MS Ravnaas was a Norwegian cargo ship built in 1931 and sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Pacific Ocean in December 1941.
Construction
The ship was built by Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstads AB in Gothenburg, Sweden. She was launched on 27 October 1930. She had a length of 106.9 metres (350.8 ft), beam of 15.5 metres (50.8 ft), draught of 7.8 metres (25.7 ft), and a tonnage of 4,019 GRT (6,850 DWT). She was a single-deck, steel-hulled ship with oil engines, electric lights, and wireless radio. The vessel was registered in Arendal, Norway, owned and operated by Agdesidens Rederi A/S (Arnt J. Mørland), and later sailed under Nortraship.
Identification
Her code letters were LJSN (1931–1934) and LCOF (1934–1941).
Second World War
At the time of the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, Ravnaas was located in Portland, Oregon, United States. During 1940 and 1941, she sailed routes across the Pacific, including Seattle to Shanghai, Yokohama to Vancouver, Vancouver to Durban, and various transpacific voyages between Asia and America.
On 28 November 1941, she departed Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, bound for San Francisco, carrying general cargo including rubber, with scheduled stops at Singapore and Miri, Borneo. She had no armament.
Sinking
On the morning of 8 December 1941 (local time, west of the International Date Line), while approximately 250 nautical miles east of Samar Island in the Philippines, Ravnaas was attacked by Japanese aircraft. Although no direct bomb hits were recorded, two bombs landed so close to the port side amidships that she developed a leak in the engine room and began to sink while listing to port. Some survivor accounts date the attack to 7 December 1941, which corresponds with the attack on Pearl Harbor occurring east of the International Date Line.
All 28 crew members escaped in two lifeboats. Two crew members, Ole Throgrimsen and Ragnvald Myhre, sustained minor shrapnel injuries. After three days at sea, the boats reached Surigao on the island of Mindanao, Philippines.
Fate of the Crew
After reaching Surigao, the crew were transported to Cebu City on Cebu Island. Two crew members, Brynjolv Baardson and Jens Kristian Jensen, volunteered to join the United States Army in January 1942. Following the Japanese invasion of Cebu in April 1942, the crew hid in the jungle. In May 1942, 24 of the men surrendered and were interned in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, including Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila and Los Baños. Eight of these men were liberated after the Raid at Los Baños in February 1945. Nineteen crew members were transported aboard the SS Simeon G. Reed to San Francisco, arriving in May 1945.
Four crew members—Tore Knudsen, Ragnvald Myhre, Ole Torgrimsen, and Arne Hansen—did not surrender but continued hiding in the jungle and eventually joined guerrilla forces operating under American leadership. They were evacuated by submarine to Australia in November 1943.
Baardson and Jensen, who had fought with American forces, were captured and held as prisoners of war. They were freed from the Roku Roshi POW Camp on Honshu, Japan, after the Japanese surrender in August 1945.
In 1981, Brynjolv Baardson published the memoir Kiotskee! Norsk krigsfange i Japan, recounting his experiences from the bombing of MS Ravnaas, his service as a lieutenant in the US Army, and his internment in Japanese camps.
