Minister WedelMinister Wedel - Thor Bjorn Andersen, Norway Built by: W. Doxford and Sons, Sunderland Completed: 1930 Owner: Reder, A/S Norsk Translantic. Tonnage: 6833 grt, 4022 nett, 10,645 dwt Length: 416.2 feet Beam: 58 feet Draught: 32.8 feet Machinery: 1 x Diesel Speed: 10.5 knots In Admiralty Service (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) from 1940 The ship left Trinidad on 28 December 1943 in convoy TM.1, bound for Gibraltar with 9,000 tons of fuel oil. Early in the morning of the 9 January 1943 the ship was torpedoed by U 522 (Korvettan Luitanant Heinrich Richard Herbert Schneider). After the attack the tanker, although badly damaged was still afloat and the Destroyer HMS Havelock went alongside to take off the crew, a short while later the Captain, 1st Engineer, 2 Mechanics and the Radio Operator went back on board, but it was found that the ship was too badly damaged to salvage and she was abandoned again. Minister Wedel was eventually sunk by Coup de Grace from U 522 The crew of 25 Norwegian, 1 Swede, 1 Finn, 5 British and 5 Chinese seamen survived.
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