ALASKA was on her way to the U.K. from Colombo in a convoy. On 30th October 1942, the ship was ordered to act as a rescue ship as the usual rescue ship had been sunk. On the same evening the passenger ship PRESIDENT DOUMER was also sunk. The weather was bad and made the rescue work difficult, but what was worse was the complete panic which arose amongst the 360 passengers during the 15 minutes the ship remained afloat. The lifeboats were cut down and crushed and shortly afterwards most of the 360 passengers were struggling wildly in the sea.Two of the crew members from ALASKA were sent down into the water with rope tied around their waists to try and save those most weary, but it proved to be too risky and the attempt had to be abandoned, due to high seas and a lot of sharks, according to the report. But the second and third mates were sent down to one of the crushed lifeboats and managed to rescue 46 of the 48 onboard, despite the fact that many of them struggled in panic. Whilst the rescue operation was still underway, something happened which everyone had feared. The ALASKA itself was torpedoed. Full panic broke out once again amongst the 53 passengers who had been saved from PRESIDENT DOUMER. The crew had their hands full trying to prevent the lifeboat lines being cut before they reached the water. The next morning the DOUMER survivors were brought back onboard the ALASKA from the lifeboats and later on in the day the ship was once again on its way, bound for Madeira. Shortly afterwards the ALASKA was hailed by a British corvette with orders to follow the corvette which was escorting a drifting, torpedoed ship, SILVER-WILLOW. Immediately afterwards a new and extremely unusual situation arose. A delegation of three from the crew demanded that the ALASKA lie still at night with the crew staying in the lifeboats nearby until dawn. If not, the stokers and sailors would soon refuse to carry out their duties. The reason was that with 53 panic-stricken passengers from DOUMER onboard, none of the crew would have a chance of getting into the lifeboats at night if the ship were to be hit by another torpedo. THIS WAS AN INDISPUTABLE THREAT WHICH CAPTAIN BERGE MEVATNE DISMISSED ON THE SPOT. With an admonition that <<If everyone did their duty and tried to view the situation more positively, there was still a good chance of saving the crew, the ship and most of the cargo. But the drama was still not at an end. During the afternoon the ship gained contact with a Portuguese passenger ship which had a doctor onboard. It was therefore possible to send the wounded passengers from DOUMER over to the Portuguese ship for closer medical inspection. But four British gunners and a second engineer suddenly stormed the bridge and demanded a transfer to the Portuguese ship if the wounded passengers from DOUMER were going to be transferred. Captain Mevatne’s reply was negative and thereby the entire transfer was abandoned and the Portuguese vessel disappeared from sight. On 13th November ALASKA was safely docked in Lisbon. In the meantime the corvette had gone on a new mission and SILVER-WILLOW had been sunk. ALASKA’s situation was as follows: A large part of the tank top and starboard side No. 1 hatch has been ripped away. In addition, the decks and shipside are bulging badly, especially fore and aft of the midship building where several panels have been damaged. Furthermore, the bulkhead aft of the forecastle is completely twisted. The bottom tanks have been damaged and loose rivets can be found everywhere both in the main tanks and the ship’s sides. Captain Berge Mevatne was later decorated with the War Cross With Sword, a distinction which ranks higher than all other Norwegian was decorations and which has only been awarded to 19 in the merchant navy.
Account from the view of the U-Boat see Convoy SL-125
(27 - 31 Oct 1942) Convoy SL-125 consisting of 37 ships and escorted by the British corvettes Petunia (Lt-Cdr Rayner), Cowslip, Crocus and Woodruff.
Attacked by a wolfpack of 8 U-Boats (+2). 12 Ships sunk (all UK), 1 damaged (Norwegian Alaska). The 12 merchant ships sunk totaled 80,007 grt. The 5,681 grt heavily damaged Alaska managed to reach Lisbon on the 11th. The battle had lasted for 5 days and was very successful for the Germans. However this success had a bitter aftertaste as at the same time many more important convoys on their way for Operation Torch, the landings in North-Africa, were routed around the U-boat concentration and reached their destination unmolested. In this perspective the words of the SL-125 convoy commodore must be understood when he said after the war that 'This is the only time I have been congratulated for losing ships...' Acknowledge content from - http://www.dypevag.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/alaska.htm |
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