Norwegian cargo ships that disappeared during WWII found outside of New Jersey in USA

DS.octavian.2.Photo: minnehallen.no

The Norwegian cargo ship, DS Octavian, disappeared in 1942 and was thought to be torpedoed by a German submarine off the east coast of the United States. Now the wreck has been found by divers.

 

The Hilmar Reksten-owned trading ship disappeared in January 1942, with 16 Norwegians and one British on board.

For almost 80 years, its disappearance has been a mystery for both historians, and survivors.The ship has always been thought to have been torpedoed by the German submarine, U-203, outside Newfoundland, Canada.

But last week, divers discovered the wreck of an old steamship, 60 meters deep outside of New Jersey in the United States.

A plaque says “Nyland’s workshop – Oslo”. That is the workshop that built DS Octavian.The divers quickly assumed it to be the wreck of the lost Norwegian merchant ship.

Thus, the ship had gone down 250 miles further south than where historians had always thought the ship sank.

‘’This is amazing. I do not remember finding a wreck 80 years after the sinking,” said marine archaeologist at the Norwegian Maritime Museum, Jørgen Johannessen, to NRK news.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today