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M/T Belita To Belita on the "Ships starting with B" page. Owner: Skibs-A/S Oiltank Built in Gothenburg 1933. Captain: Alexander Schach.
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. Errors may exist, and some voyages may be missing.
Belita is listed in Convoy OB 175 in June-1940. Her destination is given as Caripito (convoy left Liverpool June 27, dispersed on the 30th). She was scheduled to return to the U.K. with Convoy HX 61 (Bermuda portion) the following month, but did not sail to the U.K. There's a note in the document for this convoy saying "To Halifax to await orders". She also appears to have been scheduled for HX 66 in the middle of Aug., but is crossed out on the form - follow links for convoy details (the Norwegian Norne was sunk). Belita subsequently joined the next convoy HX 67. As will be seen, only the Bermuda portion is available on my own page for this convoy, but see the external link provided within the above Voyage Record, where Belita is included. This convoy left Halifax on Aug. 20-1940 and arrived Liverpool on Sept. 4. Later that month she's listed as bound for Abadan in Convoy OB 214, which departed Liverpool on Sept. 15, dispersed on the 18th. The Norwegian Leiesten and Sveve are also included - again, see the external link provided. Belita is also listed in Convoy SL 65, which left Freetown on Febr. 10-1941 and arrived Liverpool on March 8. The Norwegian Belinda, Bur, Fernlane, Morgenen, Ørnefjell and Polartank are also listed. Belita also shows up in Convoy OB 308, which originated in Liverpool on Apr. 6-1941 and dispersed on the 13th; she was bound for New York on that occasion, with arrival there on Apr. 26. In June-1941 we find her in station 53 of Convoy HX 132, bound for Liverpool with fuel oil, and the following month she joined Convoy OB 345; departure Liverpool July 11, arrival Halifax July 26 - Belita, however, detached for Curacao, where she arrived independently on Aug. 2. This convoy had several Norwegian ships, as will be seen by following the link provided in the above table. Belita departed Trincomalee (Ceylon) on Febr. 23-1942, together with D/S Woolgar, initially bound for the straits of Makassar. Belita was redirected to the Coco Islands, but it seems the order did not reach her, and due to incoming reports about the Japanese advances the captain decided to take her to Fremantle as no further instructions were forthcoming. (Woolgar did not receive news of the fall of Java, and proceeded to Tjilatjap, was bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft - follow link to Woolgar for more details). Later that year, Belita was put into service as Fleet Oiler in the Indian Ocean. In Oct.-1942 she's listed as the only Norwegian ship in the Bandar Abbas-Bombay Convoy PB 4, which left Bandar Abbas on Oct. 3 and arrived Bombay Oct. 9; however, Belita had detached from the convoy to proceed to Mombasa, where she arrived on the 15th. Related external links:
In Nov.-1942 she was in Abadan, having arrived there from Mombasa on Nov. 18. She left again on Nov. 20 with a cargo of 9000 fuel oil for Mombasa, via Clarence Strait for convoy, with arrival the latter on Nov. 22, then departed on Nov. 27 in convoy. On the 29th she was ordered to leave the convoy (Convoy PA 12, external link), then continued according to the Admiralty's instructions until midnight, Dec. 2, at which time her position was approx. 12 15N 55 40E. At this time she altered her course, and was torpedoed, port(?) side amidships by the Japanese submarine I-29 (Izu) early in the morning of December 3-1942 in position 11 29N 55 00E. The entire deck to tank No. 14 on the starboard side blew up, and the upper bridge and all wires were destroyed. Large pieces of iron were flung high into the air and fell down on the bridge amidships. She was covered in oil, making it almost impossible to move around. No radio signal could be sent out because the radio was ruined by oil and water. She had a heavy list to port, so much so they were afraid she would capsize as well as break in 2, so the crew took to the lifeboats as quickly as they could. All 30 had gotten in 2 lifeboats and clear of the ship before the submarine came to the surface and Belita was shelled and set on fire by about 20 shells. About an hour and a half after the torpedo had struck both lifeboats left the scene, the motorboat towing the other until Dec. 4 when they ran out of petrol, so had to start rowing. At that time they were close to Brothers Isles, and headed to South Brothers to find fresh water, then set course for the mainland, one of the boats landing near a village by the name of Token on Dec. 9, the other near Alula that same afternoon. The locals in both places were very helpful. In the afternoon of Dec. 11 a boat* arrived to take the men in the captain's boat to Alula, where they arrived in the evening of the 13th. On the 20th, 2 British minesweepers took them to Aden. Upon arrival there late in the afternoon of the next day they were taken care of by the Norwegian Consul. Except for the captain, all the officers and engineers were later sent to Bombay.
The maritime hearings were held in Suez on Febr. 2-1943 with Captain Schach (in his cabin when the ship was torpedoed), Mechanic W. Ofsbo, (on duty in the engine room), Ordinary Seaman Jones (at the wheel), and Ordinary Seaman O'Handly appearing. Crew List:
Related external links: The Australian War Memorial has a picture of this ship. It can be found by running a search through their collection search page, and the photo can be purchased. Back to Belita on the "Ships starting with B" page. I have a picture of a lovely painting of a post war Belita, painted by Jan Goedhart, Holland who sailed on her. If anyone would like to have this picture, please contact me through the address provided at the end of this page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I (Norwegian Maritime Museum), and misc. others for cross checking info. - ref My sources.
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