D/S Gunny

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Appeared Master Mariner Otto Henrichsen ... The "Gunny" left Takoradi,West Africa, on the 30th January 1942 with a cargo of manganese ore and mahogany logs for New York. The vessel was on departure in every respect in completely seaworthy condition. The captain could not produce the vessel's log book as it had gone down with the ship, However, he handed in a log extract written according to memory. ...

The captain referred to what had been entered in the log extract and further stated that he was lying asleep in his office when the explosion occurred. He at once ran out on the boat deck and then saw that the vessel was already lying half under water. The appearer stated that thereafter he ran back to his office in order to fetch the ship's papers. When he came out again the vessel sank and he was drawn down with her. The captain further stated that the vessel had been completely blacked-out during the whole voyage. The lifesaving equipment was in every respect in the prescirbed order. There was no opportunity of making use of any of this equipment with the exception of the rafts and the lifesaving jackets, which most members of the crew had on, as the vessel sank in the course of about 30 seconds. The captain stated that the 3rd officer, Sigurd Nedberg, was on watch on the bridge. The latter lost his life. A.B. Seaman Håkon Hansen was at the wheel. The captain stated that none of the crew had noticed anything unusual before the explosion occurred. Neither did any one see anything of the U-boat before nor after the loss of theship. On being questioned by one of the nautical assessors as to whether the captin was certain that the ship had been torpedoed, the captain replied in the affirmative. The nautical assessors had nothing further to remark.

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Appeared as 1st witness, Olav Brattaule ... 3rd engineer on the "Gunny". ...

The witness, who had countersigned the log extract, referred to what had been entered therein and further stated that he was on watch in the engine room when the explosion occurred. The witness at once ran up on deck. When the witness came up on deck, the whole of the after deck was under water. He jumped into the water on the deck and was thereafter drawn down with the ship. The vessel had been completely blacked-out during the whole voyage. The lifesaving equipment was throughout in the prescribed order. The witness stated that, as far as he was aware of, no one had seen anything of the torpedo or the U-boat, but the witness was in no doubt that the ship had been torpedoed.

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Appeared the 2nd witness, Henry Moe ... ordinary seaman on the "Gunny". ...

The witness, who had countersigned the log extract, referred to what had been entered therein and further stated that he was on the after deck when the explosion occurred. The witness stated that he was convinced that it was a torpedo which struck the vessel. The ship had been completely blacked-out during the whole voyage. The lifesaving equipment was throughout in the prescribed order. The witness stated that, as far as he was aware of, no one had seen anything of the torpedo or the U-boat, but the witness was in no doubt that the ship had been torpedoed.

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Appeared the 2nd witness, Henry Moe ... ordinary seaman on the "Gunny". ...

The witness, who had countersigned the log extract, referred to what had been entered therein and further stated that he was on the after deck when the explosion occurred. The witness stated that he was convinced that it was a torpedo which struck the vessel. The ship had been completely blacked-out during the whole voyage. The witness was of opinion that the vessel's lifesaving equipment was in the prescribed order. Every one had a lifesaving suit. The witness hadnot noticed or seen anything unusual before the vessel was struck. The witness had beeen at the wheel from 1 till 2 o'clock in the afternoon and had come down on the after deck about 10 minutes before the torpedoing.

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