Koenjit
Dutch Motor merchant
Koenjit under her former name Stjerneborg. Photo courtesy of Danish Maritime Museum, Elsinore
| Name | Koenjit | ||
| Type: | Motor merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 4,551 tons | ||
| Completed | 1929 - Burmeister & Wain´s Maskin & Skibsbyggeri A/S, Copenhagen | ||
| Owner | Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd NV (W. Ruys & Zonen), Rotterdam | ||
| Homeport | Rotterdam | ||
| Date of attack | 13 May 1942 | Nationality:  Dutch | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-156 (Werner Hartenstein) | ||
| Position | 15.30N, 52.40W - Grid EE 6353 | ||
| Complement | 37 (0 dead and 37 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Halifax - Capetown - Alexandria | ||
| Cargo | 8629 tons of general cargo and a motor boat as deck cargo | ||
| History | Completed in April 1929 as Danish Stjerneborg for A/S D/S Dannebrog (C.K. Hansen), Copenhagen. On 12 May, 1940, seized by Netherlands in Soerabaja and renamed Koenjit. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 03.58 hours on 13 May 1942, the unescorted Koenjit (Master R.M. Rosenhof) was hit by one G7e torpedo from U-156 about 300 miles north-northeast of Barbados. The ship had been chased for about eight hours and missed with a spread of two torpedoes at 01.20 hours. The torpedo struck aft in the engine room and caused her to sink by the stern. All crew members abandoned ship in two lifeboats, except the master and the first mate Folmer, who stayed aboard and searched for possible crew members still on board. They later had to jump overboard as the ship sank and swam to the boats. The U-boat surfaced and Hartenstein asked for the name, nationality and destination of the ship. The answers he got from the crew were so short and so vague that he was not able establish the identity. He then gave the position to the survivors and left after the ship disappeared under the surface. The motorboat Letitia Porter carried on deck went down with the Koenjit. | ||
Location of attack on Koenjit.
ship sunk.
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