Irene Maria Merchant Ship Mystery

[eavyumble]

Now here`s a complete mystery for you all to ponder. My father was a Danish merchant seaman. On 9th April 1940 his vessel, the Inger Marie, was in Norway at the time of the German invasion. The skipper, along with a few other vessels, accepted the Navy`s offer to sail for Britain, and he arrived at Methil Roads a couple of days later. By August 1940 he was serving on the Birgitta, a Swedish ship, and on the 6th he sent my mother a letter in which he mentions the loss of the Inger Marie and his friend Axel on board. So far, so good. The Inger Marie was, indeed, sunk with the loss of all hands - including Edgard Axel Juul. The facts are confirmed both on Admiralty records and on Uboat.net, and both give the same date for the sinking - 27th November, 1940. They say that there is nothing that can`t be explained, but I can`t get my head around the fact that he wrote about it 3 months (nearly 4 months) before it happened! Totally inexplicable as far as I can see.

Edited August 25, 2016 by eavyumble
Wrong ship`s name!

[paul wood]

Interestingly the name of the ship in the letter looks more like "Irene Marie" than "Inger Marie".

Paul

[eavyumble]

Hi, Paul,

 

My mistake. It is INDEED the Irene Maria to which I refer. He was previously on the Inger Toft, hence my confusion.

[paul wood]

Yes the Tower hill memorial gives the date of those who died as the 28 November, weird.

Paul

[eavyumble]

Someone suggested difference in dates could have been due to censorship. Not possible, of course. Not only would it have meant the UBoat captain colluding as regards his log entry, but also my father`s letter was opened by the censor and allowed to pass.