Date of attack

7 Mar 1941

Nationality:

British

Fate

Sunk by U-99 (Otto Kretschmer)

Position

60° 00'N, 12° 50'W - Grid AM 1225

Complement

107 (2 dead and 105 survivors).

Convoy

OB-293

Route

Glasgow - Curaçao

Cargo

Ballast

History

Completed in September 1936

Notes on event

At 05.05 hours on 7 March 1941, Terje Viken (Master O. Borchgrevink) in convoy OB-293 was hit by two torpedoes southeast of Iceland. This must have been U-47 (Prien), which is reported missing since this attack.

At 05.50 hours, the ship was missed by a spread of three torpedoes from U-70 (Matz), but at the same time U-99 fired a torpedo that hit on the port side and the crew abandoned ship. Later a part of the crew reboarded the ship and tried to save her, but she capsized at 18.55 hours.

On 14 March, the wreck was scuttled by gunfire of a British salvage tug. Two crew members were lost. The master, 99 crew members and five gunners were picked up by HMS Hurricane (H 06) (LtCdr H.C. Simms, RN) and landed at Greenock. At the time of her loss, the Terje Viken had been the largest whaling factory ship in the world.

On board

We have details of 4 people who were on board.