Christian Michelsen
The Christian Michelsen just after completion with her former name John M.T. Finney.
| Name | Christian Michelsen | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant (Liberty) | ||
| Tonnage | 7.176 tons | ||
| Completed | 1943 - Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc, Baltimore MD | ||
| Owner | Nortraship | ||
| Homeport | Oslo | ||
| Date of attack | 26 Sep, 1943 | Nationality:  Norwegian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-410 (Horst-Arno Fenski) | ||
| Position | 37.12N, 08.26E - Grid CJ 7794 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 50 (47 dead and 3 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | UGS-17 | ||
| Route | New York (1 Sep) - Bizerta | ||
| Cargo | 3000 tons of oil drums, mail and 7000 tons of ammunition, including 3000 tons of aircraft bombs | ||
| History | Built as American John M.T. Finney On 31 May 1943 taken over in Baltimore just after completion by Norway on bareboat charter from US War Shipping Administration and renamed Christian Michelsen | ||
| Notes on loss | At 19.00 hours on 26 Sep, 1943, U-410 attacked the convoy UGS-17 30 miles east of Bona and reported the sinking of an ammunition ship and the probable sinking of another vessel. However, only the Christian Michelsen (Master Jens Lassen Ugland) was hit and blew up, sinking in less than one minute. 47 men died, 35 of them Norwegian, including the master. Three men miraculously survived and were picked up from their raft by one of the escort vessels, which took them to a hospital in Bizerta. The master, Jens Lassen Ugland, had already experienced another sinking when his former ship, the Mosfruit had been sunk by U-458 (Diggins) on 30 Jun, 1942. | ||
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