Part of the
Acorn Archive
Hearts of Oak
Athel Line
Ships
Athelviking
1 ship of this name
ATHELVIKING
GSN 20044176
ON 162387
8,875
grt; 5215 nrt; 12,950 dwt.
471ft
5ins x 62ft 6ins x 27ft 3ins
Call Sign : LFRK
2 x 6cyl. 709 nhp Oil Engine by
J. G. Kincaid & Co. Ltd., Greenock
Twin
screw, 10½ knots.
Built
1926 by Furness SB. Co, Haverton Hill-on-Tees ( Yard Nr 86 )
as
the JAVA for A/S J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi, Bergen, Norway.
1933
Purchased by United Molasses Co renamed ATHELVIKING.
1940 Transferred to Athel Line
Ltd., London, UK
She had a wartime complement of fifty-one
men under the command of Captain Egerton G. B. Martin. Her Chief Radio Officer
was forty-eight year old W. E. Mitchell, who held a second class Certificate of
Proficiency in Radio, and his two assistants, with special wartime
certificates, were A G. Stark as second, and A. Whatley as third.
1945 14th January : Torpedoed and sunk
by U-1232, as Convoy BX141 was entering harbour in single column, on voyage
from Fort Lauderdale, Port
Everglades and Boston to Halifax and U.K, with molasses and landing craft on
deck. Four men lost, 47 survivors.
1945 14th January : At 1035, U-1232 attacked Convoy BX-141 east
of Halifax, sank SS BRITISH FREEDOM and badly damaged the US Liberty ship SS
MARTIN VAN BUREN six minutes later. The U-boat then sank SS ATHELVIKING and
missed HMCS ETTRICK. The two tankers were sunk in position 44.28N 063.28W, 4 miles South
of Sambro Island. Later in the action, HMCS
ETTRICK, while conducting an attack, ran over the conning tower of U-1232,
which was forced to depart for home badly damaged. The master & three
crewmembers from SS ATHELVIKING were lost. 39 crewmembers & eight gunners
were picked up by HMC ML-102 and landed at Halifax. 15th January :
HMCS FUNDY and COMOX, both Fundy-class minesweepers, rescued survivors
from the three ships torpedoed in Convoy BX-141 by U-1232.
The men who
died 14th January 1945
CARLSSON,
Chief Steward, ERIC GUSTAV, Age 55.
King's
Commendation for Brave Conduct.
Husband of Ada
Carlsson, of Moreton Cheshire.
MARTIN,
Master, EGERTON GABRIEL BAYNES, O B E, Age 52.
Son of Dr.
John Michael H. Martin and T. Edith Martin.
Husband of
Annie Cameron Martin, of Cardonald, Glasgow.
Three times
awarded King's Commendation for Brave Conduct.
INCE, Chief
Officer, GEOFFREY, Age 40.
Son of John
and Laura Ince.
Husband of
Dorothy S. Ince, of Wallasey, Cheshire.
MacHALE,
Boatswain, BERTRAM JOSEPH, Age 33.
Son of Dr.
Patrick J. MacHale and Julia M. MacHale.
Athelviking
Bibliothek fur Zeitgeschichte,
Stuttgart
Collection Raul Maya (Montevideo)
http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/bfz/marine/index.htm
Athelviking
Athelviking
Raymond
Forward