Født: Flekkefjord - 20 mars 1912
Bosted: Flekkefjord - Flekkefjord kommune.
Død: 22 januar1940
Gustav Sundfør var kokk på M/S ”Segovia”, og omkom da skipet forsvant på reise fra Portugal til Norge. Det ble antagelig torpedert utenfor vestkysten av Skottland.
Kildene forteller:
Krigsseilerregisteret skriver: Januar 1940:M/S ”Segovia” ble torpedert og senket 22. januar 1940 i posisjon 58.00N og 8.45W av tysk ubåt U-55 (Kaptänelutnant Werner Heidel). Forsvant med hele besetningen på 23 personer på reise fra Oporto til Bergen med stykkgods. Siste forbindelse med henne 20/1-1940 via Gøteborg Radio
www.uboat.net skriver:
On 20 January 1940 the neutral M/S ”Segovia” (Master Carsten Eugen Christiansen) passed Lands End and was reported missing thereafter, presumed lost the next day off the west coast of Scotland. The master, 21 crew members and one passenger were lost. It is believed that she was sunk by the german, type VIIB u-boat U-55, commanded by Kaptänelutnant Werner Heidel, which did not return from her patrol. Wreckage and debris spotted in two different places northwest of the Hebrides on 27 and 28 January 1940 probably were from Andalusia and M/S ”Segovia” .
Minnehallen i Stavern skriver:
M/S ”Segovia” forsvant underveis fra Portugal til Norge lastet med vin, olje, mandler og kork. Det siste man hørte fra skipet var en radiomelding 20. januar 1940 da skipet passerte Lands End. Det antas at M/S ”Segovia” ble torpedert utenfor vestkysten av Skottland 22. januar 1940. Skipet hadde en besetning på 22 pluss en passasjer."
De norske som omkom med M/S ”Segovia”:
Berthelsen, Sigurd Kåre - Vestby, Akershus, Christiansen, Otto Fredrik J. - Fredrikstad, Østfold, Eilertsen, Eilert Johan - Østre Aker, Oslo, Garder Olsen, Ole Martin - Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Gustavsen, Aage Georg Wang - Horten, Vestfold, Hansen, Thor Johannes - Nøtterøy, Vestfold , Heim, John Selmer - Nøtterøy, Vestfold, Larsen, Sverre Brynjulf - Askim, Østfold, Lassen, Niels Ludvig - Bærum, Akershus, Lauritzen, Arthur Osvald - Glemmen, Østfold, Løkkeberg, Arthur- Røyken, Buskerud,, Maartinsen, Anker - Røyken, Buskerud, Mathisen, Anton - Fredrikstad, Østfold, Olsen, Kåre - Halden, Østfold, Olsen, Ole - Vestby, Akershus, Solberg, Jens Gregert - Oslo, Sundfør, Gustav - Flekkefjord, Vest-Agder, Svanberg, Odd Gunnar - Halden, Østfold, Syversen, Sigurd William W. - Østre Aker, Oslo, Toresen, Dag - Vestre Aker, Oslo, Winge, Arnt Kristoffer - Skien, Telemark, Yndesdal, Tore - Oslo.
www.warsailors.com skriver:
Final Fate - 1940 (Norway still neutral):
According to Jürgen Rohwer, M/S ”Segovia” left the U.K. for Norway on Jan. 22-1940.
He suggests she may have been torpedoed and sunk by U-55 (Heidel), though there's no report of the attack (U-55 was sunk on Jan. 30; ref. external links at the end of this page for more info).
Book 1 of "Handelsflåten i krig" by Atle Thowsen states that one of the survivors from U-55, Oberbootsmaat Friedrich Jacobi indicated that the U-boat had sunk 4 ships in the days leading up to her own sinking on Jan. 30, the times and positions pointing to M/S ”Segovia” having been sunk in the morning of Jan. 21, and the Norwegian Telnes on Jan. 19. The other 2 ships were the Swedish D/S Foxen and D/S Andalusia.
"Skip og menn" by Birger Dannevig says she was on a voyage from Portugal for Bergen, Norway with general cargo (oil, cork, wine and almonds). She passed Land's End on Jan. 20 and is believed to have been torpedoed and sunk the next day off the west coast of Scotland. 23 had been on board, including 1 passenger.
"Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam 1824-1962", by Charles Hocking, F.L.A. 1969, states: "The Norwegian motorship M/S ”Segovia”, with a crew of 22, left Lisbon on January 7th, 1940, and Oporto on the 17th for Bergen and Oslo. She was last seen in the latitude of Land's End on the 23rd and was considered to have been sunk by a German submarine".
The Oslo newspaper, Aftenposten from Saturday, Febr. 17-1940 has big fat headlines saying "British cruiser boards German ship in Norwegian waters" then "The Norwegian government protests in London, demands compensation and the handing over of prisoners". Most of the front page deals with the Altmark affair, and Finland/Russia operations are briefly discussed, but then another headline says:
"The Oslo ship M/S ”Segovia” must be considered lost, 22 sailors and 1 passenger have died" - then there's a picture of the ship with the caption M/S ”Segovia”, photographed at Oslo a while back". The text reads:
"The shipowners, Den norske Middelhavslinje, said that there's unfortunately no longer any hope that the motor vessel M/S ”Segovia” could still be safe. Therefore, she must be considered a total war loss". Names are listed, and I've added them below.
Jan-Olof, Sweden has sent me a copy of another newspaper clipping saying that maritime hearings were held in Oslo on the day the article appeared, March 29-1940. The article agrees with Hocking's departure date from Oporto (Jan. 17), bound for Bergen, setting a course west of Ireland. Her cargo consisted of 140 tons oil, 45 tons cork, 530 tons wine and misc. other general, a total of 750 tons, as well as 80 tons bunkers. On Jan. 20, a report was received via Gothenburg Radio that M/S ”Segovia” had passed the southern point of England, and that was the last anyone heard from the ship. In the days around Jan. 27, drifting debris was observed, including cork.
Also, the Danish steamer Harald reported that she on Jan. 28, in 57 57N 08 43W had seen a life ring and debris (cork). Additionally, Wilh. Wilhelmsen's Cubano had run across misc. debris on Febr. 10-11, in the area between 59 20N 15 14W and eastwards to 59 29N 13 10W. The article concludes with the suggestion that she might have struck a mine and had sunk so quickly that no one had time to save themselves.
Kilder: Krigsseileregisteret, www.uboat.net, Minnehallen i Stavern og www.warsailors.com
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