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M/S Acadia To Acadia on the "Ships starting with A" page. Manager: Sigurd Bruusgaard, Drammen. Built in Flensburg, Germany - delivered in 1938. Captain: Nils Olaf Wilhelmsen. Mates were Einar Christiansen, Sverre Augestad and 3r Mate H. T. Oldereid (all through the war until 1946. He was also the radio operator, later settled in Australia). Acadia had an all Norwegian crew in the beginning, but later other nationalities, as several of the Norwegians payed off to join the Norwegian forces.
Acadia was in Moji, Japan in the fall of 1939 when the war started, and traded between that country and the U.S. for a while. Returned to Norway early in 1940, but departed in March, just a few weeks before the Germans invaded. After the German invasion of Norway on Apr. 9-1940 it was not uncommon for Norwegian ships to be treated with distrust and suspicion, resulting in quite a few of them being forced into British port by the authorities, and even put under armed guard for a while. This also happened to Acadia as late as July 2-1940 when she was ordered into Fremantle, where military guards were placed on board. She was en route Melbourne-Colombo at the time. The external website that I've linked to below has her, with no voyage information, in Convoy BN 3, which left Bombay on Aug. 10-1940 and arrived Suez on the 23rd. The same site also has her, with destination Bombay, in Convoy BS 5, leaving Suez on Sept. 20-1940, dispersed off Aden on Sept. 28. The Norwegian Germa is also included. Acadia made several voyages in the Middle East early in the war, carrying war supplies from Australia to the Australian forces. Carried phosphate between the Pacific Islands and New Zealand (until 1946), and it appears she had just been to Ocean Island for a cargo of phosphate in Dec.-1940 and was en route to Eukland when M/S Vinni (and others) were sunk. In July-1941 she was in Alexandria and endured air attacks there. Returned to Australia at the time of the evacuation of Crete and again endured air attacks in the Red Sea, but escaped unharmed. She made 38 voyages to Makatea (French - about 100 n. miles north of Tahiti). Transported a total of 235 000 tons, travelling 160 727 miles to do it; according to a New Zealand newspaper article in 1945 this was more than any other ship had carried to New Zealand in the war. At the time she was scheduled to return to Norway via Australia for the first time since Norway was invaded. Related external links: Back to Acadia on the "Ships starting with A" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, and misc.
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