Født: Harkmark - 22 februar 1893
Bosted: Kristiansand - Kristiansand kommune.
Død: 06 mai 1942
Johan Arnt Juliussen Dahl mønstret på M/T "Athene" som skipsfører 20 september 1935 og førte skipet frem til sin død, 06 mai 1942 i Haifa, Israel, på grunn av store påkjenninger, og er gravlagt der.
Kildene forteller:
www.warsailors.com skriver:Captain Johan Arnt Dahl. M/T "Athene" arrived Ålesund, Norway from South America on Apr. 9-1940 (the day of the German invasion of Norway). She managed to get out of Norway on Apr. 14, arriving safely in Kirkwall on the 16th, thereby saving this valuable tanker for allied service. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 1 of the archive documents (it'll be noticed that she spent a long time in Grangemouth that spring, and again in Leith). In July that year, she's listed in Convoy OA 188, which left Methil on July 22 and dispersed the next day, M/T "Athene" arriving Capetown independently on Aug. 22. The Norwegian Cetus, Dux and Stirlingville are also listed in this convoy, ref. link provided within the Voyage Record. According to "Nortraships flåte" by J. R. Hegland, M/T "Athene" was in Clyde on March 13-1941, tied up alongside the British Trevarrack and is said to have been somewhat damaged, when that ship listed towards her and sank after having been hit by bombs from a German aircraft. Note however, that this does not fit with the information found on the archive document, which states that M/T "Athene" was on a voyage from Durban, where she had spent a long time to Abadan on this date. Has Hegland gotten the ship mixed up with HMS Athene? (Trevarrack must have been raised, or was only damaged in the attack, because Roger W. Jordan's "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939" and Jürgen Rohwer both have a Trevarrack as torpedoed and sunk in a convoy by U-46 on June 8-1941 [launched as War Laurel in 1919], unless there was another ship by that name afterwards? Note that Uboat.net gives the U-boat as U-101, and she was in the convoy from which Christian Krohg was sunk, OB 329).
At the end of that month (March-1941), we find M/T "Athene" in Convoy BN 22, which had originated in Bombay on March 20 and arrived Suez on Apr. 7; M/T "Athene" had started out from Aden on March 31, cargo of paraffin. The Norwegian Cypria, Ima and Noravind are also listed, all joining from Aden - again, see the external link in the table above. (Going back to Page 1, we see that M/T "Athene" had a long stay in Aden in May that year and again that summer). M/T "Athene" was at Haifa on Christmas Eve 1941 when the French tanker Phenix blew up. More information on this is available on my page about M/T Vilja. M/T "Athene" left Haifa that same day for Port Said, with arrival on the 26th. On Febr. 1 and 2-1942 M/T "Athene" was at Tobruk unloading cargo, enduring several air attacks on the city. According to A. Hague, she had arrived Tobruk from Alexandria on Jan. 30 in Convoy AT 21, having left Alexandria on Jan. 28. See also Page 2 (which shows occasional long stays in port). Captain Johan Arnt Dahl died at a hospital in Haifa on May 6-1942 and is buried there, but I'm not sure exactly what had happened to him. One source says he was injured, while "Våre falne", a series of 4 books naming Norwegians who lost their lives during the war, states he died of exhaustion.
Minnehallen i Stavern skriver:
M/T "Athene" ble torpedert, 10 juni 1942 utenfor Alexandria av den tyske type VIIC ubåten U-559, Kapitänleutnant Hans Heidtmann (innehaver av Ridderkorset).www.uboat.net skriver:
At 04.56 hours on 10 June 1942,the german, type VIIC u-boat U-559, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Hans Heidtmann, holder of the german Knights Cross, fired a spread of three torpedoes at convoy AT-49 between Alexandria and Mersa Matruh, reported one hit on a tanker and one on a freighter and observed that the tanker burned for 24 hours and the freighter was towed away with the stern deeper in the water. The ships hit were M/T "Athene" and Brambleleaf. The M/T "Athene" (Master Tharald Tharaldsen) was struck by one torpedo on the port side at the #7 tank between the poop and amidships, caught fire and sank after two days. 14 crew members were lost and 17 survivors were picked up after about 30 minutes by the escorts, though some were very badly burned and were taken to a hospital.
Minnehallen i Stavern fortsetter:
M/T "Athene" var på reise fra Haifa til Alexandria med 6.000 tonn bensin. Ble underveis beordret til å fortsette videre til Tobruk i konvoi. Konvoien ble angrepet av tre ubåter, og M/T "Athene" ble torpedert 10. juni 1942 av den tyske type VIIC ubåten U-559, Kapitänleutnant Hans Heidtmann, innehaver av Ridderkorset, i posisjon 3112 N og 2810 W. Tankdekket ble sprengt, og en bølge av bensin skyllet over båten og tok fyr. Sjøen rundt skipet tok også fyr. M/T "Athene" hadde god fart, og det var derfor vanskelig å sette ut livbåtene. Midtskips kom folkene seg av gårde i giggen, men brennende bensin flommet ned i båten, og folkene måtte hoppe til sjøs. De som fremdeles sto om bord i M/T "Athene", var i en kinkig og redselsfull situasjon. De forsøkte å sette en livbåt på vannet, men under arbeidet med dette inntraff en ny eksplosjon. Det eneste valg de hadde var enten å bli stekt i bensin eller drukne. De valgte det siste. Ti nordmenn, to palestinere, en brite og en danske omkom. De øvrige som lå i sjøen, ble tatt opp av eskorten etter en halv time. Mange var stygt forbrent og ble innlagt på sykehus. Av mannskapet ble 17 reddet, 14 omkom.
De norske som omkom med M/T "Athene":
Rasmus Martinius Olsen - Matros, Robert Nilsen - Matros, Lars Larsen - 1. Styrmann, Arne Bertin Johannessen - Maskinist, Jon Hidle - Sjømann, Asbjørn Gudbrand Thallaug Eggen - Maskinsjef, Johan Arnt Dahl - Skipsfører, John Carl Carlsen - Stuert, Asbjørn Olaf Bothner - Radiotelegrafist, Anton Johan Bentsen - Motormann.
MERKNAD:
Minnehallen i Stavern lister Skipsfører Johan Arnt Dahl - som omkommet under torpedering den 10. juni 1942 , men hvor han i www.warsailors.com "Captain Johan Arnt Dahl died at a hospital in Haifa on May 6-1942 and is buried there" og Våre Falne beskriver det samme.
Når en følger videre historikk i www.warsailors.com så sier historien om MT"Athene" under pkt.Final Fate - 1942: Captain Tharald Tharaldsen. MT"Athene" had left Haifa on June 7-1942, mao der var nye skipsfører på M/T"Athene" da hun ble senket 10 juni 1942.Kilder: Krigsseilerrehgisteret, www.uboat.net,Minnehallen i Stavern og www.warsailors.com
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Utmerkelser
Krigsmedaljen
Krigsmedaljen utdeles til norske eller utenlandske militære som på en fortjenstfull måte har deltatt i krig for Norge og til norske og utenlandske sivile som under krig har ydet Norges forsvar tjenester. Krigsmedaljen utdeles post mortem til alle nordmenn og utlendinger som har kjempet i de norske styrker og Handelsflåten og falt for Norges sak. (Wikipedia)
Dahl, ble tildelt Krigsmedaljen 10 november 1980 PM