Cause of Death: |
Twenty men died when FREIDIG sank on February 7, 1944 after her cargo had shifted in a storm with heavy seas while on a voyage from Aberdeen to Liverpool with a cargo of 1624 tons rye, having departed Aberdeen at 00:30 on February 6. She was already listing slightly on departure, and that afternoon her boiler sprang a leak. By 08:00 on February 7 she was listing about 10 ° to port because her cargo had shifted, and at 10:00 all men were called on deck because a heavy sea had taken the icebox and carried it towards the airpipe forward of the after hold with such force that the pipe broke off near the deck. They desperately tried to plug up the hole using mattrasses, but it was impossible due to the seas constantly washing over the after deck. Her list increased and she sank deeper and deeper by the stern, resulting in the after hatch being forced open so that the hold started to flood at 11:15. The captain ordered the lifeboats launched and the port boat with 7-8 men was successfully lowered and rowed away from the ship, but the starboard boat was taken by the seas and went away empty. Eight men were able to get on the raft on the boat deck, while 6 got on the port raft on the after deck. SOS was sent out from 11:15 until 11:30, then the ship sank, the engine room having started to fill with water, about 15 n. miles north of Cape Wrath (in the vicinity of Strathie Point). Shortly after the men had gotten on the rafts the seas washed over the midships section, so the men ended up in the water. Eight of them later managed to get onto the largest raft, two of whom subsequently went over to a smaller raft found drifting by. These were the only two who survived after having been drifting on the raft for 28 hours. They were observed by an aircraft, then picked up by a rescue vessel from Thurso. Another two survivors in a lifeboat were spotted near land, but the sea took them before they could be reached. |
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