D/S Bestum
Updated May 4-2008

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

Voyage Record From Aug.-1940 to May-1945:

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

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. The links in bold text in the "Convoy" column go to convoys that are available on my own site.

Going to this external page and clicking on "Ship Search", typing "Bestum" in the search field, will provide direct links to each convoy that is noted as external in the last column below. (Please be aware that some of these may be incomplete - compare A. Hague's numbers to TDS numbers = number of ships according to Trade Division Signal).

Errors may exist, and several voyages appear to be missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Aug. 29	Liverpool	Clyde	Aug. 30	OB 205	For Clyde. Convoy available at OB convoys (external link)
	Sept. 5	Clyde	Reykjavik	Sept. 9	BAS 3	See BAS convoys via this external page
	Oct. 23	Reykjavik	Sydney, C.B.	Oct. 31	–	–
	Nov. 9	Sydney, C.B.	Newcastle, N.B.	Nov. 10	Independent	–
	Nov. 23	Newcastle N.B.	Sydney, C.B.	Nov. 26	Independent	–
	Nov. 30	Sydney, C.B.	Clyde	Dec. 15	SC 14	–
1941	Jan. 13	Clyde	Methil	Jan. 17	WN 69	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	Jan. 18	Methil	Southend	Jan. 20	FS 391	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Jan. 29	Methil	Southend	Jan. 31	FS 399	See FS 399 at above link
	Febr. 8	Methil	Southend	Febr. 10	FS 407	Probably this convoy. See FS 407 at above link
	Febr. 11	Southend	Tyne	Febr. 13	FN 405	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Apr. 4	Tyne	Blyth	Apr. 4	Independent	–
	Apr. 11	Blyth	Loch Ewe	Apr. 14	EC 5	Convoy available at EC convoys (external link)
	Apr. 16	Loch Ewe	Reykjavik	Apr. 20	–	–
	Apr. 26	Reykjavik	Louisburg	May 7	–	–
	May 10	Louisburg	Campbellton	May 12	Independent	–
	May 23	Campbellton	Sydney, C.B.	May 26	Independent	–
	June 1	Sydney, C.B.	Loch Ewe	June 21	SC 33	–
	June 21	Loch Ewe	Methil	June 23	WN 143	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	June 27	Methil	Southend	June 29	FS 527	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	July 5	Southend	Sunderland	July 7	EC 42	Convoy available at EC convoys (external link)
	July 22	Sunderland	Loch Ewe	July 24	EC 48	See EC 48 at above link
	July 26 (28?)	Clyde (Loch Ewe?)	–	–	ON 1	For Lewisport. Dispersed in 42 29N 45 45W Aug. 9.
	Aug. 9	Dispersed from ON 1	Lewisport	Aug. 10	Independent	–
	Aug. 18	Lewisport	Botwood	Aug. 19	Independent	–
	Aug. 25	Botwood	St. John's, N.F.	Aug. 27	Independent	–
	Aug. 31	St. John's, N.F.	Reykjavik	Sept. 14	SC 42	Arrived Reykjavik (see narrative below)
	Sept. 18	Reykjavik	Loch Ewe	Sept. 22	Independent	–
	Sept. 26	Loch Ewe	Methil	Sept. 29	WN 185	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 30	Methil	Rochester	Oct. 3	FS 608	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 9	Rochester	Southend	Oct. 10	Independent	–
	Oct. 11	Southend	Tyne	Oct. 13	EC 84	Convoy available at EC convoys (external link)
	Oct. 21	Methil	Southend	Oct. 23	FS 626	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 27	Southend	Tyne	Oct. 30	FN 538	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 3	Tyne	Southend	Nov. 4	FS 637	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Nov. 11	Southend	Tyne	Nov. 13	FN 549	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 19	Methil	–	–	FS 651	Damaged by aircraft, under salvage. See narrative below. Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Dec. 2	Aground off Harwich	Ipswich	Dec. 3	–	To discharge cargo & initial repairs.
	Dec. 11	Ipswich	Gravesend	Dec. 13	–	For full repairs.
1942	Febr. 5	Southend	Tyne	Febr. 7	FN 624	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Febr. 11	Tyne	Southend	Febr. 13	FS 723	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 17	Southend	Sunderland	Febr. 19	FN 634	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Febr. 21	Sunderland	Southend	Febr. 23	FS 732	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 28	Southend	Methil	March 2	FN 643	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	March 8	Methil	Southend	March 10	FS 745	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	March 14	Southend	Blyth	March 16	FN 655	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	March 21	Blyth	Southend	March 23	FS 756	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	March 28	Southend	Blyth	March 30	FN 667	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Apr. 1	Blyth	Southend	Apr. 3	FS 765	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 6	Southend	Tyne	Apr. 8	FN 675	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Apr. 22	Tyne	Southend	Apr. 24	FS 783	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	May 2	Southend	Methil	May 4	FN 697	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	May 8	Methil	Tyne	May 9	FS 797	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	May 15	Tyne	Southend	May 17	FS 803	See FS 803 at above link
	May 21	Southend	Methil	May 23	FN 714	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	July 6	Tyne	Blyth	July 6	–	–
	July 9	Blyth	Methil	July 11	FN 756	See FN 756 at above link
	July 13	Methil	Loch Ewe	July 15	EN 110	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	July 16	Loch Ewe	Reykjavik	July 24	UR 33	Convoy available at UR convoys (external link)
	Aug. 17	Reykjavik	Loch Ewe	Aug. 21	RU 36	–
	Aug. 25	Loch Ewe	Methil	Aug. 27	WN 327	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	Aug. 29	Methil	Southend	Aug. 31	FS 894	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Sept. 3	Southend	Tyne	Sept. 5	FN 804	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 21	Tyne	Blyth	Sept. 21	–	–
	Sept. 26	Blyth	Southend	Sept. 28	FS 918	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 5	Southend	Hartlepool	Oct. 7	FN 831	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Oct. 9	Hartlepool	Southend	Oct. 11	FS 929	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 15	Southend	Tyne	Oct. 17	FN 840	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Oct. 21	Tyne	Southend	Oct. 23	FS 939	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 29	Southend	Tyne	Oct. 31	FN 852	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 2	Tyne	Southend	Nov. 4	FS 950	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Nov. 9	Southend	Tyne	Nov. 11	FN 861	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 13	Tyne	Humber	Nov. 15	FS 959	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Nov. 17	Humber	Southend	Nov. 18	FS 962	See FS 962 at above link
	Nov. 23	Southend	Tyne	Nov. 25	FN 873	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 28	Tyne	Southend	Nov. 30	FS 972	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Dec. 3	Southend	Tyne	Dec. 5	FN 882	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Dec. 11	Tyne	Southend	Dec. 13	FS 983	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Dec. 19	Southend	Southend	Dec. 19	FN 895	Put Back. Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Dec. 26	Southend	Tyne	Dec. 28	FN 901	See FN 901 at above link
1943	Jan. 2	Tyne	Southend	Jan. 4	FS 1002	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Jan. 18	Southend	Tyne	Jan. 20	FN 921	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Jan. 28	Tyne	Southend	Jan. 30	FS 1024	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 2	Southend	Tyne	Febr. 3	FN 934	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Febr. 10	Tyne	Southend	Febr. 12	FS 1035	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 15	Southend	Tyne	Febr. 17	FN 945	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Febr. 20	Tyne	Southend	Febr. 22	FS 1044	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 27	Southend	Tyne	March 1	FN 955	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	March 6	Tyne	Southend	March 8	FS 1056	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	March 11	Southend	Tyne	March 13	FN 966	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	March 17	Tyne	Southend	March 19	FS 1065	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	March 24	Southend	Tyne	March 26	FN 977	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	March 31	Tyne	Southend	Apr. 2	FS 1077	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 6	Southend	Harwich	Apr. 8	FN 988	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Apr. 8	Harwich	Methil	Apr. 10	FN 990	See FN 990 at above link
	Apr. 18	Methil	Clyde	Apr. 20	EN 218	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	Apr. 20	Loch Ewe	Belfast	Apr. 22	Independent	–
	Apr. 28	Belfast	Methil Roads	May 1	–	–
	May 2	Methil	Sunderland	May 3	FS 1105	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	June 14	Sunderland	Tyne	June 14	–	–
	June 18	Tyne	Methil	June 18	FN 1049	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	June 20	Methil	Loch Ewe	June 22	EN 245	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	June 24	Loch Ewe	Reykjavik	June 28	UR 80	Convoy available at UR convoys (external link)
	July 18	Reykjavik	Loch Ewe	July 22	RU 82	–
	July 22	Loch Ewe	Liverpool	July 23	Independent	–
	July 30	Liverpool	Barry	July 31	Independent	–
	Aug. 4	Barry	Yarmouth Roads	Aug. 6	WP 380	Convoy available at WP convoys (external link)
	Aug. 7	St Helens Roads	Southend	Aug. 8	CE 197	Convoy available at CE convoys (external link)
	Aug. 18	Southend	Tyne	Aug. 20	FN 1103	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Aug. 22	Tyne	Hartlepool	Aug. 22	FS 1201	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Aug. 27	Hartlepool	Southend	Aug. 29	FS 1205	See FS 1205 at above link
	Sept. 1	Southend	Blyth	Sept. 2	FN 1115	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 10	Blyth	Southend	Sept. 12	FS 1217	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Sept. 17	Southend	Hull	Sept. 18	FN 1128A	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 29	Hull	Southend	Sept. 30	FS 1232	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 7	Southend	Tyne	Oct. 8	FN 1146	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Oct. 13	Tyne	Southend	Oct. 15	FS 1245	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 21	Southend	Tyne	Oct. 22	FN 1158	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 1	Tyne	Southend	Nov. 3	FS 1262	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Nov. 10	Southend	Tyne	Nov. 12	FN 1175	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 13	Tyne	Southend	Nov. 15	FS 1272	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Nov. 25	Southend	Tyne	Nov. 27	FN 1188	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 28	Tyne	Southend	Nov. 30	FS 1285	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Dec. 12	Southend	Tyne	Dec. 14	FN 1203	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Dec. 17	Tyne	Southend	Dec. 19	FS 1303	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Dec. 22	Southend	Tyne	Dec. 24	FN 1213	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Dec. 26	Tyne	Southend	Dec. 28	FS 1312	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
1944	Jan. 2	Southend	Sunderland	Jan. 3	FN 1224	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Jan. 8	Sunderland	Southend	Jan. 9	FS 1324	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Jan. 14	Southend	Tyne	Jan. 15	FN 1236	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Jan. 29	Tyne	Southend	Jan. 31	FS 1346	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 6	Southend	Sunderland	Febr. 8	FN 1259	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Febr. 11	Sunderland	Southend	Febr. 13	FS 1359	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 16	Southend	Middlesbrough	Febr. 18	FN 1269	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Febr. 23	Middlesbrough	Methil	Febr. 24	FN 1275	See FN 1275 at above link
	Febr. 24	Methil	Avonmouth	Febr. 28	EN 350	Independent from off Loch Ewe. Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	March 7	Avonmouth	Swansea	March 8	Independent	–
	March 11	Swansea	Yarmouth Roads	March 13	WP 490	Convoy available at WP convoys (external link)
	March 15	St Helens Roads	Southend	March 16	CE 252	Convoy available at CE convoys (external link)
	Apr. 5	Southend	Tyne	Apr. 6	FN 1318	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Apr. 21	Tyne	Southend	Apr. 23	FS 1429	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 23	Southend	Southampton	Apr. 25	CW 264	Convoy available at CW convoys (external link)
	Apr. 30	Sourthampton Water	Liverpool	May 2	PW 514	Independent from off Milford Haven. See PW convoys via this external page
	May 9	Liverpool	Methil Roads	May 12	–	–
	May 13	Methil	Southend	May 15	FS 1451	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	May 20	Southend	Hull	May 21	FN 1363	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	May 24	Hull	Southend	May 26	FS 1462	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	May 29	Southend	Hull	May 31	FN 1372	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	June 6	Hull	Southend	June 8	FS 1475	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	June 9	Southend	Southampton	June 12	ETC 5	Convoy available at ETC convoys (external link)
	June 25	Southampton	Southend	June 26	FTC 17	Convoy available at FTC convoys (external link)
	June 27	Southend	Sunderland	June 28	FN 1401	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	July 3	Sunderland	Southend	July 5	FS 1502	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	July 11	Southend	Tyne	July 13	FN 1415	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	July 21	Tyne	Southend	July 23	FS 1520	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	July 26	Southend	Tyne	July 27	FN 1430	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	July 29	Tyne	Southend	July 31	FS 1528	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Aug. 5	Southend	Tyne	Aug. 7	FN 1440	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 4	Tyne	Southend	Sept. 6	FS 1565	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Sept. 9	Southend	Tyne	Sept. 10	FN 1475	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 22	Methil	Southend	Sept. 24	FS 1583	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Sept. 30	Southend	Hull	Oct. 2	FN 1496	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Oct. 5	Hull	Southend	Oct. 6	FS 1595	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 7	Southend	Southampton	Oct. 9	ETC 121	Convoy available at ETC convoys (external link)
	Oct. 14	St. Helens Roads	Southend	Oct. 15	MTC 5	See MTC convoys via this external page
	Oct. 16	Southend	Hull	Oct. 17	FN 1512	Next reported movement May 24-1945. Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
1945	May 25	Spurn Head, ex Hull	Southend	May 26	FS 1812	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)

Further to the above:

(Note that only a few of her voyages are discussed here).

Together with the Norwegian Evanger, Olaf Fostenes, Solhavn, and Thorøy, Bestum is listed in Convoy OB 205, which left Liverpool on Aug. 29-1940 and dispersed the next day. She was only bound for Clyde on that occasion, arriving there on Aug. 30, later travelling to Iceland early the following month - see the external convoy links provided in the above table. In Oct.-1940 she's said to have made a voyage from Iceland to Sydney, C.B., but no convoy is given for this voyage. She was scheduled to return with the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 13, at the end of Nov. but instead joined the next convoy, SC 14, cargo of lumber for London. Follow the links for more info on these SC convoys; several Norwegian ships are mentioned in them.

Early in June-1941 we find her, again with a cargo of lumber for London, in Convoy SC 33, and the following month she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 1, which originated in Liverpool on July 26-1941 with several Norwegian ships, as will be seen by following the link. Her destination is given as Lewisport, where she arrived independently on Aug. 10, the convoy having dispersed the day before. She returned at the end of that month with Convoy SC 42, which was attacked by several U-boats. Bestum, with a cargo of pulpwood, became a straggler and made it safely to Iceland on her own; according to Arnold Hague she arrived Reykjavik on Sept. 14. My page about SC 42 has some details on this battle and the names of ships sunk, as well as the names of all the ships in the convoy, many of which were Norwegian. See also the external link at the end of this page.

* Jürgen Rohwer's "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two" suggests that Bestum was damaged by U-433 (Ey) on Sept. 11, in 63N 37W, but "Nortraships flåte" says she made it safely to Iceland on her own, as mentioned. This is confirmed to a certain extent by what Jan-Olof, Sweden has told me about the Swedish ship Garm which was sunk, probably by U-432 (Schultze) in this convoy on Sept. 11, position 63 02N 37 51W, when on a voyage from Sydney N. S. for Kings Lynn. The men were shortly thereafter rescued from their lifeboats by Bestum and taken to Reykjavik three days later, so if she had been damaged at all, it could not have been serious.

Bestum had left Tyne on Nov. 19-1941 with 3160 tons of coal for London in convoy (see Convoy FS 651 - external link). In the afternoon of the 21st she ran aground near Shipwash in foggy weather. A drifter attempted to refloat her in the early morning hours of the following day but without success. At 07:30 the tug Kenia (salvage vessel stationed at Harwich) arrived on the scene and managed to refloat her that afternoon. By then the rest of the convoy had continued on, so Bestum was ordered to proceed to Harwich, following behind the drifter which had remained close by. That afternoon, when just outside Harwich, a pilot came on board and a few minutes later she was attacked by a German Do 217 aircraft from KG 2, dropping 5 bombs from the port side.

The 1st bomb appears to have exploded alongside her on the port side, the 2nd passed through the port side and ended up in the coal cargo in No. 2 hold without exploding (it was later removed by a Naval disposal party). The 3rd bomb struck the deck between the forward part of the bridge and No. 2 hatch, then skid across the deck and out through the deck rising plate on the starboard side before it exploded on the outside. The 4th bomb hit the starboard side of the navigation bridge and went out between the bridge and the bridge deck, falling close by the captain who fell through the hole in the deck and injured his foot. The 5th bomb was a near miss on the starboard side. She had a crew of 25 at the time, including 4 British gunners, no casualties.

Bestum eventually grounded on the southern end of the Cork Spit about 3 miles from Harwich. The crew were brought ashore in the pilot boat and most of them continued to London, except for the 1st mate, the chief engineer and the steward. After about a week she was refloated again and towed to Harwich for repairs.

Bestum was scheduled for Convoy RU 35 from Reykjavik to the U.K. in Aug.-1942, but instead joined the next convoy, RU 36, cargo of herring meal for London. In July-1943 I have her in Convoy RU 82 from Reykjavik, bound for Garston with stores.

Her other voyages are noted in the above Voyage Record.

Related external links:
SC-42, 9 - 14 Sept 1941
U-433

S/S Bestum - Some technical data (Darren Dypevåg).

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

Other ships by this name: The company had previously had another Bestum. This was originally the Den of Airlie (Dundee), built in Glasgow 1895, 3520 gt - whale factory. Named Vasca da Gama 1911-1915 (Chr. Nielsen & Co., Larvik), Samnanger 1915-1916 (H. Westfal-Larsen, Bergen). In 1916-1917 she sailed as Bestum for K. Th. Einersen, Kristiania. Sunk by shelling from a German U-boat on Aug. 12-1917, voyage Baltimore-London with flour and grain. ("Damp - Dampskipets æra i Vestfold"). Another Bestum was originally laid down as War Raven 1917, then renamed Lake Lillian - became Norwegian Bestum in 1923, Chinese Hai Jui in 1934. Sunk in Shanghai Dec. 8-1941, during the Japanese invasion. This website Historical Collections of the Great Lakes has quite a bit of information on this ship - type "Bestum" in the search field for 'vessel', then on the page that comes up, click in the little box with the item number for Lake Lillian. A click in the picture thumbnail will bring up a larger photo.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I, and misc. other as named within the above text - ref My sources.