Født: Oddernes - 20 mai 1903
Bosted: Kristiansand - Kristiansand kommune.
Død: 24 januar 1940
Hans Hansen mønstret på som matros ombord på D/S ”Varild” av Haugesund, Erling Næsheims Rederi i Norge. Båten avgikk Horten 22 januar 1940 bestemt for Sunderland, men kom aldri frem, ble trolig torpedert og senket av tysk ubåt 24 januar 1940.
Kildene forteller:
Krigsseilerregisteret skriver:Januar 1940:
D/S ”Varild” forlot Horten 22 januar 1940 for Sunderland i ballast, ble den 24 januar 1940 torpedert og senket, med tap av hele besetningen, av den tyske, type IIB, ubåten U 23, med sjef, Fregattenkapitän Otto Kretschmer (Innehaver av Ridderkorset),
www.uboat.net skriver:
At 19.08 hours on 24 January 1940,the german, type IIB u-boat U-23, commanded by Fregattenkapitän Otto Kretschmer, holder of the german Knights Cross, fired a G7e torpedo at a small steamer and observed a hit amidships on the port side and the sinking of the vessel in 45 seconds about 40 miles east of Fair Isle. At 20.20 hours the day before, the U-boat had spotted the ship, but then two attacks failed because first the torpedo was stuck in the tube and a G7e torpedo fired at 22.13 hours became a circle runner. Its victim was very likely the unescorted and neutral S/S ”Varild” (Master David Humlebrekk) which was reported missing en route from Norway to the UK.
Minnehallen i Stavern skriver:
D/S ”Varild” avgikk Horten 22. januar 1940 bestemt for Sunderland. Skipet forsvant sporløst. Det ga ingen livstegn fra seg etter avgang Horten. Trolig torpedert av den tyske, type IIB ubåten U-23, med sjef Fregattenkapitän Otto Kretschmer, alle ombord omkom.
De som omkom med D/S ”Varild” :
Jens Jenssen Årvik - Matros, Harry Nikolai Aas - 1. Styrmann, John Mandius Tveita - Donkeymann, Kristian Tjerandsen - Stuert, Nils Kristian Stubeng - Maskinsjef, Morten S. Stangeland - Matros, Einar Andreas Sand - Messegutt, Karel Ludvig Pedersen - Maskinist, Alf Madsen - Matros, David Humlebrekk - Skipsfører, Oscar Hansen - Fyrbøter, Erling Kristian Hansen - Jungmann, Hans Hansen - Matros, Einar Ellingsen - Fyrbøter, Sjur Berge - Styrmann.
www.warsailor.com skriver:
S/S ”Varild” departed Horten, Norway on Jan. 22-1940 in ballast for Sunderland (to pick up a cargo of coal) and was not heard from again. According to J. Rohwer she was torpedoed and sunk by U-18 (Mengersen) the next day, however, there's a possibility this is incorrect. The Norwegian Bisp disappared around the same time, listed by Rohwer as sunk by U-23 (Kretschmer) on Jan. 24. In a posting to the ubootwaffe.net forum, Roland Berr gives his reasons for believing it was U-18 that sank Bisp, and U-23 that sank Varild. Here's what leads him to this conclusion:
Bisp left Southend on January 20th, bound for Åndalsnes. So she should be going northeast, not west. U-18 sighted a steamer at 00.50 on Jan. 23-1940 in position AN 4183 (58 29N 00 10W). The steamer was zigzagging and had no position lights. Mengersen started to shadow this ship, he wrote it was too bright for an attack at this time. At 06.49 he fired a single torpedo in position AN 4224 (58 59N 01 13E) with no result. At 07.01 a second torpedo followed in position AN 4221 (59 05N 0113E) with the result of sinking this ship. S/S ”Varild” left Horten on January 22nd, bound for Southend. She crossed the northern North Sea at the narrowest part about a line Bergen - Orkneys. U-23 sightet a steamer on January 23rd at 20.20 in position AN 2623 (59 59N 00 10W). A first attack failed, the torpedo remained in the tube. At 22.13 a second attack again failed, the torpedo became a Kreisläufer (circle runner). The next day at 18.15, U-23 sighted the S/S ”Varild”again and dived for a third attack in position AN 2658 (59 29N 00 22W). At 19.08 S/S ”Varild” sank the ship with a single torpedo. Roland believes this must have been S/S ”Varild”adding:
Kilder: Krigsseilerregisteret,www.uboat.net, Minnehallen i Stavern og www.warsailor.com
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