Norwegian students from Aberystwyth University have helped to reveal the history of a ship attacked by U-boats during the First World War.

The Norwegian-registered Janvold is one of the wrecks included in surveys for the U-Boat Project Wales, 1914–18: Commemorating the War at Sea Heritage Lottery Funded partnership project led by the RCAHMW.

Thanks to the help of students Preben Vangberg, Johan Dyrnes Hansen and Mari Aasland, who sourced historic documents in Norwegian archives during their summer break, a story of special courage has been revealed.

In April 1917, the ship had come under attack but still gone to the rescue of the crew of the SS Poitiers.

The Janvold was on passage from Bilbao to Cardiff, with an iron ore cargo, when a violent shock was felt throughout the ship.

The crew nearly launched the lifeboats when it was realised that it was not the Janvold that had been torpedoed but another steamship nearby – the French registered SS Poitiers.

Meyer left his crew in the safety of the ship’s lifeboats and, with only the 2nd Engineer onboard who returned to the engine room, navigated the Janvold to pick up the Poitiers’ crew.

A torpedo narrowly passed ahead of the Janvold/i>, while a second and then a third steamer was sunk nearby during the time that the Janvold was rescuing its first boatload of survivors.

Meyer then took the Janvold into the shallower water under Hartland Point on the Devon Coast, to wait for the ship’s lifeboats to rejoin the vessel after they had picked up further survivors.

More torpedoes passed ahead and astern of the ship crashing into the shoreline.

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition on Wednesday