K. G. MELDAHL (I)

1938 Built as general cargo K. G. MELDAHL by Fredriksstad mek. Verksted, Fredrikstad for Kåre Klaveness Rasmussen, Sandefjord
1940 At the outbreak of war in Norway in April, K. G. MELDAHL was in Marseille in France after arriving from Bombay, India. She was set up in convoy 7-P but left the convoy and went to Gibraltar and not Oran in Algeria, as originally planned. This was a success when all those who came to Oran were detained. Continued from Gibraltar to Takoradi on the Gold Coast (Ghana) 26/06.
She continued her voyage to Baltimore, USA and continues its travels in the United States and then to the Far East for the rest of the year.
1941 Continues its travels between the west coast of South America and the east coast of the US throughout the spring.
K. G. MELDAHL arrived at Takoradi 07/04 with 60 aircraft on board at English expense in Suez. Should in Takoradi load on board as many as the vessel had space for as the English forces had a great need for aircraft in the Middle East and should on departure Takoradi have an escort. She left Takoradi without any escort, then rounded the southern tip of Africa and called at South African ports on the east coast and further north. She arrived in Suez in good condition and delivered her cargo of aircrafts.
She then continued to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) before returning to Table Bay before crossing the Atlantic and ending up on the US East Coast in August.
In October, she is sent across the Atlantic to Belfast and on to the coast of West Africa.
1942 At the beginning of the year, she is still on the coast of West Africa before returning to England.
The trip from there goes via West African ports to Karachi and Bombay. The return trip goes via Table Bay to New York where she arrives 29/08. She returns from New York with a course for Bombay via the southern tip of Africa. Arriving at Table Bay 06/11 and continuing 07/11 up the east coast of Africa.
K. G. MELDAHL with Captain Torjus E. Johnsen on board as master was 10/11 on a northbound course 160 nautical miles southeast of East London. She was traveling between New York via the Pot of Spain and Cape Town to Bombay with general cargo, 750 tons of ammunition and planes.
At sunrise, the vessel discovers the German submarine U-181, under Captain Lieutenant Lüth command, who fired a torpedo at K. G. MELDAHL but it had now brightened so the submarine was spotted. The vessel set full speed with the stern end towards the submarine to protect it with the stern cannon, but the submarine managed to dive before the cannon found it’s target. Radio signal regarding the submarine's position was received by Simonstowns Radio and the ship steered in a zigzag direction away from the position. After an hour, the captain reckoned that they were out of danger for the submarine. But the submarine's captain had expected this and maneuvered the submarine back into a suitable position. At 09.22 a torpedo detonated in the ship's engine room on the starboard side. K. G. MELDAHL slowed down with the stern first and went down after about 6 minutes.
The captain and the rest of a crew of 33 in addition to two shooters left the vessel. Two had died and 31 survived.
Three lifeboats and rafts marked the area where the vessel had sunk. The commander of the submarine photographed this before coming up with the usual questions. Of the vessel's crew, two men in the engine room had died instantly.
The survivors are discovered 13/11 in the lifeboats by a plane that threw water and provisions at them. That afternoon, they were taken aboard a minesweeper and landed in Port Elizabeth.