Minnehallen i Stavern skriver:
D/S Ila var på reise i konvoi fra Boston til Glasgow lastet med 2.070 tonn stål og stykkgods. Konvoien ble angrepet av 10 tyske ubåter i posisjon 5330N og 3000W. 15. oktober 1941 ble Ila truffet av to torpedoer fra U-553 ( Karl Thurmann ) traff midtskips og sank momentant. Idet sjøen brøt inn over midtskipet, ble noen av folkene skyllet over bord. Andre hoppet til sjøs. Seks mann holdt seg flytende på vrakgods, og fire mann red velvet på motorlivbåten. Den ene av dem døde kort tid etter av kulde og utmattelse og gled av velvet. Ved daggry dukket eskorten opp og tok opp ni overlevende. To av disse døde i løpet av seks timer. 14 nordmenn og - en brite messegutt Joseph McConnel omkom.
warsailors.com:
Ila left Boston again for Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 25, arriving Sydney on the 28th, departing on Oct. 5 in station 74 of Convoy SC 48. See also cruising order/Commodore's notes and misc. reports. She was bound for Glasgow with a cargo of 2070 tons steel and general, but did not make it to her destination. In the morning of Oct. 15, she was hit by 2 torpedoes from U-553 (Thurmann). 1 torpedo hit below hatch No. 2, the other below the after part of the bridge, both on the starboard side, followed by violent explosions. She broke in two and sank immediately, 53 34N 29 57W*.
As it had been impossible to lower any of the lifeboats, and the raft located on Hatch No. 3 was smashed, another jammed under a davit, 6 men, including the captain, kept themselves afloat on pieces of wreckage, while the 1st mate, 1st engineer and 2 of the crew held on to the capsized motor lifeboat. Their efforts to turn the boat over failed, and 1st Engineer Hagbart Andersen soon died of cold and exhaustion.
The survivors drifted helplessly for 3 hours while the convoy continued. They were picked up at dawn by the French corvette Mimosa.
1910 - 1941 (31 år)
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