The Elsa (Wreck)

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The 3581 tons of the 335ft steamship Elsa travelled a long way after being built by Tyne Shipbuilding Co of Sunderland in 1904 for the Norwegian African Australian Line of Oslo, writes Kendall McDonald.
Her final voyage was no exception. It began in Calcutta in August 1917, and took her to Sierra Leone for a marine safety inspection. Holds filled with 2000 tons of coal, 200 tons of coke and 600 tons of general cargo, she joined a convoy at Dakar that brought her safely to Falmouth.
She left Falmouth on 21 January, 1918 and was heading up the Channel when a wireless message diverted her to Plymouth. Captain Johannes Woxholt remained there for three days. Then, to the Admiralty's surprise, he left Plymouth without any order to do so. Once again, he headed up-Channel.
He didn't get far. On the morning of 24 January, Oberleutnant Wilhelm Braun, commander of UB31, spotted the Elsa five miles off Dartmouth. He fired one torpedo from a forward tube at periscope depth. The Elsa was hit in the starboard side about 11m behind the engine-room. The explosion destroyed number 5 hold and blew the hatch covers sky-high.
The torpedo damage started the ship sinking stern-first, and Captain Woxholt ordered his 28 crew into the boats moments later. The Elsa took only 20 minutes to sink. Crewmen were picked up from the boats by two patrol launches and landed safely at Dartmouth.
Captain Woxholt received a severe drubbing for leaving Plymouth without permission. Admiralty agents were also annoyed that the captain's antics had resulted in all traffic being suspended between Plymouth and Portsmouth, and that his torpedoing had created chaos along a big stretch of the swept channel, holding up shipping for half the day.