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D/S Annavore To Annavore on the "Ships starting with A" page.
Another picture is available at Uboat.net (external link). Owner: A/S Vore Built by Murdoch & Murray Ltd., Port Glasgow in 1921. According to the last external page that I've linked to above, she was delivered in June that year as Annavore to to A/S Vore (Lundegaard & Stray), Farsund. Managed by Gunnstein Stray & Sønn, Farsund from March-1929. Captain: Gerhard Reichelt, previously of Karlander. Captain Reichelt's son Erik was among those involved in the tragic loss of Brattholm I - follow link for details. He also had another son, Borti, who was involved in illegal activities in Norway and was shot by the Germans in Oct.-1944. A book has been written about this family - ISBN number is available in this Norwegian Guestbook message from the captain's grandson. Related items on this website: Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives: Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.
Follow the convoy links provided for more information on them.
According to Page 1 of the archive documents, Annavore was on her way from St. Vincent to Hampton Roads when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. With a cargo of copper and machinery, she's listed in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 47 in June that year (in which the Norwegian Italia was sunk - follow the link for details). Annavore had been cancelled from the previous convoy, HX 46, on May 28. Her destination was St. Nazaire, but when 7 n. miles southwest of Lefour on June 17 she was attacked by German aircraft, though was undamaged and arrived Glasgow on June 28, remaining there for quite a while (Page 1). The following month, she joined Convoy OB 186, which originated in Liverpool on July 20 and dispersed July 22, Annavore arriving Quebec on Aug. 2. The Norwegian Augvald and Heranger are also listed in this convoy - see the external link provided within the table above. With a cargo of lumber, Annavore returned to the U.K. with Convoy HX 68, which left Halifax on Aug. 24 and arrived Liverpool on Sept. 8. Annavore, however, joined from Sydney, C.B. She arrived Cardiff on Sept. 10 and again had a long stay in port (Page 1). We later find her, together with Borgland and Helle, in Convoy OB 227, which originated in Liverpool on Oct. 11 and dispersed on the 15th, Annavore arriving Rimouski on Oct. 26. Again, see the link provided in the Voyage Record. According to "Våre falne", a series of 4 books naming Norwegians who died during the war, she lost a crew member that day. Stoker Bjørn Andersen had gone ashore and was killed when run over by a car(?) on Oct. 26. He's commemorated at the Stavern Memorial - see link at the end of this page. She headed back to the U.K. on Nov. 18 in Convoy HX 89, again joining from Sydney, C.B. Her destination is given as London, station 12 - according to Page 1, she stopped at Methil Roads on Dec. 5, proceeding to Leith the next day. At the beginning of 1941 she's listed in Convoy OB 269, which started out in Liverpool on Jan. 3 and dispersed on the 6th, Annavore arriving Louisburg independently on Jan. 21. (Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Bianca, Drammensfjord and Estrella). Annavore left Louisburg again the next day for Halifax, subsequently remaining there for a month, before she on Febr. 23 joined Convoy HX 111, but returned to Halifax; reason not given. At the time she had a cargo of lumber for Sharpness, and joined the slow Convoy SC 24 instead, arriving Sharpness on March 26. A month later, she's listed as bound for Pernambuco in Convoy OB 316, which originated in Liverpool on Apr. 28 and dispersed May 5, Annavore arriving her destination independently on May 28. Danio, Sydhav and Taranger are also named in this convoy. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 1. In Aug.-1941, we find her in station 122 of Convoy HX 145 from Halifax (Kos IX is named among the escorts), then in Oct.-1941 she's listed in station 24 of Convoy OS 9, voyaging from Oban to Cadiz with coke. According to Page 2, she arrived Cadiz on Oct. 27, having sailed from Oban on the 14th. Again, ref. link provided within the Voyage Record above, Fagersten, Fjord and Varanger are also listed (however, it looks like Varanger did not sail). From Cadiz, Annavore later proceeded to Huelva, then on to Gibraltar in order to join a convoy back to the U.K., but did not make it to her destination. More information on all the other Norwegian ships named here can be found via the alphabet index at the end of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index.
Annavore was 1 of 5 Norwegian ships in Convoy HG 76 which left Gibraltar on December 14-1941 - see also HMS Vanoc's report. She had a cargo of 4800 tons iron ore from Huelva for Aberdeen, via Oban for orders - according to Page 2, she had sailed from Huelva on Nov. 12, with arrival Gibraltar that same day, so she had remained in Gibraltar for quite a long time. Due to some aggressive attacks on previous Gibraltar convoys, HG 76 had been held back until the escort could be reinforced, with the result that a large number of destroyers and corvettes were attached to this convoy, plus the British aircraft carrier HMS Audacity with 4 American Martlet aircraft, which had been stationed in Gibraltar for the protection of important convoys. Escort chief, embarked in the sloop Stork, was Commander F. J. Walker, known as the best escort chief in the Royal Navy during the war. Several encounters with U-boats occurred on this voyage; the destroyer Stanley was sunk on Dec. 19 as was the British Ruckinge - then on the 21st Audacity was torpedoed by U-751 (Bigalk) and went down with all her aircraft, while U-567 (Endrass) hit Annavore in 43 55N 19 50W - she sank almost immediately. Only 4 survived, 34 died. After these events, the battle continued fiercly with the escort holding several U-boats at bay. U-567 was sunk with her entire crew (ref. external link at the end of this page). The enemy eventually withdrew after having pursued and attacked the convoy for 9 days. (I'll refrain from adding more details on this convoy battle, because there's plenty of info at the HG 76 related links provided at the end of this page). By then the convoy had also reached the protection zone of British aircraft, and celebrated Christmas at sea without any further disturbances, reaching its destination (Liverpool) on Dec. 30. This battle had shown that, given sufficient protection a convoy could get through with its valuable cargoes without heavy losses. In this case two merchant ships were lost, whereas several U-boats had gone down. On December 30-1941 it was decided to pull the U-boats out of the Gibraltar area and use them in areas where the convoy protection was weaker.
The maritime hearings were held in London on Jan. 6-1942 with Able Seaman Leonard Karlsen, Able Seaman Knut Johannessen, and Trimmer Torleif Værøy appearing.
Survivors & Casualties
* I believe Kåre Seines is identical to the Kåre Seines who had previously escaped from Norway with M/B Solveig.
External links related to the text on this page: HG-76, 16 - 23 Dec 1941 - Uboat.net's account. Captain F. Johnnie Walker, RN 1896 - 1944 - (Uboat.net) Operations Information for U-567 - The U-boat that sank Annavore. Back to Annavore on the "Ships starting with A" page. An earlier Annavore: Norway also had a ship by the name Annavore in the early 1900's, originally delivered in Sept.-1883 as Wally for F. Gordon & Co., London, 1855 gt. From 1910 as Annavore for Lundegaard & Stray, Farsund. Sold in 1915 to Andreas Simonsen, Haugesund, then in 1916 to D/S A/S Vard, Christiania. Collided with Spanish D/S Espana IV and sank near Bonanza, Spain on a voyage Sevilla-Amsterdam. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume I, and misc. others for cross checking details - ref My sources.
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