World War IIMT Nyholt
MT Nyholt was in a convoy when it was hit by dense fog and a hurricane. The ship lost its convoy just south for Greenland while it was on a journey from Reykjavik to New York. At the 17th of January 1942, the weather cleared and that is when the first torpedo from the German U-boat U-87 struck the ship. This happened about 180 nautical miles from Cape Race. The explosion hit three of the tanks, but the ship was still afloat. The captain decided to sail in a zig-zag pattern towards Newfoundland. Two new torpedoes hit the ship at the night of 18th January, and the crew was brought into the lifeboats. Two died when the fell into the sea. Nyholt received heavy cannon fire from the U-boatand went up in flames and sunk shortly after. The ship doctor tried to the best of his abilities to tend the wounded in the lifeboats. The survivors in the two boats was struck hard by both shock and freezing temperatures and some died here. At the 20th of January, a new storm blew in. This storm caused the towline to break and the two life boats was split apart where one of the boats with 15 survivors where never seen again. The other boat was discovered nine days later by a Canadian plane and was brought to Halifax the day after. 19 of the crewmembers on MT Nyholt perished in the sinking.
About MT Nyholt
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Nationality
Norway
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Built
1931
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Wrecked
17.01.1942
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Carrier
Christian Haaland, Haugesund
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Tonnage
12350 dvt
