World War IIMT Svenør
MT Svenør was on a journey on its own with 11.400 ton of fuel oil as cargo from Trinidad to join a convoy in Halifax. On the 27th of March 1942, the ship was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-105 in the proximity of Cape Hatteras. The amidships was immediately engulfed in flames and all of the deck officers, two sailors and a British telegraphist, in total eight men, was swallowed by the flames. At the aft of the ship, the remaining crew managed to lower the lifeboats. The ship was still afloat, but it wasn’t truly over until the German U-boat shot another torpedo and 50 artillery shells towards the ship. It should be noted that the German submarine commander, Korvettenkapitän Schuch, noticed a ship in the distance; he concluded it was a neutral Portuguese ship. The submarine emerged to the surface and guided the Portuguese ship to the Norwegian shipwrecked crew. The Portuguese ship picked up 29 survivors and on the 31st of March brought them to Philadelphia. Eight people perished in the sinking.
About MT Svenør
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Nationality
Norway
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Built
1931
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Wrecked
27.03.1942
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Carrier
Samuel Ugelstad, Brevik/Oslo
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Tonnage
12477 dvt
