''Sneland I'' ( Norwegian for “snowland one”) was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

which was built by ''Nüscke & Co.'' shipyard at Stettin-Grabow (then

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) in 1922. She was the last merchant ship to be torpedoed by

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, on 7 May 1945, one day before

German surrender German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

History

The ship was built for the German shipping line Stange & Dreyer

GmbH (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...

in 1922 and got the name ''

Ingeborg Ingeborg is a Germanic feminine given name, mostly used in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, derived from Old Norse ''Ingiborg, Ingibjǫrg'', combining the theonym ''Ing'' with the element ''borg'' "stronghold, protection". Ingebjørg is the No ...

''. Three years later, in 1925, it was sold to the Norwegian shipping company ''Richard Amlie & Sverre Amlie (Amlie & Amlie)'' in

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

, and renamed ''Sneland I''. On 6 May 1945 the ship was a member of Convoy EN 491, which departed

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

bound for

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

via

Methil Methil () is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland. Methil has ancient origins: two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as over 8,000 years old. The town was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to ...

. On 7 May 1945, the convoy was attacked by and two ships were sunk, ''Sneland I'' and , which became the last merchant ships to be sunk by a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

during the Second World War. The sinking, at about 22:45 on 7 May 1945, was in the last hours of the Second World War in Europe, with the official surrender taking place at 23:01 on 8 May 1945. ''Sneland I'' sank at . Seven of the 29 crew were lost. A signal had been sent to the U-boats on 4 May 1945 ordering them to surrender but ''U-2336'' did not receive the signal.Eberhard Rössler: ''U-Boottyp XXIII.'' 2nd extended edition, Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 2002, , pp. 109–112, (German).

External links

Image
of ''Sneland I''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneland I 1922 ships Ships of Nortraship Steamships of Norway World War II merchant ships of Norway Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea Maritime incidents in May 1945

History

See also

External links

References