M/S Belpareil
Updated March 24-2011

To Belpareil on the "Ships starting with B" page.


Source: Bjørn Milde's postcard collection


Source: Bjørn Milde's postcard collection


Source: Markus Berger.

For info, Roger Griffiths, England, has told me that the Tenby Museum in SW Wales has a story and photographs of Belpareil aground off Caldy Island on Febr. 2-1940 (the museum also has a website - external link). See also Page 1 of the archive documents.

Notes:

Belpareil is said to have run aground at Caldy Island on Febr. 2-1940; I have no further details on this incident, but as mentioned further up on this page, I've been told that Tenby Museum in SW Wales has a story and photographs of Belpareil at that time - according to Page 1 of the archive documents, she had come from Antwerp. A. Hague says she was raised on Apr. 20, and as can be seen, she subsequently spent quite a long time in Swansea, and later also in Liverpool, from June 13-1940 to Apr. 26-1941, when she proceeded to Glasgow, where she also had a long stay. A. Hague has now included her, with a note saying "probably this convoy", in Convoy OB 329, which originated in Liverpool on May 31 and dispersed June 5. I've linked directly to A. Hague's listing within the Voyage Record above. Bjerka, Bruse Jarl, Christian Krohg (sunk - follow the link for details), Finnanger, Garonne, O. A. Knudsen, Sirehei (returned) and Veni are also listed. Belpareil arrived St. Michaels on June 7, having started out from Clyde May 31.

Page 1 has more 1941 voyages and some 1942 voyages, while the rest are shown on Page 2, which also lists some 1943 voyages - convoy information for some of them can be found in the Voyage Record above. (It'll be noticed, that she had occasional long stays in port).

In Aug-1943, she made a voyage from Alexandria to Port Said with Convoy KMS 22, scroll down to the second table on my page for this convoy. She arrived Port Said on Aug. 20, having sailed from Alexandria the day before. Her voyages in this period are shown on Page 3 (as can be seen, she had a long stay in Bombay later that year). Again, convoy info for some of her subsequent voyages can be found in the table above.

Convoy GUS 33, in which Belpareil took part, had originated in Port Said on March 5-1944 and had Hampton Roads as its final destination, but many ships had other destinations and left the convoy, while others joined along the way. The original convoy document states that Belpareil parted company for Bone on March 13, but there's no mention in this document of when she joined, nor of her port of origin. However, going back to Page 3, we learn that she had left Malta on March 11 and arrived Bizerta on the 13th - A. Hague indicates she had become a straggler. She now appears in Convoy MKS 43 on March 18, voyage Bizerta to Bone, arriving Bone that same day, and the following month we find her in Convoy KMS 46, voyage Malta to Port Said, with arrival Apr. 16 (having left Malta Apr. 10) - see ships in all MKS convoys and ships in all KMS convoys (both convoys will later be added to their own, individual pages).

Page 4 also has some 1944 voyages (another long stay in Bombay is shown) as well as 1945 voyages; these continue on Page 5 (showing a long stay in New York at the beginning of 1946).

More information on all the Norwegian ships mentioned here can be found via the alphabet index at the end of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index.

POST WAR:

Owned by Bulkships Ltd. (Christen Smith Shipping Co., Oslo), Panama from Febr.-1960. Sold in 1965 to New Zealand Carriers Inc. (Wah Kwong & Co., Hong Kong), Panama and renamed New Zealand Venture. Sold again in 1970 to Yugoslavia and renamed Buga for Losinjska Providba OOUR Brodarstov, Rijeka and was broken up in Yugoslavia in 1984, possibly 1985.

Back to Belpareil on the "Ships starting with B" page.