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I Januar 1950,dro jeg ut tilsjøs med M.S.NYHORN,av Haugesund Rederiet var;Chr.Haalands Rederi.
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Manager : Christian Haaland,Haugesund.
Tonnage :  4494 gt,2732 net,8075 tdwt.,
Dimensions: 381,2' x 53,7' x 25,3'.
Machinery: 2x6cyl. 4T EV B&W,2920 bhp,2 propeller,12,25 knots.
Signals Letters : LCKF,

Delivered in Dec,-1929 from A/S Burmeister & Wain's
Maskin -Skibsbyggeri,Copenhagen as Nyhorn to
D/S A/S Idaho,Haugesund(Chr.Haaland)Transferred to
A/S Atlas in 1933.

Captain : Frants-Askeland.

In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time . Interned :

One of the 26 Norwegian ships interned in North and West-
Africa in the summer of 1940(ref.links abovefor a list of all
26).She had arrived Casablanca with general cargo from
New York via Lisbon on June 30 - 1940.According to a story written by the 2nd mate,Nyhorn had been under French charter since Dec,-1939 and was en route from the
U.S.for Marseilles with war stores when ordered(possibly by Notraship)to go to Casablanca to unload her cargo there.After having unloaded in Casablanca she was kept
back by the Vichy French authorities,then on Sept.10 she was placedin a French convoy along with other allied ships
and taken to Port Lyautey arriving the next day. The 2nd mate says there were 6Norwegian,5 Danish,1 Dutch and 
1 English ship interned there at the time,moored along the
Sebou River,4 miles up from the coast.

"Notraships flåte" says she was interned on June 30-1940,
while R.W.Jordan's "The World's Merchant Fleets"says 
she was seized in Casablanca June 3 -1940 (date possibly
just a printing error?).

The Great Escapes:

In June -1941, 13 men from various interned ships attempted to escape in a lifeboat from M/S Batavia.They 
were 1st Mate W.Andresen, 2nd Mate Helge Gundersen and
5 crew(from Batavia?),as well as 1st Mate Tønseth and the
4th engineer from M/S Gran,1st MateMøller from Birgit
(Danish),1st Mate Michelsen from Storaa*,Steward 
A.Jørgensen from Hilde(Danish)and 2nd Mate Ingolf Sexe
from Nyhorn.But they didn't get very far.Ingolf Sexe says,they were fired upon with machine guns when they 
were about 400 meters from the Media Fortress that night
and had to jump overboard so as not to get shot.
The boat was destroyed,but they were all able to swim
ashore where 30-40 men awaited them,and they were 
subsequently placed  in a cell in the old fort(from 1680)
They had to stand straight up and down  all night,then the
next morning  they were marched off into town,7 km away
where they were given a 15 day's jail sentence,though being as the prisons were overcrowded the officers were
ordered to "serve theyr time"on board ship,while
Batavia's crew stayed in jail !

*Storaa was a former Danish Ship,built 1918,1967 gt,Taken
over by the British when Denmark was occupied by the Germans,seized by Vichy authorities at Port Lyautey in
July - 1940-scuttled when the Allies invaded in Nov-1942.
Raised and repaired in Jan,-1943,torpedoed and sunk on
Nov,-3-1943 by a German motor torpedo boat off Hastings.
17 crew,3 gunners and the pilot died.

If at first you don't succeed....

Ingolf Sexe tried again,this time in a boat built in No.1 hold 
of  Nyhorn,the first of 3 built in that ship and used in successful escapes.The construction started on Sept.15-
1941,and in on the scheme were Electrician 
Olaf Ballestad,Assistant William Høibo,2nd Engineer
Alf Skogland,as well as Ingolf Sexe.Only 5 days later they 
left Nyhorn in the 16 ft long vessel,and this time they 
slipped passed the fortress unnoticed.They had a few 
mishaps en route,but were eventually picked up by the
Spanish trawler San Pelayo of Vigo and taken to Gibraltar,
arriving in the morning of Sept,-24.(Ingolf Sexe later joined
a British Royal Navy vessel where he stayed for 7 months
before joining the Norwegian Navy).

More Escape : 

The 2nd boat built in Nyhorn's hold left Port Lyautey on Dec.8 that same year with 5 men (one source says 11 came
along),1 of them being Ordinary Seaman Ingolf Tvedt who,
 just before midnight on Dec.10 fell overboard,off Cape Spartel(Espartel?)light,Spanish Morocco.The others searched for him until after daylight the next day with no luc k,then continued their voyage.In the afternoon of Dec 13 they encountered the Spanish fishing vessel Machaco of Almeira.The Captain wished to put into Tangier which
was 5 miles away,but the escapees persuaded him to
Gibraltar,which they reached in tow of the fishing vessel the following morning,Dec.14- 1941.A hearing was held 
there on Dec.17 in connection with Ingolf Tvedt having fallen owerboard.At that time they all feared he have drowned,though hoped he might have been able to get to
shore.Nobody had actually seen him fall,they only heard
the splash and immediateley threw out a lifebelt.The others
were; 1stMate Hans Omland(who had served on Nyhorn for 10 years),3rd Engineer Karluf Karstensen(on board for 
6 years),Cook Magne Thordal(on board for 3 1/2 years),and
Ordinary Seamand Sigurd Langeland(on board for 2 1/2
years)

Meanwhile,Ingolf Tvedt had managed to swim ashore
(about 1 mile away),where the light keeper took care of him.
The next day he was arrested and put in jail at Tetuan for
2 months in terrible conditions.With the help of the
British legation at Tanger he later came to Gibraltar where he joined M/T Slemdal,only to be torpedoed in June-1942.
He then went to the Norwegian Radio School in London and sailed on G.C.Brøvig for the rest of the war.

The 3rd boat was finished and ready to go on May 10-1942,
and also reached Gibraltar safely.This ws the canvas boat
Norge in which my father's Captain Messel(of D/s Ringulv)
escaped with 5 other men,namely Ringulv's 2nd Mate 
Ingolf Valvatne,Nyhorn's Able Seaman Hans Johansen,
Ordernary Seaman Lars Aursand and Oiler Karl Linnerud,
as well as Ida Knudsen's Egil Strømmen.The boat is now display at the Maritime Museum in Oslo.
The Canvas boat Norge,built in the hold of Nyhorn.
For info : I've read an article in the magazine"Krigsseieren"
(No.2 for 1971),written by a Crew member of Batavia,who says that this is ,in fact,a boat made on board that ship,and not the boat used for escape by Ringulv's
Captain Messel.I am unable to determine whether this is correct or not.If anyone can help with this,I'd appreciate it.


                      Crew  List :
Guri Hjeltnes'"Sjømann-Lang vakt" says Nyhorn had a crew of 36, 29 Norwegian,1 died,19 escaped.
                                       E = Escaped
                                       C = To a camp.

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                                           Survivors :
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                                                                                             Boatswain
Captain  1st Mate  2nd Mate/Radio   3rd Mate  Carpenter        Lars
Frants       Hans           Operator         Petter      Sigurd        Helgesen
Askeland OmlandE   Ingolf Sexe E Bjørnsen C Stensrud C         
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Able          Able        Able Seaman   Ordinary    Ordinary      Ordinary
Seaman  Seaman    Karl Antonsen   Seaman   Seaman       Seaman
Hans      Ole Sundby   Swedish          Sigurd     Sverre          Ingolf
Johanesen E    *E                           LangelandE   Egge E       Tvedt  E
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deck Boy Deck Boy 1st Engineer 2nd Engineer 3rd Engineer Assistant
    Lars       Ragnar     Leif                  Alf               Karluf          Villiam 
Aursand EEriksson  Moksvold       Skogland E Karstensen  E  Høibo E
              (Swedish) (Taken ashore)
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Electrician   Mechanic   Mechanic   Mechanic    Oiler          Oiler
       Olaf       Karluf           Karl          Josef      Gunnar          Per
Ballestad  E  Nilsen  E     Kolstø *E   Wraal E Gabrielsen E Trandsen  E  
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   Oiler          Oiler       Steward      Cook       Galley Boy      Mess Boy
 Karl              Karl             Leif      Magne          Helmer           David
Linnerud E Andersen  Knutsen C Thorsdal  E  Storsten           Olsen  C
                  (Swedish)                                    (To Batavia)
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Mess Boy     Saloon Boy    
     Karl           Bernt
Sjøberg        Broman              +  3  more  ?
(Swedish)   (Swedish)
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                                         1 who  died.
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                                                 +
                                       Engine Boy
                                     John Evensen **
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