new Oerlikon cannons, effective against dive-bombers and fast torpedo boats, were installed on the corners of the bridge in the empty gun tubs. A three-inch antiaircraft gun was mounted in the tub on the bow, and a four-inch low-angle gun was bolted to the afterdeck. The four-inch had been used against tanks in World War I, and could blow a very big hole in a thin-skinned U-boat.
Fred Larsen was promoted to senior third officer. With his previous experience as a cargo officer, he was asked by chief mate Thomson to help supervise the loading of cargo for the
Santa Elisa
’s next voyage. On May 5, at the Brooklyn Army Depot, stevedores began loading her holds with ammunition and war stores, including bombs, mines, and about 5,000 drums of kerosene and diesel fuel, in hold number one. Tanks and heavy trucks were shackled to her foredecks. Fourteen new U.S. Navy Armed Guard joined the ship’s crew, and forty soldiers—searchlight specialists, headed for duty in Britain, Egypt, and Malta—came aboard as passengers. It took one week to load all the equipment, fuel, and ammo.
On May 12, 1942, Larsen cast off the lines that held the stern of his ship to the pier. The
Santa Elisa
was going to war.
CHAPTER 4 •••
TO BELFAST AND OSLO
A lthough the Department of State had told Fred Larsen that “there is no action that can be taken at this time” regarding his visa application for Minda, he had refused to accept it. Maybe the government couldn’t take action, but he could.
He learned that the International Red Cross in Switzerland was arranging exchanges between American noncombatants and German prisoners, with details being handled by the American Red Cross. With the help of his sister, Christina, who lived in Brooklyn, he wrote a letter to the Red Cross explaining the situation, and received a reply with forms that he completed. The Red Cross continued the process, and on May 15 the State Department sent a promising letter, which Christina received as the
Santa Elisa
was steaming across the Atlantic.
With reference to the inquiry in your letter of March 24, 1942, as to the possibility of your wife and son coming to the United States, I take pleasure in informing you that the S.S. Drottningholm is expected to sail shortly from Goteberg, Sweden for New York in connection with the exchange of official and non-official persons between the United States and the Axis Powers. It is understood that the German authorities may permit Americans to return from Norway and Denmark on the S.S. Drottningholm and that those desiring to proceed from these countries to Goteberg to embark may accordingly be granted exit permits.
On the
Santa Elisa
’s first night at sea after leaving New York, Captain Vladimir Cernesco came down with a case of the shingles. Given the cargo of ammunition and fuel, the fire in January, and the U-boats known to be lying in wait in the North Atlantic, his shingles might have been triggered by nerves. The
Santa Elisa
had to make an unscheduled stop in Boston, where he was hospitalized and declared unfit for further duty.
The
Santa Elisa
’s chief mate, Tommy Thomson, had been an officer with Grace Line since his graduation from the Maritime Academy of New York State University ten years earlier. He held his master’s license, although because there weren’t many Grace Line ships, promotions to master had been scarce. But now his time had come.
“It was all a fluke,” said Thomson. “This is an ocean-going war, and the bosses needed a man who’d seen a ship’s bridge. There I was. No one could figure out where to dig up another captain.”
Thomson’s overnight promotion made him the youngest master in the U.S. Merchant Marine, at thirty-three. He was tall and soft spoken, with platinum hair and sharp blue eyes. He had proved his bravery, having fought the fire in hold number one alongside the third mate, Larsen. His full name was Theodore Roosevelt Thomson, but the link to TR had little to do
Fred Larsen was promoted to senior third officer. With his previous experience as a cargo officer, he was asked by chief mate Thomson to help supervise the loading of cargo for the
Santa Elisa
’s next voyage. On May 5, at the Brooklyn Army Depot, stevedores began loading her holds with ammunition and war stores, including bombs, mines, and about 5,000 drums of kerosene and diesel fuel, in hold number one. Tanks and heavy trucks were shackled to her foredecks. Fourteen new U.S. Navy Armed Guard joined the ship’s crew, and forty soldiers—searchlight specialists, headed for duty in Britain, Egypt, and Malta—came aboard as passengers. It took one week to load all the equipment, fuel, and ammo.
On May 12, 1942, Larsen cast off the lines that held the stern of his ship to the pier. The
Santa Elisa
was going to war.
CHAPTER 4 •••
TO BELFAST AND OSLO
A lthough the Department of State had told Fred Larsen that “there is no action that can be taken at this time” regarding his visa application for Minda, he had refused to accept it. Maybe the government couldn’t take action, but he could.
He learned that the International Red Cross in Switzerland was arranging exchanges between American noncombatants and German prisoners, with details being handled by the American Red Cross. With the help of his sister, Christina, who lived in Brooklyn, he wrote a letter to the Red Cross explaining the situation, and received a reply with forms that he completed. The Red Cross continued the process, and on May 15 the State Department sent a promising letter, which Christina received as the
Santa Elisa
was steaming across the Atlantic.
With reference to the inquiry in your letter of March 24, 1942, as to the possibility of your wife and son coming to the United States, I take pleasure in informing you that the S.S. Drottningholm is expected to sail shortly from Goteberg, Sweden for New York in connection with the exchange of official and non-official persons between the United States and the Axis Powers. It is understood that the German authorities may permit Americans to return from Norway and Denmark on the S.S. Drottningholm and that those desiring to proceed from these countries to Goteberg to embark may accordingly be granted exit permits.
On the
Santa Elisa
’s first night at sea after leaving New York, Captain Vladimir Cernesco came down with a case of the shingles. Given the cargo of ammunition and fuel, the fire in January, and the U-boats known to be lying in wait in the North Atlantic, his shingles might have been triggered by nerves. The
Santa Elisa
had to make an unscheduled stop in Boston, where he was hospitalized and declared unfit for further duty.
The
Santa Elisa
’s chief mate, Tommy Thomson, had been an officer with Grace Line since his graduation from the Maritime Academy of New York State University ten years earlier. He held his master’s license, although because there weren’t many Grace Line ships, promotions to master had been scarce. But now his time had come.
“It was all a fluke,” said Thomson. “This is an ocean-going war, and the bosses needed a man who’d seen a ship’s bridge. There I was. No one could figure out where to dig up another captain.”
Thomson’s overnight promotion made him the youngest master in the U.S. Merchant Marine, at thirty-three. He was tall and soft spoken, with platinum hair and sharp blue eyes. He had proved his bravery, having fought the fire in hold number one alongside the third mate, Larsen. His full name was Theodore Roosevelt Thomson, but the link to TR had little to do
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