Bergen
Wrecks in Western Norway (page 6)
The
motorvessel Altair was originally a Dutch ship, but was requisitioned by
Germany for use as a troop transport vessel. On April 4th 1943 Altair sailed
under protection of a German AA-vessel ( Flakschiffe ) north along the Norwegian
coast when she was attacked by three aircraft outside Vevang. The airplanes hit
the vessel with several torpedoes. Altair sank slowly into the sea. It is
estimated that there were close to 190 men on board when she was attacked. Today
the wreck of Altair lies in open waters outside Vevang at Eknesskjærfluene. The
wreck is relatively broken, but both the stern and the bow sections are still
intact. Wreck debris is scattered around the whole area, ammunition still
remains on the site. The remains of Altair are mostly scattered at a depth of
approximately twenty meters, while the stern rests in forty metres with her keel
up. Altair is a popular dive site but can only be reached by boat.
MV
Arisan ended her days during a storm outside Runde on January 12th 1992. The
vessel, which was on a journey to the Netherlands with iron ore from Narvik,
became stranded. The vessel had engine problems before the accident, and the
crew had to make repairs. Two tugboats were in the area, but the
skipper refused help from these boats. The vessel went down slowly in the
following days, and on the 15th of March completely disappeared from view. Today
the wreck of the Arisan lies mostly crushed in a depth of ten to twenty metres.
Barcelona
was sunk on the 29th of October 1941 outside Ålesund harbour. Barcelona was
used by the Germans as a cargo freighter and troop transport during the second
world war. On the 29th of October 1941, in the morning, a British reconnaissance
flight from Scotland flew over the city and observed the German cargo freighters
laid at anchor outside the harbour. Later that night, nine British Lockheed
bombers attacked the vessels. Barcelona was heavily damaged and one civilian and
two antiaircraft soldiers were killed during the attack. Barcelona sank shortly
afterwards. Today the wreck of the Barcelona lies in a depth of forty two to
seventy metres, relatively intact, north west of Ålesund city. In 1993 the
ship's bell was found and salvaged by sport divers. The wreck lists to port
nearly three hundred metres from the shore.