D/S Bergensfjord - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

By the end of the war Bergensfjord had carried 165,000 troops, sailed 300,000 miles, and had been at sea for 919 days.

Voyage Record
From Nov.-1940 to Dec.-1945:

(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database).

Follow the convoy links provided for more information. Or go to this external page, click on "Ship Search", then type "Bergensfjord" in the search field; this will bring up direct links to each convoy. 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).

Note that the WS convoys started out in the U.K., but Bergensfjord usually joined later on.
(See also this external page).

Errors may exist, and some voyages may be missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Nov. 9	New York City	Halifax	Nov. 11	Independent	–
	Dec. 9	Halifax	Liverpool	Dec. 17	Independent	Converted to personnel ship on arrival. See also narrative below
1941	Febr. 7	Liverpool	Freetown	March 2	WS 6A	2100 troops. See WS convoys via this external page
	March 8	Freetown	Durban	March 26	WS 6	See WS 6 at above link
	March 31	Durban	–	–	WS 6	2100 troops. Dispersed Apr. 15. Link above
	Apr. 16	Aden	Suez	Apr. 20	Independent	–
	May 1	Suez	Durban	May 16	SW 6	1700 POW's, 134 troops. See SW convoys at this external page
	May 27	Durban	Freetown	June 13	Independent	–
	June 20	Freetown	Durban	July 4	WS 9A	Convoy available at WS convoys (external link) See also WS convoys via this external page
	July 11	Durban	Capetown	July 14	Independent	–
	July 15	Capetown	Trinidad	Aug. 2	Independent	–
	Aug. 3	Trinidad	St. John, N.B.	Aug. 10	Independent	–
	Aug. 14	St. John, N.B.	Clyde	Aug. 22	Independent	–
	Sept. 19	Clyde	Iceland	Sept. 21	DS 12	Convoy available at DS convoys (external link)
	Sept. 23	Iceland	Clyde	Sept. 25	SD 12	Convoy available at SD convoys (external link)
	Oct. 1	Clyde	Iceland	Oct. 4	DS 12B	Convoy available at DS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 6	Iceland	Clyde	Oct. 8	SD 12B	Convoy available at SD convoys (external link)
	Oct. 16	Clyde	Iceland	Oct. 18	DS 14	Convoy available at DS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 20	Iceland	Clyde	Oct. 22	SD 14	Convoy available at SD convoys (external link)
	Oct. 30	Clyde	Iceland	Nov. 2	DS 15	Convoy available at DS convoys (external link)
	Nov. 3	Iceland	Clyde	Nov. 5	SD 15	Convoy available at SD convoys (external link)
	Dec. 23	Clyde	Halifax	Jan. 1-1942	CT 8	See CT convoys at this external page
1942	Jan. 9	Halifax	Clyde	Jan. 19	NA 1	See NA convoys at above link
	Febr. 16	Clyde	Freetown	March 1	WS 16	Convoy available at WS convoys (external link) See also WS convoys via this external page
	March 6	Freetown	Capetown	March 18	WS 16	See links above
	March 22	Capetown	–	–	WS 16	Convoy split Apr. 3. See links above
	Apr. 3	Detached from WS 16	–	–	WS 16A	Dispersed Apr. 6. See links above
	Apr. 6	Aden	Suez	Apr. 10	Independent	–
	Apr. 12	Suez	Durban	Apr. 23	Independent	370 troops and 1500 POW's
	Apr. 25	Durban	Capetown	Apr. 28	Independent	–
	May 13	Capetown	Freetown	May 23	Independent	–
	May 26	Freetown	Clyde	June 7	Independent	–
	June 21	Clyde	Freetown	July 2	WS 20	2559 troops. Convoy available at WS convoys (external link) See also WS convoys via this external page
	July 6	Freetown	Capetown	July 18	WS 20	Links above
	July 23	Capetown	–	–	WS 20	Convoy split Aug. 1. Links above
	Aug. 1	Detached from WS 20	–	–	WS 20A	Dispersed Aug. 6. Links above
	Aug. 9	Aden	Suez	Aug. 14	Independent	–
	Aug. 16	Suez	Aden	Aug. 20	Independent	–
	Aug. 20	Aden	Basra	Aug. 27	Independent	–
	Aug. 28	Basra	Durban	Sept. 13	Independent	–
	Sept. 19	Durban	Matadi	Sept. 28	Independent	–
	Sept. 29	Matadi	Lagos	Oct. 10	Independent	–
	Oct. 13	Lagos	Freetown	Oct. 18	Independent	–
	Oct. 23	Freetown	Bathurst	Oct. 24	Independent	–
	Oct. 26	Bathurst	Clyde	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 14	Clyde	Algiers	Nov. 23	KMF 3	Convoy available at KMF convoys (external link)
	Nov. 23	Algiers	Clyde	Dec. 3	MKF 3	Convoy available at MKF convoys (external link)
1943	Jan. 8	Clyde	Algiers	Jan. 17	KMF 7	Convoy available at KMF convoys (external link)
	Jan. 18	Algiers	Gibraltar	Jan. 20	MKF 7	Convoy available at MKF convoys (external link)
	Jan. 21	Gibraltar	Casablanca	Jan. 22	Independent	–
	Jan. 24	Casablanca	Dakar	Jan. 30	Independent	–
	Jan. 30	Dakar	Bathurst	Jan. 30	Independent	–
	Febr. 2	Bathurst	Freetown	Febr. 4	Independent	–
	Febr. 4	Freetown	Takoradi	Febr. 8	ST 55	Convoy available at ST convoys (external link)
	Febr. 12	Takoradi	Freetown	Febr. 15	Independent	–
	Febr. 20	Freetown	Lagos	Febr. 24	ST 56	See ST 56 at above link
	Febr. 25	Lagos	Takoradi	Febr. 26	Independent	–
	Febr. 27	Takoradi	Lagos	Febr. 28	Independent	–
	March 1	Lagos	Freetown	March 6	Escorted	–
	March 11	Freetown	Capetown	March 23	WS 27	Convoy available at WS convoys (external link) See also WS convoys via this external page
	March 26	Capetown	Kilindini	Apr. 4	WS 27	See links above
	Apr. 14	Aden	Suez	Apr. 19	Independent	–
	Apr. 21	Suez	Durban	May 5	Independent	–
	May 25	Durban	–	–	WS 29	Convoy split June 2. Links above
	June 2	Detached from WS 29	Aden	June 8	WS 29A	See WS 29A at above link
	June 8	Aden	Suez	June 12	Independent	–
	July 5	Port Said	Operation Husky (Sicily)	July 10	MWF 36	871 troops. See MWF convoys at this external page
	July 11	Operation Husky	Malta	July 12	Escorted	–
	July 14	Malta	Alexandria	July 17	Escorted	–
	July 20	Alexandria	Augusta	July 24	MWF 38	See MWF convoys at above link
	July 24	Operation Husky	Port Said	July 29	MEF 38	See MEF convoys at this external page
	July 29	Port Said	Suez	July 29	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Suez	Alexandria	Aug. 16	Independent	–
	Aug. 19	Alexandria	Algiers	Aug. 24	MKF 22	Alexandria to Gibraltar
	Aug. 26	Algiers	Clyde	Sept. 9	MKF 22 (link above)	–
	Sept. 15	Clyde	Philippeville	Sept. 24	KMF 24	Convoy available at KMF convoys (external link)
	Sept. 27	Philippeville	Gibraltar	Sept. 30	MKF 24	Philippeville to Gibraltar for West Africa
	Oct. 1	Gibraltar	Freetown	Oct. 7	RS 10	See RS convoys at this external page
	Oct. 14	Freetown	Gibraltar	Oct. 21	SR 6	See SR 6/1 at above link
	Oct. 23	Gibraltar	Port Said	Oct. 30	KMF 25	Gibraltar to Port Said for India. Convoy available at KMF convoys (external link)
	Nov. 3	Port Said	Aden	Nov. 9	Independent	–
	Nov. 10	Aden	Bombay	Nov. 17	AB 20F	See AB convoys at this external page
	Nov. 22	Bombay	Suez	Dec. 2	Independent	–
	Dec. 14	Suez	Port Said	Dec. 14	Independent	–
	Dec. 16	Port Said	Taranto	Dec. 21	XIF 6	See XIF convoys at above link
	Dec. 22	Taranto	Philippeville	Dec. 26	XIF 6A	Via Augusta Dec. 23/24. See XIF convoys at above link
	Dec. 26	Philippeville	Clyde	Jan. 4-1944	MKF 27	Joined at Philippeville
1944	Jan. 13	Clyde	New York City	Jan. 24	TU 6	112 days refit on arrival New York. See TU convoys at this external page
	July 18	New York City	Clyde	July 28	CU 32	Troops. 93 days refit on arrival
	Nov. 6	Clyde	Naples	Nov. 17	KMF 36	1038 troops. Convoy available at KMF convoys (external link)
	Nov. 20	Naples	Oran	Nov. 23	SNF 29	See SNF convoys at this external page
	Nov. 25	Oran	Toulon	Nov. ?	Independent	–
	Nov. 29	Toulon	Naples	–	Escorted	–
	Dec. 2	Naples	Taranto	Dec. 4	Independent	–
	Dec. 13	Taranto	Piræus	Dec. 16	Escorted	–
	Dec. 16	Piræus	Taranto	Dec. 18	Independent	–
	Dec. 19	Taranto	Port Said	Dec. 22	Independent	–
	Dec. 28	Port Said	Taranto	Dec. 31	Independent	–
1945	Jan. 1	Taranto	Piræus	Jan. 3	Escorted	–
	Jan. 4	Piræus	Volos	Jan. 5	Independent	–
	Jan. 5	Volos	Patras	Jan. 12	Independent	Must be another call here
	Jan. 12	Patras	Haifa	Jan. 14	Independent	–
	Jan. 16	Haifa	Taranto	Jan. 20	Independent	–
	Jan. 28	Taranto	Haifa	Jan. 31	Independent	–
	Jan. 31	Haifa	Port Said	Febr. 1	Independent	–
	Febr. 7	Port Said	Gibraltar	Febr. 13	Independent	–
	Febr. 14	Gibraltar	Clyde	Febr. 20	MKF 39	126 troops. Convoy will be added. In the meantime, available at MKF convoys (external link)
	March 10	Clyde	–	–	KMF 41	For Port Said. 1688 troops. Passed Gibraltar March 17. Convoy available at KMF convoys (external link)
	March 17	Gibraltar	Malta	March 19	Independent	–
	March 19	Malta	Port Said	March 22	Independent	–
	March 24	Port Said	Odessa	March 28	Independent	2653 Russian ex POW's
	Apr. 2	Odessa	Marseilles	Apr. 9	Independent	2388 Allied ex POW's
	Apr. 10	Marseilles	Odessa	Apr. 16	Independent	2482 Russian ex POW's
	Apr. 18	Odessa	Marseilles	Apr. 23	Independent	2362 Allied ex POW's
	Apr. 25	Marseilles	Odessa	Apr. 30	Independent	2407 Russian ex POW's
	May 3	Odessa	Marseilles	–	Independent	2264 Allied ex POW's
	May 11	Marseilles	Gibraltar	May 16	Independent	–
	May 17	Gibraltar	Clyde	May 22	MKF 44	1254 troops. Convoy available at MKF convoys (external link)
	May 27	Clyde	Leith	May 29	Independent	–
	May 31	Leith	Oslo, Norway	June 1	Independent	–
	June 3	Oslo	Stavanger, Norway	June 3	Independent	–
	June 4	Stavanger	Bergen, Norway	June 4	Independent	–
	June 6	Bergen	Stavanger	June 6	Independent	–
	June 10	Stavanger	Leith	June 11	Independent	–
	June 16	Leith	Trondheim, Norway	June 18	Independent	–
	June 19	Trondheim	Bergen	June 20	Independent	–
	June 20	Bergen	Oslo	June 21	Independent	–
	June 23	Oslo	Clyde	June 26	Independent	–
	July 15	Clyde	Toulon	Aug. 5*	Independent	–
	* This seems like an awfully long time to travel from Clyde to Toulon, or was there a Toulon other than in France?
	Aug. 5	Toulon	Port Said	Aug. 12	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Port Said	Colombo	Aug. 24	Independent	–
	Aug. 31	Colombo	Durban	Sept. 10	Independent	–
	Sept. 18	Durban	Kilindini	Oct. 5	Independent	–
	Oct. 10	Kilindini	Port Said	Oct. 19	Independent	–
	Oct. 19	Port Said	Freetown	Oct. 30	Independent	–
	Oct. 31	Freetown	Takoradi	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 5	Takoradi	Freetown	Nov. 11	Independent	–
	Nov. 11	Freetown	Gibraltar	Nov. 17	Independent	–
	Nov. 17	Gibraltar	Clyde	Nov. 22	Independent	–
	Dec. 16	Clyde	Oslo, Norway	Dec. 19	Independent	–
	Dec. 27	Oslo	Clyde	Dec. 30	Independent	–

Further to the above:

Bergensfjord was laid up on arrival New York from Oslo on April 15-1940 due to the invasion of Norway, but was requisitioned in Nov. by the Ministry of War Transport and converted to a troopship at Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was further fitted out for troop transport in Liverpool late 1940/early 1941, completed February 2-1941. She then proceeded to Glasgow where 1904 soldiers for the Middle East were embarked. Departed in convoy on Febr. 6 together with another 12 troop transports and about 30 cargo vessels (note that this number exceeds what is actually listed in Convoy WS 6A, which she joined for this voyage; ref link provided in the above table), escorted by 2 cruisers and 12 destroyers. The escort was reinforced on Febr. 15 by HMS Rodney, which in turn was replaced by HMS Ark Royal on the 17th (this was shortly after the incident with Borgestad, which had been sunk in the area through which the convoy was headed - hence the strong escort). Bergensfjord arrived Freetown on March 2. On March 22 she stopped briefly at Capetown, before heading to Durban, then on Apr. 15 she reached Aden, leaving shortly thereafter for Suez where the troops disembarked, arriving on Apr. 19. Bergensfjord's next group of "passengers" were 1700 Italian prisoners of war, guarded by 130 Indian soldiers. She departed Suez again on Apr. 30 and landed the prisoners in Durban 2 weeks later. (Info from "Nortraships flåte" - the dates here differ slightly from what is found in her Voyage Record).

On Febr. 27-1942 a burial service was conducted on board, for a man who had died of a bullet wound.

Bergensfjord was also used as troop transport in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, which commenced on Nov. 8-1942, and which freed my father from the labor camps (my page about Athos has a list of Norwegian ships taking part). She was used as such again for Operation Husky - the attack on Sicily, July 10-1943. While there (at "Beach George") several air attacks took place. Gunners on board at the time were: Leif S. Hansen, Linhardt Kristoffersen, Anker J. Pedersen, Gunnar Aas, Arne L. Horn, Yngvar Helliesen, Magne Olsen Langeland, Normann P. Holth, G. J. Andreasssen Thor Jacobsen, Olav A. Evensen, Haakon Kristoffersen, Arvid Larsen, Oluf Hansen Aasvistad, Sverre E. Karlsen, Johan B. Brun Strøm, Alf R. Janzon.

She witnessed the sinking of the British hospital ship Talamba, and took on board survivors. After Syracuse had been secured the rest of the Royal Navy personnel she still had on board disembarked and Bergensfjord departed for Malta without escort on July 11 (this conflicts with the info in her Voyage Record; Arnold Hague says she was escorted). The following month she shows up in Convoy MKF 22, voyaging from Alexandria to Gibraltar, later continuing to Clyde, with arrival Sept. 9. Later that month she made a voyage from Philippeville to Gibraltar in Convoy MKF 24 (having previously arrived Philippeville from Clyde with Convoy KMF 24 on Sept. 24), and Christmas that year was spent in Convoy MKF 27. For voyages in between those mentioned here, please refer to the above record.

In July-1944 she's listed as the only Norwegian ship in the fast New York-U.K. Convoy CU 32. Her destination is given as Clyde, and she was carrying troops. Follow the link for the names of other ships in this convoy.

Bergensfjord was in Glasgow for engine repairs for about 3 months after this voyage, then departed on Nov. 9-1944 with 1058 troops. According to "Nortraships flåte", her subsequent route was Naples-Oran-Marseilles-Naples-Taranto-Piræus-Taranto-Port Said-Taranto-Piræus-Volo-Piræus-Patras-Haifa-Port Said-Gibraltar-Glasgow.

In February 1946 she was chartered for one voyage to carry GI brides from Europe to the U.S., then returned to Den Norske Amerikalinje. There's an interesting article in the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren" No. 4/1979, written by Frithjof Utne, former captain of Leka. It details a full blown mutiny on board in May-1946 when Bergensfjord was transporting about 1400 coloured soldiers from Glasgow to Kingston, Jamaica, along with about 200 civilian passengers, mostly women and children. The soldiers were armed with knives, and the situation was quite critical for a while, but they eventually surrendered, though had inflicted several injuries. Help later arrived from Kingston in the shape of the corvette HMS Ballinderry, and on arrival Kingston the soldiers were interned. Captain at that time was Leif Hansen.

She was sold in Aug.-1946 to Panamanian Lines Inc. (Fratelli Cosulich, Trieste managers), Panama and renamed Argentina for emigrant traffic from Italy to South America. Owners restyled Mediterranean Lines Inc., Panama in 1949 (same managers). Sold to Home Lines Inc., Panama in 1952, sold again in 1953 to Zim Israel Navigation Co. Ltd., Israel and renamed Jerusalem for Israel-New York service. Renamed Aliya for Israel-Marseilles service in 1957. Arrived at La Spezia on August 13-1959 for breaking up.

Related external links:
A whole web site could be made about this ship alone, so I'll just limit myself to the above facts. Here's one that might be of more help:
Norway Heritage Project - The site has a section on NAL, and also has a postcard picture of Bergensfjord, as well as several other pictures.

Lots of pictures of Bergensfjord, Stavangerfjord, Oslofjord and other NAL ships through the years. The main page is entitled Simplon Postcards and has postcard pictures of a heap of other companies around the world, mostly post war, but also some that go further back.

Lillesand Sjømannsforening's website (Lillesand Seamen's Association) also has a picture of this ship, along with pictures of several other Norwegian ships.