnesses disagree on the sequence of events, with the 1st engineer saying the bomb explosion took place in the 2nd attack, while the boatswain claims this happened in a 3rd attack. According to the 1st engineer, the Dutch vessel (probably meaning Campbeltown, which had been allocated to the Royal Netherlands Navy in Jan.-1941, but went back to the British Navy in Sept. that year) took 25 of the survivors into Londonderry where the injured Stoker Nilsen, Pumpman Moe, Saloon Boy Kotze, Steward Jamne and another unnamed crew member (possibly Able Seaman Lunde?) were admitted to a hospital. The destroyer had arrived about 2 hours after the attack, having heard the radio operator's SOS.

Page 2 has several reports on the attack as well as the salvage of Vinga

Partial Crew List:
An excerpt from the engine room log book, and Campbeltown's reports say there were 29 survivors
* denotes those who were on the bridge at the time of attack.

Survivors
Boatswain Hans Hansen	Able Seaman Wilhelm Lund	Ordinary Seaman Henrik Bredahl	1st Engineer Theodor N. Simonsen	4th Engineer Anton Klemen	Pumpman Jakob Moe
Stoker Walter Nilsen	Steward Arthur Jamne	Galley Boy Jan Anker Nilsen	Saloon Boy Peter Kotze (Nationality?)	(?Able Seaman Sigurd Lunde?)	+ several more*
* A report on Page 2 states there were 37 on board - 32 Norwegian, 3 Scots, 1 Canadian and 1 South African.
Casualties
† Captain Erling Skaare (Skarre?)*	† 1st Mate Tobias Spilde*	† 2nd Mate Bjarne Brønlund	† 3rd Mate Finn Thorbjørnsen*	† Radio Operator Arnfin M. Nilsen*	† Carpenter Olof Ingebritsen
† Able Seaman Svend Olsen*	† Ordinary Seaman Olaf Ommundsen*

Related external link:
Stavern commemorations - 9 are commemorated at this memorial for Norwegian seamen in Stavern, Norway. In addition to the ones listed above (some names spelt a little differently) there's an Able Seaman Georg Marensius Andersen commemorated (may have died in a previous incident? Or he may have been among the severely injured, and might have died from his injuries).

Later Voyages:

According to the external website that I've linked to at the end of this page, Vinga was scheduled for station 67 of Convoy OS 16 in Jan.-1942, but did not sail.

In March-1942 she sailed in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 73 (having initially been scheduled for the faster HX 178). She had station 32, and her destination is given as Hvalfjord, Iceland. At the end of Apr. she shows up in Convoy RU 21 from Reykjavik to the U.K., together with Bollsta and G. C. Brøvig.

A year later, in Apr.-1943, she's listed in Convoy SC 126 from Halifax, in July that year she can be found in Convoy SC 136, and in Sept. she was in Convoy SC 141. She must have gone straight back across the ocean, because on Oct. 11-1943, she's listed among the ships leaving Halifax with Convoy SC 144, and by Dec. she was back in Halifax, leaving with Convoy SC 148 on Dec. 2. There were also a number of other Norwegian ships in these convoys - follow the links for more details.

In June/July-1944 she sailed in Convoy HX 297 from New York, bound for Londonderry, and in Oct. that year she was in the slow Convoy SC 159. In the middle of Dec.-1944 we find her in Convoy SC 163.

POST WAR:

Sold in 1951 to A/S Polarfront, Tromsø, Norway/Hvalfangerselskapet Blaahval, Oslo/R. S. Platou A/S, Oslo (A/S Polarfront), Tromsø, renamed Rein. Sold to the U.K. in 1954 for breaking up.