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D/S Benwood To Benwood on the "Ships starting with B" page. Manager: Skjeldbred's Rederi A/S, Kristiansand Built by Craig, Taylor & Co., Ltd., Stockton-on-Tees in 1910. Captain: Thorbjørn Skjeldbred.
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. Or go to this external page, click on "Ship Search", then type "Benwood" in the search field; direct links to each convoy will come up. Please be aware that some of these convoys may be incomplete - compare A. Hague's numbers to TDS numbers (TDS = number of ships according to Trade Division Signal). Errors may exist, and some voyages may be missing.
Benwood, with a cargo of grain for Falmouth, can be found in station 45 of the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 39 in Apr./May-1940. In June she shows up, together with the Norwegian Avance I, Fernbank, Ledaal, Nea, Svint and Topdalsfjord, in Convoy OA 168, which left Southend on June 15-1940 and joined up with Convoy OB 168 from Liverpool 2 days later, the combined convoy forming the Gibraltar bound Convoy OG 34*, which arrived there on June 24. Benwood, however, was only bound for Barry on that occasion, but she later joined Convoy OB 172, leaving Liverpool on June 22, dispersed on the 26th, and this time she was bound for Canada, cargo of coal; the Norwegian Solfonn, bound for Aruba, is also listed in this convoy. At the end of the following month Benwood is listed as bound for London with lumber in the Sydney, C.B. section of Convoy HX 62 (she's not included on the A 1 form, but scroll down to the Advance Sailing Telegram for this convoy). In Sept. that year she appears in Convoy OA 214, which left Methil on Sept. 14 and dispersed on the 17th, Benwood arriving Wabana independently on Sept. 29. Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Bruse and Harpefjell, both bound for Clyde only (ref. external links provided below and within the above table). The following month we find her, with a cargo of iron ore for Middlesbrough, in station 25 of the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 79, having joined from Sydney, C.B. (Cape Breton). The Norwegian Sandanger, Egda, Triton, Thyra, Høyanger and Ravnefjell also sailed in this convoy, which had originated in Halifax on Oct. 8 and arrived Liverpool on Oct 23 with the loss of 12 ships, but no Norwegian ships were sunk. My page about HX 79 has more details, as does the external link below. At the end of March-1941 Benwood is listed as bound for Takoradi in Convoy OB 303, which originated in Liverpool on March 28 and dispersed on Apr. 3, Benwood arriving Takoradi independently on Apr. 26. (This convoy also included other Norwegian ships, namely Evviva, Facto, Leikanger, and Troubadour). She's now mentioned in connction with Convoy SL 73 later that month (left Freetown for the U.K. on Apr. 27), but she instead joined Convoy SL 75, which left Freetown on May 17-1941 and arrived Liverpool on June 13. Towards the end of July that same year she joined Convoy OB 349, departing Liverpool on July 21-1941, dispersed Aug. 1 (again, see the external links provided; as will be seen, the Norwegian Gallia, Gard, Lise, Thode Fagelund, Tore Jarl and Vav are also included). Benwood's destination is given as Wabana on that occasion, where she arrived on Aug. 4, then headed back to the U.K. shortly thereafter in Convoy HX 143 (station 83), sailing in company with the Norwegian Thorshavn, Mosli, Andrea Brøvig, Katy, Ravnefjell, Carmelfjell, Salamis, Primero, Belinda and an unnamed tanker, possibly/probably Petter. This convoy had originated in Halifax on Aug. 5-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 20th, but Benwood joined from Wabana, and stopped at Belfast Lough before proceeding to her destination with Convoy BB 68, arriving Swansea on Aug. 28. She was on a voyage from Newport to Gibraltar in Convoy OG 74*, when she on Sept. 12-1941, the day after she had left Milford Haven, was involved in a collision with the British Harperley - no further details are available on this incident and damages to Harperley are not known, but she obviously did not sink, because she was in Convoy ONS 5 in May-1943 when she was sunk; further info on this can be found on my page about this convoy. As for OG 74, this convoy suffered losses later on in the passage. 5 ships were torpedoed (British Baltallinn, Lissa, Rhineland, Runa and Empire Moat), 1 was sunk by aircraft (Walmer Castle), and 1 was lost to a collision (City of Waterford, collision with the Dutch Thames). Follow the instructions at the last external link below for more on the torpedoed ships. (The Norwegian Ruth I was also in Convoy OG 74). Benwood, which had returned to port after the collision, shows up again in the next convoy, OG 75* (left Milford Haven on Sept. 26, arrived Gibraltar on Oct. 13). The only other Norwegian ship listed in this convoy is Ingerfire. In Dec. that same year Benwood sailed in the Gibraltar-U.K. Convoy HG 76, in which Annavore was sunk. In Febr.-1942 Benwood, bound for Tampa, is listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 70, which originated in Liverpool on Febr. 25, dispersed on March 15, Benwood arriving Tampa on the 25th, and this proved to be her last Atlantic crossing. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. As will be seen, the Norwegian Brimanger and Ingerto are also included.
Related external links: See also this chronological list of HX 79, 19 Oct, 1940 - 20 Oct, 1940 Allied ships hit by U-boats - By entering the names of the 5 ships torpedoed in OG 74, more details on the attacks are available.
Benwood was on a voyage from Port Tampa to Liverpool via Halifax (she was scheduled to join the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 81) with a cargo of phosphate rock when she collided with the American tanker Robert C. Tuttle northeast of Molasses Reef, Florida Keys on April 9-1942. The tanker was seen coming towards them on the starboard side on a parallel course, and evasive maneuvers to port were attempted while giving 2 short blasts with the whistle. The tanker altered course to starboard and returned the signal with a blast from her own whistle. There was no room for Benwood to swing in order to get clear, and realizing a collision could not be avoided the officer on duty signalled full ahead and rang the alarm bell to get the crew on deck. The colliding ship struck them in the bow. The whole foc'sle head was smashed in and water was flowing into No. 1 Hold. The forepart started to sink, and about an hour later orders were given to abandon ship, whereupon she grounded immediately. The captain's and the the 2nd mate's lifeboats remained by the wreck and attempts were made to reboard at dawn, but in the heavy sea this proved to be impossible. By this time only the midship section and the after deck were partly above water. About noon the captain hired a craft and took 6 men with him back to the ship, and this time they succeeded in boarding, the seas having calmed down somewhat. That evening the salvage vessel Willet arrived on the scene to investigate, but salvage attempts were abandoned the following afternoon. "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", by Roger W. Jordan adds she was beached on Alligator Reef, but slid off and sank on the 14th. Total loss. Robert C. Tuttle, meanwhile, must have survived the collision, because according to Robert Browning's "U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II", she was damaged off Virginia Beach later that year (June 15) after having struck a mine when in Convoy KN 109 (external link). She was salvaged, but considered a total loss. Her captain's name is given as Martin Johansen, which sounds very Norwegian, though could also be Danish. Back to Benwood on the "Ships starting with B" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Vol I, the Norwegian Maritime Museum, E-mails from Tony Cooper, England - and misc. other as named within the above text - ref My sources.
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