| 1944-12-17: |
Isbjørn was in service on the coast of Gt. Britain. Took part as supply ship for the Normandie invasion in June-1944 (Operation Neptune), arriving Omaha on June 12, departing June 18. In December 1944 Isbjørn was at the Prince of Wales Dock, Swansea, undergoing extensive repairs and overhaul. She departed Swansea at 18:00 on December 14th with a cargo of about 650 tons Anthracite coal for Poole (Goole?) and joined a convoy the following morning. The next day a storm was encountered and at 00:30 on December 17th 1944 a heavy sea swept over her, causing her cargo to shift to port, and she immediately developed a list. The captain gave orders to heave to and to start filling the starboard No. 2 ballast tank, which seemed to stabilize the ship and decrease the list somewhat. However, the winds increased to hurricane force, and about 04:30 the electricity to the navigation lights and compass broke down, the paraffin oil lamps were lit, the compass being lit up by an electric torch. It now became more and more difficult to keep Isbjørn under control, and she suddenly started to move off course, with the wind and sea coming in from aft while she listed more and more to port (every effort had been made to keep the wind and sea on the port bow prior to this). They attempted to get the ship up against the wind again, but to no avail. With the situation now being critical, orders were given to stand by the lifeboat. The motorboat had already been lost when the forward davit gave way. An SOS signal was sent to a nearby ship by Aldis lamp, and a number of rockets were also sent up, but in the poor visibility it was believed their signals were not seen. Two heavy seas now washed over the after deck, and in a matter of seconds Isbjørn capsized and sank by the stern (the hatches were believed to have been broken in). Because of the list they had not been able to launch the lifeboat, but as the ship went down, the boat unhooked itself with 1 man in it who picked up another man from the water. Later, another 6 were picked up by this boat, including the captain, who had gotten his foot jammed and was pulled down with the suction, but had managed to get himself free and to the surface. The lifeboat was badly damaged and was full of water. 6 hours later they were spotted by the Dutch M/S OOSTERHAVEN (position 50 27N 03 00W, Captain H. A. A. Breent) and in spite of the bad weather managed to maneuver the ship close to the lifeboat and take the men on board. However, during this transfer, the steward fell overboard and disappeared. Upon being told there might be more survivors the Dutch vessel went to the place where Isbjørn had gone down and found 4 men on 2 rafts, but no more survivors could be found, so they left the scene. |
