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Norwegian Merchant Fleet | Master Ship Index
Messages Page 10 - Starting Jan.-2010
Note that the oldest messages start at the end of this page.
E-mail addresses have been withheld to avoid Spam, but can be supplied on request
(my contact address is at the bottom of the page).
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To read 2002 messages, go to Page 2
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To read 2004 messages, go to Page 4
To read 2005 messages, go to Page 5
To read 2006 messages, go to Page 6
To read 2007 messages, go to Page 7
To read 2008 messages, go to Page 8
To read 2009 messages, go to Page 9
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_______ March 16 From: John Flanagan Norweigan ship interned in Instanbul late 39 to July 1940 My Father use to tell me of the time when on an Norweigan ship being chased by German, Italian, and allied forces in the Med, the skipper choosed neither side but made it to Neutral Turkey avoiding both forces, this would have been about the time Norway was invaded. I do have most of my late fathers discharge books. My father signed on a ship in Instanbul called the Phoenix on 21/7/1940 which sailed to Alexandria in Egypt, where after several months helping clean damaged warships, made it back to England, his discharge book of those events ie 1935 to 1940 are missing, he later served on the convoy ships to Russia ect dying in 1978 when he was in Turkey he said that there was an assination attempt on a German minister who was visiting Turkey at time of these events, Iwould like to find the name of this Ship. Thanking you. Yours respectfully (I suggested the National Archives in Norway for name of the Norwegian ship - otherwise unable to assist). _______ From: Ron Murray Thermopylae Thank you for providing much needed information on the Thermopylae covering the 19th January 1942. My uncle recently died and we found a story he had written about his experience onboard the Thermopylae on that fateful day, he was one of the troops on board and was detailed to man the port Lewis gun and escaped on the destroyers last run alongside. Here's my page about Thermopylae _______ March 9 From: Mats Nyberg ..abor Sandefjord? Hi! We have an old peace of wood with a name carved in. The wood is broken but it says "...abor * Sandefjord". The name plate is around 1 meter long and was found at Väddö, Sweden, Åland´s sea, many years ago. We are searching for the history behind the name plate and the ship. Can you help us futher in this? BR _______ March 8 From: Richard Bond SS Wind Rush Looking for William Maynard, I have read his name before and would like to contact him. I am the grandson of Captain Terrance Bond. Master of the SS Wind Rush ca 1943-1945. I have numerous records and photos I would like to share. This refers to another Guestbook message on Page 6. Address has been passed on. _______ March 3 From: Nils Nilsen Shame Most Norwegians dont't know about this shame in Norwegian history, probably because most of them dont have a relatives that did service during ww2. All in one, Norway has nothing to be proud of, Norway as a nation should be very much ashame. But a few of us know that there was a few good men and women, the men and women who did a difference, but also the men and women who Norwegian politicans eat alive to cover up their own cowardness and from who Norwegian politicans stole the honour they never earned. http://norvetnet.no _______ March 3 From: Andre Schjaerve Ulf Larsen, Contributor to Wikipedia Article on Nortraship Hello Again. Do you by any chance have Ulf Larsen's e-mail address? I'm having difficulty tracking him down. Thanks, Andre Schjaerve (Address has been passed on). _______ March 3 From: Andre Schjaerve Screenplay about Norwegian Merchant Marine Hi. Just want to thank Warsailors.com in helping with my research for a screenplay I'm writing for an American feature film. Logline: When an amateur movie cameraman wants to escape his tycoon father and become a professional cameraman in Hollywood, he gets captured in his escape attempt as a seaman by the Nazis and boomeranged to Occupied Norway only to encounter his father's involvement with the enemy. To get what he wants, he now needs to atone for the stolen diamond his father mailed him at The Port of New York by way of his femme fatale movie star aunt in neutral Sweden. Much of the story is inspired by historical fact including Sweden's most famous 40's femme fatale-actress Sonja Wigert. Researchers in Oslo have recently discovered some very interesting information about her relationships with my grandfather and with shipping magnate Anders Jahre. Both men were tried for treason after the war. A picture of the ship Aristophanes in which Anders partnered with Aristotle Onassis appears on Warsailors.com. Most people are not aware of Onassis' ties to Norway which began before the war with his fiancee Ingeborg Dedichen. Best Regards, Andre Schjaerve (Here is Aristophanes). _______ From: Anthony Edman S.S. Veni I am just writing to say how much i appreciate this site. Veni is discussed on this page _______ From: Ian Lambert HNoMS Rose and Buttercup WWII My father was an Englishman aged 19 who was posted to the HNoMS Rose K102 in 1943 (?) as the wireless operator. He was the only non-Norwegian crew member. Apparently colloquial English was a requirement of all allied ships' crews. He said he did get used to the diet of "fiskeballe" (spelling?) after a while and that after three days you could not continue to be sea-sick. He survived the sinking of the Rose and was on the HNoMS Buttercup (K193) when she sailed into Oslo harbour on 15 May 1945 (a date you record elsewhere). I have some pictures of the Radhusset (?) from that time. He also told me of visiting Svalbard and standing on the upturned hull of the German battleship Tirpitz in a fjord (Trondheim?), both presumably on the Buttercup. He had some good memories of crew-members especially a momento from Arne Olsen dated VE Dag 1945. I am listing his war medals on eBay ending 28.2.10, and may include his Norske Krigsmenn (1940) song book with them. Perhaps this entry will not be read until after that time. PS Does the logo "H7" on a round flattened wooden box have any particular significance (flotilla???). (Rose and Buttercup are both included on this website - here's Rose and here's Buttercup). _______ Febr. 23 From: Kjell Mageroy ww2 Thank you for taking care of and spreading knowledge aboat the ww2 history and the connections between Shetland and Norway then. best regards _______ From: Dan Craw M/S Torrens My wife's Uncle, Normann Anker Nilsen Aasheim, changed to Normann Anker Nilsen was in the U.S. Coast Guard during WWII. According to records I have found at Ancestry.com he was on the M/S Torrens when it pulled into San Francesco on 6 Sep 1944 from ports in New Zealand via Nouméa, New Caledonia. My wife's family knows that Norman was a boat captain, of a landing craft at Normandy, and then transferred to the Pacific. They know that while serving in the Pacific one of his ships came under Kamikaze attacks and that he was a boat captain of a landing craft at Iwo Jima. Information at http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/torrens.html states that the M/S Torrens came under Kamikaze attacks Oct. 21 1944. It is conceivable that Norman was still onboard and that this is the attacks that my wife's family knows about. There is a picture of the crew, some in uniform, at the above mention web site. There is a statement that the guys in uniform were gunners; is it possible that some were boat captains of the landing craft; did the M/S Torrens carry landing craft? When was this picture taken? The aboved mentioned web site states: (Unfortunately, all of her 1944 voyages are missing from the archive document - she had made another voyage from San Francisco to Noumea in Oct.-1943, leaving Noumea again for New Zealand on Nov. 11, and that's the last voyage listed, until Jan.-1945). I have saved a copy of the Crew List for the ships arrival in San Francisco on 6 September 1944. Let me know if you would like a copy; but I will need an email address to send it to. The picture and text extracts above can be found on my page about Torrens. _______ Febr. 16 From: Jim Payne Photos of U-boat attacks Hello I have just stumbled upon your website when researching an original WW2 Photo album within my collection. The owner served on U-108 under Kptlt Klaus Scholtz I have original photos of Norland under attack and sinking. Also photos of Effna coming under attack. There are photos in the collection which show a life boat alongside the u-boat with 14 people aboard. All Effnas crew were apparantly lost ..but Norlands crew survived. I have photos of the subs victims captain on the sub ..excellent photos ..do you have a photo of Norlands captain? (Here's my page about Norland). _______ From: Peter & Margie CADDY M/T Hidlefjord An update to my previous entry. Bent Florenes and Margaret Isobel Smyth were married at St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore on 8th October 1940 and interesting was that Hans Gullestad, the Captain of the Hidlefjord was one of the witnesses at the wedding. (Ref. message at Febr. 9 below). ________ From: Michael Sarratt Rustad, Kjell I found your site by searching for Kjell Rustad. I knew him after the war when he had relocated to the USA. He and my father became great friends. He and wife Marion lived at Lake Tahoe in the Sierra mountains of California where he built and operated a small ski resort called "Granlibakken." When I was a teenager, I worked for him at the ski hill and he told me the story of the sinking of the MS Ariadne and the cowardly strafing of the survivors by the Luftwaffe pilots, and many other stories as well. It was wonderful to see the photo of the ship and read your account of the sinking. He was a great character and much beloved locally for his influence on skiing. He was a consultant for the ski jumping competition at Squaw Valley during the 1960 Winter Olympics. In the mid 1970s he retired to Carmel, CA where he passed away some years later. I have some wonderful pictures of Kjell sailing on his boat on Lake Tahoe which I will share if you are interested. Yours truly, Here is my page about Ariadne. _______ From: Mark Awarded BEM - (M/T RIGNOR) A bestowal award letter has been seen that gives light to the first names of He is named: An official letter dated 2nd September 1942 from the Admiralty, Whitehall signed by H. V. Markham. It is addressed to Marie Charles Antoine Thomas Hill, Esq., 41 Bickenhall Mansions, Gloucester, Place, W1. "I am commanded by My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to inform you that they have learned with great pleasure that, on the recommendation of the First Lord, the Prime Minister has obtained the King's approval for the Award to you of the British Empire Medal, Civil Divisions, for courage and good service in S.S. RIGMOR, under continuous and heavy air attack. This Award will not be published in the London Gazette". It is in its original envelope which has been redirected to "Commando Depot, Achnacussy, Speau Bridge, Inverness-shire. See the M/T Rigmor crew list. ________ Febr. 12 From: Rachel S. Cox Convoy HX 139 I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have found your site. I am researching a book on the five Americans who joined the British army in June 1941--six months before Pearl Harbor--and went on to become, I believe, the first Americans to fight the Nazi army when they fought with the King's Royal Rifle Corps at the battle of El Alamein in North Africa. I am working from diaries and letters and had only approximate dates of their sailing from Halifax in mid July 1941. Thanks to your site, I now know which convoy they were in, how many other boats there were, etc. Still trying to determine which ship was theirs, but this feels like a huge step forward. Many thanks. To help narrow down the search, I referred Rachel to this page which is based on Arnold Hague's database and shows the ships that carried passengers in HX 139. I also pointed out that there were also the slower SC convoys, though in this particular period they originated in Sydney, C.B., rather than Halifax. The closest in date would be SC 37 and SC 38. The ships sailing in them are named on this page (again, based on A. Hague's database). ________ Febr. 11 From: Leo Vossen Japanese merchant ships Hi there, The link referred to in this message goes to a site that is no longer available. I referred Leo to my Ship Forum, where he got more assistance. ________ From: Peter Caddy Margaret & Bent Florenes Greetings, Just doing some family research on my wife's family and found your page on Norwegian ships of WW2. My wife (Margaret Caddy, nee SMYTH) lost her father's sister in WW2 on board the M/T Hidlefjord. She married Bent Florenes (Florenaes) in Singapore on 8th Oct 1940. Her maiden name was Margaret Isobel Smyth and according to our records she was born in Moonta (South Australia) on 17 March 1908. Do you have any other details and it would be interesting to trace the family of Bent in Norway. We actually have a small film of their Singapore wedding. Here's my page about Hidlefjord. I gave Peter a link to an online version of "Våre falne". If Bent Flørenes is listed there, his parents' names will be included. _________ From: Morten Christiansen Golar Freeze Hei I was onboard Golar Freeze in Stavanger 1977. We was sailing to Singapore and from Singapore we was going to Indonesia, as far as i know the name of the harbor was Bin Tang. I was there for about 1 year. We sailed between Indonesia and Japan, Kobe, Nagasaki and Fukoka. I am born in Tvedestrand in 1960. So it was my fathjers cousin Egil Nylen getting me the job, wery nice of him. I also had a father who was sailing onboard Gotaas ship. Morten Christiansen Morten is referring to one of my father's ships. _________ From: Tony Preece M/T Sveve Thank you for your website it is much appreciated. My grandfather was one of the British gunners aboard the Sveve when it was torpedoed. I can confirm he was William (Bill) Preece and not Pearce. Thanks again M/T Sveve is discussed on this page _________ Febr. 8 From: Ørjan H. Johansen Son of a sailor Thanks a lot. I found som pretty interresting information on your web-sites on three boats my father sailed on: Lionel, Tai Yang and Nordland. (All these ships are included on this website - the easiest way to find them is through the Ship Index). _________ Febr. 6 From: Bob Pearson M/S Bomma Dear Siri, I am shortly to have my book on the gold transport published in Norwegian. This is due out in April. Currently, I am working with the editor of Dinamo Forlag sorting the photos and whilst they are happy with the images they have asked me if I can obtain an image of the M/S Bomma. The only image I can find is on your Warsailors site, with the image credit to Fred Olsen. By chance, do you have a contact name at Fred Olsen whom I could approach for permission? Many thanks in advance for considering this request. Kind regards & best wishes, Bob Contact information has been provided. Here's my page about Bomma. _________ From: Kathleen Winger Hermion, M.V. Kongsdal, MV Ora I have enjoyed your website very much. [My father Olav Rye winger sailed on board "Hermion" and after the war he stayed in Adelaide, South Australia]. You may therefore be interested in this extra information I have for you. Two other crewmen who sailed in WW2 on board Hermion also settled in Adelaide; they were Hans Knapstad and Sverre Anderson. I found a story that the ships Kongsdal and Ora were involved in a rescue of crew from S.S. Fort Buckingham in the Indian Ocean. Here are the details for you: Indian Ocean Rescue by Norman Gibson: "This is the story of my rescue together with 46 other men from one of five rafts in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It was in February 1944. My ship, S.S. Fort Buckingham had been sunk..." http://sites.google.com/a/mercantilemarine.org/mercantile-marine/War-time-Stories/indian-ocean-rescue-by-norman-gibson Med vennlig Hilsen Hermion is on this page, here's Ora, and here's Kongsdal. _________ From: Bjoern Pedersen VESTFOS You are asking a question under the pages for this vessel - built 1909 - whether her name is correctly spelt with one or two "s". Both alternatives are correct. Originally a FOSS (Norwegian waterfall) was spelt with only one "s". But then rules of writing changed, and Thor Thoresen also changed the names of his vessels from one single "S" to two "SS". This was in 1937. Quite often the photos of his elder vessels are from the period prior to 1937, wherefore the names are with one "S" Otherwise great compliments to your pages, they are becoming more and more well known in the world ship lovers community. Keep on the show. Best regards Bjoern See my page about Vestfos. _________ Jan. 27 From: Andreas Vos Question were to search information I am searching after my grandfather that was a Dutch sailor from Rotterdam before the war. He was put in the German arbeits inzats and was forced to work on boats going to Norway and Finland between 1941-43. He did tours with a lasarettsschiffe going from Danzig in Germany past Norway to Petsamo in Finland were the boat collected German wonded and dead. He was on boats with Iron and Coal to Norway from Germany. He escaped to Sweden in the summer of 1943 jumping off a ship outside the westcoast of Sweden with 3 other Dutch sailors one drowned. His name is Mathijs Vos born 19 februari 1922 in Rotterdam died in 13 nov 1987 Åhus Sweden. I think it could have been on the Hansa Ships he was sailing and Iam trying to find out the names of the boats he was on to get maybe some pictures of them. Iam doing a book on the family history. My question to you is if you maybe know were I can look for information about personel on the Hansa ships or other German companys sailing on Norway during 1940-43? With friendly regards and thanks for a fantastic site on the internet (Andreas' address can be supplied). _________ Jan. 25 From: Richard Olson Hello...a great website Good Morning: My name is Richard Olson and my wife Elena and I live in Upper Michigan. My maternal grandparents immigrated from Norway in Sept., 1901. GGM Bina Holing and her son Ottar Olsen-Heiberg (later Otto Holing).They left from Trondheim. An earlier ancestor, Johan Holing left in 1893. GGM Bina and GP Otto were from Aasen. My maternal grandmother, Emma Caroline Johnsen came from Skogn in 1906. She and GP Otto were married in Chicago in 1908. I later learned that GM Emma's father was a Captain in the Norwegian Merchant Marine. I myself have been in the U.S. Merchant Marine for 31 years, and am currently an officer on an ore ship on the Great Lakes. I did not know about my GGFather's Career until after I started sailing. My desire to sail was a mystery to my family until my Aunt Gertrude showed me a picture of "Grandfather Captain." My wife and I will be going to Norway this September and hope to find the family farm in Aasen. The only names I could get were Holinplads and Holing, farm #13. You have a great website and it is refrehing to see that someone is keeping alive the memories of "The 5th arm of Defense." Sincerely, Rick Olson _________ From: Phil Wesby M T Petter . . . explanation of death on board Firstly let me compliment you for this fantastic website. The web pages are well written, easy to navigate and provide a rich amount of information. Very inspiring, thanks. I am writing in relation to this sentence on the page of MT Petter: "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig" indicates that Petter had a death on board on March 8-1942 when on a voyage Falmouth-Aruba. In fact, the external site below has her listed as bound for Aruba in Convoy OS 21 in this period (convoy left Liverpool March 4, arrived Freetown March 24). No further details are available other than the fact that it looks like an inquiry was held in Cape Town on May 15-1942 (I cannot find any casualties from Petter commemorated at the Stavern Memorial)". I was privileged to meet one of the sailors of M T Petter, now in his 80s. He still lives in Stratford-upon-Avon in the UK and became one of the most famous Shakespearean actors - particularly for his role as Richard III who played on stage with Dame Judy Dench many a time. When war broke out, like many 15 year olds, he pretended he was old enough but was rounded up with hundreds of others and told he was too young to join the Navy. The Norwegian Merchant Marine did take him however and he served on MT Petter. He told me some amazing stories of being in the convoys. I came across the 'death on board' story after he had told me what happened. Evidently there had been a U Boat attack near to Aruba and the Captain was keen to keep the ship underway at full speed but this was not to be. At one point, the ship's cook suddenly 'lost it' and jumped off the back of the ship. The Captain then - against his better judgement - decided they would stop and try to pick him up. The ship was stopped and a boat lowered to row out to get the man. Unfortunately, before they could reach him he was taken by sharks. It took the crew almost 48 hours to restart the engines. This was a worrying time for all. This is probably why he does not appear on the Stavern Memorial. See my page about Petter. _________ From: David Anderson m/s John Bakke What can you tell me of the maiden voyage of the (third) m/s John Bakke in 1929? There is an Arne Lönning (1909-1929) buried in the Multnomah Park Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. His marker say: "Erected by Officers & Crew Norwegian m/s John Bakke". Here's my page about John Bakke, but I'm afraid I know nothing about her maiden voyage. I've suggested the National Archives of Norway for info on Arne Lønning. _________ Jan. 16. From: George Rodriguez Ole Jacob / Benno Hi dear, my name is George Rodriguez, 59 years old, I am original from Spain, concretely from the stream North West of Spain in Galicia, a place named Puerto de Cariño where the tanker Ole Jacob, Renamed Benno was sunk, bombarded by the RAF on the 24 December 1941 at 15-45 hours, I remember its debris taking to shore from the sea bed when I was 8 years old. Now I have been leaving in London since 1974. I have some details on Ole Jacob, but am afraid I can't help with more info on Benno and the attack on her. I've suggested my Ship Forum. ________ From: Lindsey D/S Germa - convoys Thank you for all the information you put on your site about the D/S Germa and the convoys she took part in. My grandfather was Captain Olaf Johan Gerrard and he was the Captain of D/S Germa during WW2. I have learned more about his activities during WW2 from you than I did when he was alive. He died in 1958. Thank you once again for sharing this site with others. Here's my page about Germa _________ Jan. 13 From: Robert Klinkert Shiplosses WW1 & 2 I found your website helpfull, to find some of the names of masters of ships sunk during WW2, the information could be more complete if you added code letters and yard numbers of the ships. So far I have not come acros a complete listing of ships sunk, owners, captains, builders, port of departure, and destination, cargo, cause of loss, name of sinking agent, name of commander, number of warpatrol, german mapcode, position, convoy, tonnage, year build, port of registry, fishing vessel number, ex names. My own list includes all that information, as far as I have found it. And I am still adding information every day. R.Klinkert What follows has been taken from my main page: _________ From: Tony Hofsten Research on my father Your site has been very helpful for me to find info on my father, Haakon Werner Hofsten, who sailed on these ships, Belinda, Mosfruit (when it was sunk), Somerville, Gausdal, Evanger & Temeraire. I have ships pay books and various documents showing the ships and your site enabled me to find out about the voyages. Sadly he died in 1996. many thanks All the above ships are discussed on this website - the easiest way to find them is through the Master Ship Index. _________ Jan. 7 From: Vigdis Sælid Thorbjørn Kristiansen He was my mothers cousin, born about 1920, in Larvik, Norway. I think he might be dead, but we know he had a son with the same name, age about 60 now. We have heard that they lived in Brooklyn, New York. If anyone know anything, please contact me. Regards Vigdis' address can be provided through me (contact ddress at the bottom of this page). Not sure which Thorbjørn Kristiansen she's referring to - this name shows up in various places on this website. _________ Name: Brandi Murray Victor Haggith, deckboy, Norland My Grandma's brother was the deckboy on the Norland. I only knew a bit of the story of my Great Uncle, that he'd lied about his age, and had run off to join the Merchant's instead of going to school one day! Sold his bike and used the money to to telegram his Mother, "Gone to sea to avenge the Hood. Vic." On a whim, I typed his name in and found this site. I can't wait to show my Grandmother! She'd always been so proud of him. I think Vic was torpedoed again (I know was at least twice) and finally they found that he's lied about his age, and sent him around the world as "the boy hero" to sell war bonds. In later years he settled in Australia, acted and I believe had a morning show. If you wish, I'll send some more photos of him selling war bonds. Thanks for the site, keeping these vanishing stories alive. Here's my page about Norland. _________ From: Michael Meras SS Björnvik Hi My interest in SS Björnvik is that the Ministry of War Transport listed the UK agent as the British Channel Island Shipping Company Limited. I've been writing a book on the history of the BCIS company (my Father was a Master) The following is taken from the PROTOCOL for MARITIME DECLARATIONS dated the 10th March 1942 by the two Norwegian survivors at the Norwegian Consulate General in London: Leaving Cardiff's Briquette Work's quay on Tuesday 26th January 1942 the vessel was fully loaded and went over the grange‚ to be de-gaused. The vessel then anchored in the Berry Roads for the night, so to join convoy WP103 in the morning. On Wednesday 27th of January the vessel joined the convoy travelling from Newport to Fowey, Southampton. By 7pm the Björnvik was one mile astern of this convoy due to low steam pressure and bad weather, and by midnight the convoy had been lost. Thursday the 28th was spent trying to catch up with the convoy. Passing Cape Cornwall, about mid-day, two English airplanes flow over the ship. By 18:30 German planes had attacked, dropping one near miss and four bombs that exploded in the ship. Within a short space of time the Björnvik sank very quickly taking a majority of the crew and the cargo of 812 tons of coal to the sea bottom. Three survivors stayed on a raft for 17 hours and were then rescued by the Dutch motor vessel Rika and landed at Falmouth, Cornwall. List of the 15 missing crew members (R.I.P), five foreign, from a list compiled on the 20 January 1942: Also the bomb that was de-fused at Dartmouth was an aerial torpedo and the seaman that died was holding the detenator (Lloyd's Weekly Casualty Reports 1942). Please send me a blank email and I'l return with my written story (its not as well written and in detail as yours). Yours is a great web site. Kind regards Michael Meras (See my page about Bjørnvik). |
