World War IIDS Storviken
SS Storviken was on a journey from Mombasa to Aden with coal. The ship had a crew of seven Norwegians and 44 Chinese. At the 1st of October 1943 the ship was torpedoed by the Japanese U-boat I-10 (Commander Tonozuka) in the gulf outside of Aden in the position 1145N, 4807E. Storviken sank in three minutes, but Captain Øistein Apold was sure that 42 men had gotten into the lifeboats. The Captain tried along with four men to get out the captain’s gig, but it capsized and was dragged down by the undertow. The Norwegian Captain and his men had to save themselves on wreckage. The Japanese U-boat emerged from the water alongside of the boat and took the third mate Finn Kjellevik and a Chinese as prisoners. Then the U-boat went full speed ahead and this made the propeller hole the lifeboat which again wounded or killed people aboard. The U-boat passed through the wreckage and mocked the survivors and the dead. 19 men saved themselves on a raft, but six men later died of exhaustion. A British vessel arrived some time later and rescued 17 men and brought them to Aden. Kjellevik was kept as a prisoner of war in Japan until fall 1945. Commander Tonozuka was the same man who had killed the survivors from Alcides and Bramora. Three Norwegians and 34 Chinese perished in the sinking.
About DS Storviken
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Nationality
Norway
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Built
1917
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Wrecked
01.10.1943
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Carrier
Wallem & Co, Bergen
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Tonnage
7583 dvt
