Minister Wedel
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| Name | Minister Wedel | ||
| Type: | Motor tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 6.833 tons | ||
| Completed | 1930 - William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland | ||
| Owner | Karl Bruusgaard, Drammen | ||
| Homeport | Oslo | ||
| Date of attack | 9 Jan, 1943 | Nationality:  Norwegian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-522 (Herbert Schneider) | ||
| Position | 28.08N, 28.20W - Grid DG 8636 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 38 (0 dead and 38 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | TM-1 | ||
| Route | Port of Spain, Trinidad (28 Dec) - Gibraltar | ||
| Cargo | 8920 tons of Admiralty furnace oil | ||
| History | In Admiralty service as Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) since 1940. On 9 Aug, 1942, the Minister Wedel reported seeing an U-boat four miles away when in 08°52N/52°30W and was subsequently followed for an hour and a half, then saw a periscope two cable lengths off the port quarters. The course was changed and the after gun fired, no attack was observed. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 06.19 hours on 9 Jan, 1943, U-522 fired three torpedoes at the convoy TM-1 and reported three hits, which were also observed by U-575 (Heydemann) and claimed three tankers sunk. It is probable that two torpedoes hit the Minister Wedel, which started to burn fiercely and the other the Norvik. The HMS Havelock (H 88) unsuccessfully tried to scuttle both badly damaged ships by gunfire. In the afternoon, U-522 reported the sinking of three damaged tankers in grid DG 9510 at 15.15 hours, 16.50 hours and 17.30 hours by coups de grāce. But again, the U-boat probably attacked one of the tankers twice, so only Norvik and Minister Wedel were finished off. The Minister Wedel (Master Wilh. J. Wilhelmsen) was hit on the starboard side in the foreship and was abandoned by all 33 crew members and five gunners. The HMS Havelock (H 88) (Cdr Richard C. Boyle DSC) picked up the survivors and went alongside, allowing the master and four others to reboard the vessel to see if she could be saved, but nothing could be done. Two days later the master returned on another escort vessel, but the tanker had been sunk in the meantime. | ||
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