Thomassen, Lars Petter – Krigsseilermonumentet i Mandal

Født: Lista - 30 januar 1922

Bosted: Midthassel, Lista - Farsund kommune.

Død: 28 desember 1942

Lars Petter Thomassen var skytter på D/S ”Norse King”. Skipet ble torpedert 28. desember 1942 på reise fra England til Amerika. Det greide likevel å fortsette for egen maskin dagen etter. Imidlertid blåste det opp til storm, og en hørte senere ikke mer fra fartøyet.

Kildene forteller:

Krigsseilerregistert skriver:

Utdannet til skytter i Dumbarton, Skottland. Etter endt utdannelse gjorde han tjeneste ombord i: D/S"Iingerfire" fra 11/8-42 til 22/10-42, D/S ”Norse King fra 11/12-42 til skipet ble torpedert 28/12-42 underveis fra Swansea til Boston, Besetningen ble tatt ombord i et eskortefartøy, som ettersom D/S ”Norse King fløt dagen etter, gikk mannskapet ombord igjen og holdt kurs mot Azorene med redusert fart. Underveis gikk skipet ned og hele besetningen på 38 mann omkom.

Desember 1942:

Det så ut til at skipet kunne berges, og besetningen rodde om bord igjen, startet maskinen og satte kurs for Azorene. D/S ”Norse King” ble sist sett i posisjon N 43.25 og W 27.18. Det var det siste man hørte fra skipet. Tyske opplysninger forteller at fartøyet igjen ble torpedert 29. desember av tysk U- 591 eller U-435, (Siegfried Strelow ) og deretter lagt under artilleri-ild. Hele besetningen på 35 mann omkom.

www.uboat.net skriver

At 21.52 hours on 28 December 1942, the S/S ”Norse King” (Master Lorentz Tvedt) in station #112 of convoy ONS-154 was hit by one torpedo from the german, type VIIC u-boat U-591, commanded by Kapitänleautnant Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche, holder of the German Cross in Gold, and abandoned by the crew.

The men were picked up by an escort, but later reboarded the ship and managed to get underway, heading for the Azores at a speed of about 6 knots. The ship was seen the last time the next morning by the Norwegian steam merchant Veni in position 43°35N/27°18W. None of her crew was ever found.

At 15.07 hours on 29 December 1942, the german, type VIIC u-boat U-435, commanded by KorvättenKapitän Siegfried Strelow, holder of the german Knights Cross, hit the S/S ”Norse King” with one torpedo and began shelling the vessel after 15.43 hours with over 100 rounds, but the ship remained afloat and had to be sunk by a coup de grâce at 16.24 hours.

Minnehallen i Stavern skriver:

D/S ”Norse King” var på reise i konvoi fra Belfast til Boston med 5.400 tonn kull. Konvoien besto av 45 skip, og den ble angrepet av over 20 ubåter i et tre dagers slag. 14 skip og en tysk ubåt gikk ned. 28. desember 1942 ble D/S ”Norse King” torpedert i posisjon 5145 N og 2350 W. Det så ut til at skipet kunne berges, og besetningen rodde om bord igjen, startet maskinen og satte kurs for Azorene. D/S ”Norse King” ble sist sett i posisjon 4325 N og 2718 W. Det var det siste man hørte fra skipet. Tyske opplysninger forteller at fartøyet igjen ble torpedert av tysk U 435, og deretter lagt under artilleri-ild. Hele besetningen på 35 mann omkom. De norske som omkom ombord i D/S ”Norse King” :

Johan Emanuel Johannessen - Maskinmester, Knut K. Abrahamsen - Telegrafist, Alf Holmes - Lettmatros, Lorentz Johan Tvedt - Skipsfører, Lars Petter Thomassen - Matros/skytter, Tor Marselius Søreng - Matros, Bjarne Sundfær - Båtsmann, Leif Johan Steinsund - Smører, Torleif Steen - Matros, Halvor Skau - Fyrbøter, Svein Jarl Røvik - Matros, Kim Schrøder - Styrmann, Johnny Reidar Pettersen - Matros, Leif Henry Johan Olsen - Matros, Bjørn Olsen - Sjømann, Konrad Næss - 1. Styrmann, Gustav Ludolf G. Norenes - Smører, Tønnes P. Meling - Donkeymann, Helmer Gustav Larsen - Matros, Hans Laurits Landa - Tømmermann, Olav Arnvid Klepp - 3. Maskinist, Kåre Magnus Jensen - Kokk, Olav Jacobsen - Fyrbøter, Hilmar Eugen Hilland - Stuert, Johannes Hemmingstad - Matros, Håvard Marius Hansen - Maskinist, Alf Halnes - Sjømann/skytter, Ingar Berntinius Gullsten - Stuert, Karl Ivar Delingsrud - Smører, Svein Ivan Bottolfsen - Styrmann, Harald Klovholt Bjørnstad - Maskinsjef.

www.warsailors.com skriver:

Final Fate - 1942:

Having made some voyages around the U.K., S/S ”Norse King” left Belfast Lough in Convoy ON 154 on Dec. 19-1942 with a cargo of 5400 tons coal for Boston.

One of the responses to a query I posted to my Ship Forum states that she had left Swansea Dec. 14.

S/S ”Norse King” arrived Milford Haven the next day, departed on the 17th for Belfast Lough where she arrived the following day, then left for Boston.

The convoy consisted of 45 (49?) ships escorted by a Canadian destroyer and 5 corvettes. ON 154, which originated in Liverpool on Dec. 18 and arrived New York Jan. 12-1943, will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, the ships sailing in it are named on this page. Fana, James Hawson, Norhauk, Ramø, Ravnefjell, Veni and Vest are also listed.

More than 20 U-boats assembled for attack. Between Dec. 27th and Dec. 29 a great number of ships went down and 1 U-boat (U-356) was sunk.

According to the book "Ravnefjell", written by the mate/radio operator on that ship, Peder Kr. Nilsen, S/S ”Norse King” had been ordered to take on the role of rescue ship, after the designated rescue vessel Toward had taken on board as many as 164 survivors from the various torpedoed ships, and for safety reasons was ordered by the Commodore to refrain from further rescue work (probably on Dec. 27)

S/S ”Norse King”, in station 112 of the convoy, was herself hit in the evening of the 28th by a torpedo from U-591 (Zetzsche), and damaged in position 43 27N 27 15W.

The crew was picked up by the escort, which stayed close to the ship, and when it appeared to be repairable the crew rowed on board again, started the engine and headed for the Azores.

D/S Veni indicated the next morning that she had seen S/S ”Norse King” in position 43 35 (25?)N 27 18W with a speed of 6 knots and her boats swung out.

That was the last seen of her and her crew (some sources say 38 were on board, others 35).

One of my Norwegian sources says that according to German reports S/S ”Norse King” was torpedoed again that same day (Dec. 29) by U-435 (Strelow), and then shelled. These reports say nothing about the Norwegian crew (the U-boat also went down half a year later; U-591 was also sunk that summer). With regard to the final sinking of S/S ”Norse King”, Uboat.net says (external link):

At 15.07 hours on 29 December, U-435 hit the S/S ”Norse King” with one torpedo and began shelling the vessel after 15.43 hours with over 100 rounds, but the ship remained afloat and had to be sunk by a coup de grâce at 16.24 hours".

If the statement that S/S ”Norse King” was assigned as rescue ship is correct, I'm wondering whether she also might have had some rescued seamen from other ships on board at the time she was sunk? This might explain the differing numbers found in various sources.

The Stavern Memorial has 30 Norwegians listed, but I believe one of them is listed twice, leaving us with 29. Barbara Mumford (see the link to her website below) names 37 all total, and she has also received a list that originated from the Norwegian State Archives with a total of 35 names, all crew (28 Norwegians, the rest of other nationality).

Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" claims that S/S ”Norse King”was torpedoed and sunk by U-225 and U-435 on Dec. 29, while J. Rohwer agrees with the U-boats and dates in my text above. Here is a response to a query I posted on Uboat.net's forum (external links).

U-225 was involved in the attacks on this convoy and torpedoed several ships, but S/S ”Norse King”was not among them (ref. external links provided below). Rohwer lists the Norwegian Ingerfem among the stragglers from ONS 154, but as will be seen when following the link to my page about this ship, she was in Convoy ONS 156, or ON 156 to be correct. Technically the term ONS is incorrect, it should be ON 154 and ON 156, as the ONS series didn't start until March-1943 (with ONS 1), but the slower convoys were often referred to as ONS before that time.

Kilder: Krigsseilerregisteret, www.uboat.net, Minnehallen i Stavern og www.warsailors.com

Flåtetilhørighet

Tilhørte Marinen. Seilte i Uteflåten som skytter.

Registernummer London: 98122

Registernummer New York: 5285

Registernummer Marinen: Kanoner no. 836

Utmerkelser

Krigsmedaljen

Krigsmedaljen utdeles til norske eller utenlandske militære som på en fortjenstfull måte har deltatt i krig for Norge og til norske og utenlandske sivile som under krig har ydet Norges forsvar tjenester. Krigsmedaljen utdeles post mortem til alle nordmenn og utlendinger som har kjempet i de norske styrker og Handelsflåten og falt for Norges sak. (Wikipedia)

Thomassen, ble tildelt Krigsmedaljen Dato for tildeling ukjent