Oslofjord (ship, 1938)
 The passenger ship Oslofjord (postcard from 1938)
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The Oslofjord (II) was a 1938 passenger ship of the Norwegian shipping company Den norske Amerikalinje , which operated between Norway and the USA. It sank in January 1941 after only two years of service after running into a sea mine at Tynemouth on December 1, 1940 . The wreck of the Oslofjord is the largest on the English east coast.
The ship
The 18,673 GRT motor ship Oslofjord was built for the Norwegian shipping company Den norske Amerikalinje A / S (NAL), which was called Norwegian-America Line in the English-speaking world . The passenger ship launched on December 29, 1937 at Bremer Schiffswerft AG Weser was 171.75 meters long, 22.37 meters wide and five decks high. 860 passengers (including 152 in cabin class, 307 in tourist class and 401 in third class) and 310 crew members could be taken on board.
The Oslofjord was powered by four seven-cylinder diesel engines from Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG , which operated on two propellers . It was handed over to the owners in May 1938. The shipping company Den Norske Amerikalinje was founded in 1910 to establish a passenger service between Norway and the United States . Their ships served the route Oslo - Kristiansand - Stavanger - Bergen - New York .
Conversion to a troop transport
In early 1940 the Oslofjord was launched in New York together with the Bergensfjord , which belonged to the same shipping company. In October 1940 it was decided to use the Oslofjord as a troop transport in the future . On October 26, 1940, she ran from Bayonne , New Jersey, to Halifax , where she arrived on October 28. In Halifax, the ship was converted and equipped with a four-inch cannon, eight machine guns , four Lewis guns , an anti-aircraft cannon and devices for degaussing to make the ship more difficult to find for magnetic mines and torpedoes .
Downfall
Stranded after a mine hit
On November 21, 1940, the Oslofjord ran under the command of Captain Ole Bornemann Bull in Halifax to Great Britain, where further conversion work should be carried out. In addition to 188 crew members and 150 passengers, there were 3,374 tons of general cargo, 1,775 tons of diesel fuel , 299 tons of other fuels, 1,350 tons of drinking water , provisions for 350 people and 13,734 mail bags on board. The ship went without an escort . On November 28, 1940, the Oslofjord ran into the Scottish port city of Gourock , where the passengers disembarked. Mail and cargo were also supposed to be unloaded in Gourock, but the ship was dispatched to Newcastle upon Tyne by the British Admiralty the following day . It was accompanied by the destroyer Vimy .
The Oslofjord was sailing behind the Vimy and was about two ship's lengths behind her when she ran at about 8:20 a.m. on December 1 about two nautical miles east-southeast of the mouth of the River Tyne to a presumably German sea mine . Almost all on-duty crew members on the bridge were thrown from the explosion to the ground. The chief officer Thorbjørn Thorsen ordered the engines to be stopped and shortly afterwards found the helmsman Yngvar Halvorsen and Captain Ole Bull lying unconscious on deck. Bull soon regained consciousness, but he was injured and bleeding.
Most of the crew left the ship in the lifeboats and were brought ashore by the Westmoreland and John Pyemont lifeboats . Bull and Halvorsen were helped into one of the boats; Halvorsen succumbed to his injuries that same day. Having established that the Oslo Fjord despite heavy list to starboard did not sink, the Chief officer called with a megaphone induce a themselves exploiting founding nearby ship. Several tugs and a pilot appeared , and the Oslofjord was towed. Captain Bull came back on board shortly afterwards despite injuries and shock.
After consulting the Admiralty, the pilot refused to tow the Oslofjord because it could block the entrance to the Tyne. After extensive inspections, it was decided that there was no alternative but to allow the ship to run aground south of Tynemouth's South Pier , which it did. In the days that followed, volunteers were able to retrieve around 9,000 mail bags. Some crew members stayed on board the ship as of December 8th. Captain Bull was meanwhile in hospital because of an injured neck vertebra .
Downfall and aftermath
While the Oslofjord lay on the bank at Tynemouth, it slowly began to break apart. Cabins, salons and holds were gradually flooded, so that the last remaining crew members had to leave the ship. They were brought to safety by the John Pyemont when the sea was rough and the wind was strong . The Oslofjord finally broke in two on the night of January 21 to 22, 1941 in stormy weather and capsized .
In Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the investigation into the accident took place on December 18, 1940 with questioning of some crew members. At the time, Captain Ole Bull was still in the hospital and could not be questioned. He later testified that the Oslofjord should not have been where it was. As a troop transport, she was only supposed to call at ports on the English and Scottish west coasts. On her last voyage, the Oslofjord was supposed to go to Glasgow , but was sent to the east coast by the Admiralty despite his protests.
The German occupiers of Norway used the sinking of the Oslofjord for their anti-British propaganda .
The wreck of the Oslofjord is about 12 meters deep at the position 55 ° 0 ′ 10.8 ″ N , 1 ° 23 ′ 43.5 ″ W . Most of it has collapsed and the four diesel engines are exposed. The prow points out to sea. Dishes and portholes are scattered around the wreck . On March 15, 1943, the Greek steamer Eugenia Chandris (5,317 t) collided with the stern of the Oslofjord and sank.