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D/S Bollsta To Bollsta on the "Ships starting with B" page. Owner: A/S Ganger Rolf Built in Christiania (Oslo today) 1924. Originally started at the turn of 1919/1920 at Oddens Skibsbyggeri & mek. Verksted for a Tønsberg company, then for O. T. Tønnevold as Octa, but due to financial difficulties, she was eventually delivered to Fred. Olsen as Bollsta in May-1924. Captain: Thomas Christiansen
Bollsta sailed in the Norway-U.K. Convoy HN 7 in Jan.-1940. She returned to Norway in Febr. with Convoy ON 15, and the following month we find her, with general cargo for Rouen, in Convoy HN 20. In July-1940 she shows up in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 59, cargo of pit props for Immingham. At the beginning of Dec. the same year she's listed in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 15, cargo of lumber for Leith. At the end of Febr.-1941 she's listed as bound for Huelva in the U.K.-Gibraltar Convoy OG 54 (which left Liverpool Febr. 25, arrived Gibraltar March 14), returning to the U.K. towards the end of March with Convoy HG 57, bound for Workington with iron ore. OG 54 will be added to my Convoys section; in the meantime, see this list of ships in all OG convoys. In May we find her in Convoy OB 322, which left Liverpool on May 12-1941 and dispersed on the 20th. Her destination is given as Iceland on that occasion - see external site below. The same site now has her, with a cargo of lumber, in Convoy SC 36, which left Sydney, C.B. on July 1-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 19th (not sure if she actually joined from Sydney, or perhaps from Iceland?). This convoy is not available on my own site. The following month she was one of 14 Norwegian ships in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 4. Her destination is given as Sydney (Cape Breton), and she had station 42 of the convoy. Going back to the external site already mentioned, we find her in Convoy SC 44, which left Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 11 and arrived Liverpool on Sept. 30 (not available on my own site). The Norwegian Barbro was sunk in this convoy, which also had several other Norwegian ships. In Nov.-1941 Bollsta is said to have joined the westbound Convoy ON 33, which left Liverpool on Nov. 3. As will be seen when following the link, she's not mentioned on my page for this convoy (though she may be the ship listed as "Volitha", bound for Reykjavik, in station 46) but see the section listing ships on all ON convoys. I will update this convoy as soon as possible, based on the information found at the latter link. At the end of Apr.-1942 we find her in Convoy RU 21 from Reykjavik, carrying vehicles and bound for Belfast and Swansea. She subsequently joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 96, which left Liverpool on May 19, arrived Halifax, Bollsta's destination, on June 7, cargo of coal; again, see the link provided above to list of ships in all ON convoys. She headed back to the U.K. at the end of June with the slow Convoy SC 89, cargo of lumber for Manchester, then joined the westbound Convoy ON 116 the following month in order to head back to Sydney, C.B. (departed Liverpool on July 25, dispersed off Boston on Aug. 12 - also available at link above, both will eventually be added to their own individual pages, with more information on each). She's also mentioned in connection with the eastbound Convoy SC 96 in Aug., however, she's not included in the Advance Sailing Telegram, and it looks like she was not part of this convoy; she just happened to leave port at the same time as the ships in SC 96. She shows up again in Convoy SC 99 which left Halifax on Sept. 5-1942 (having been cancelled from the Sydney portion of the previous convoy, SC 98). The external website that I've linked to below has Bollsta in station 23 of Convoy OS 46/KMS 13 in Apr.-1943, voyaging from Oban to Gibraltar with coal, arrival Gibraltar Apr. 26 with KMS 13, which will also be added to my own site - in the meantime, see this list of ships in all KMS convoys, where Bollsta's destination is given as Algiers. Follow the link below for details on the combined convoy; several Norwegian ships are included. Related external link:
On December 2-1943 a large allied convoy of tankers, ammunition ships and supply vessels was at anchor in Bari (Adriatic Sea) with much needed supplies for the British, American and Canadian armies for their advance up the Italian mainland. The Liberty ship USS John Harvey (captain Knowles) had a cargo of liquid mustard gas bombs, (in case the enemy should resort to chemical warfare) and was guarded by a unit of the 701st Chemical Maintenance Company. 5 of the ships were Norwegian (Bollsta, Norlom, Vest, Lom and Salamis - a message in my Guestbook states that Hermelin was also present, but quickly got away). About 20 enemy planes attacked and when one of the ammunition ships was hit and blew up, ship after ship caught on fire. All the gunners on Bollsta ran to her guns to participate in the defence against the aircraft, while several ships near them were hit by bombs and set on fire. Suddenly, a heavy explosion occurred on board and a bomb was believed to have struck in the waterline amidships on the starboard side, resulting in a large hole in her side, while at the same time a box of ammunition on the poop exploded. Shortly afterwards she was struck by a bomb in Hatch No. 1, blowing up all the hatches on the foredeck and causing provisions and other cargo to fly up in the air, while the bridge partly collapsed. Bollsta listed to port and started to sink by the bow while water was gushing in, so the lifeboats were launched. Among the 6 in the starboard boat Gunner Olav Jacobsen was severely injured, having lost his leg, and was immediately sent to a hospital but died that same night. Captain Christiansen, the 2 British radio operators and the injured Polish messboy Jan Sobzyk were taken ashore by an English vessel; the mess boy died that night. The captain was also admitted to a hospital in Bari, later moved to Brindisi. He was subsequently sent to Algiers, then by troop transport to the U.K. Gunner Sigurd Heggelund stayed at 98 General Hospital in Bari for 58 days. 2nd Engineer Erling Eylertsen also died on the night of the explosion, while Able Seaman Gunnar Arnesen died in the hospital on Dec. 10 and Gunner Ole Folkvord on the 16th. Others were sent to the Royal Navy Club where they spent the night (when they left the harbour Bollsta's forepart was under water while her afterpart was up in the air). One of them, Able Seaman Herman Karlsen was later sent to Taranto, then on to Algiers where he was questioned on Dec. 18; at that time none of the others had arrived Algiers yet, so he was the only one questioned. 1st Mate Paul Ekrem and 1st Engineer Gustav Clausen were also sent to Algiers and gave statements there later. The 1st mate had gotten ashore by swimming from the ship, after having made sure the injured men were brought in first. He remained in a hospital in Bari for 2 weeks and when he got out he saw Bollsta again, this time only her masts and part of the funnel were visible. A few days later he was sent to Tunisia by aircraft where he stayed another couple of days in a hospital before being sent on to another hospital near Algiers. The end result of the carnage was over 1000 dead, many injured and suffering from the effects of the mustard gas.
Ships that became a total loss: Cassala 1797 gt (Italian, built 1902), Corfu 1409 gt (Italian, built 1907), Goggiam 1934 gt (Italian, built 1922). Ships damaged: Argo 526 gt (the Italian one), Bicester 1050 gt (British), Brittany Coast 1389 gt (British), Crista 2590 gt (British), Dagö 1996 gt (Latvian, built 1917, under MOWT control from 1940 - tonnage is given as 2157 gt in "The World's Merchant Fleets"), Grace Abbot 7191 gt (American), John M Schoefield 7181 gt (Am.), La Drôme* 1055 gt (French), Lyman Abbot 7176 gt (Am.), Odysseus 1057 gt (Dutch), Vest 5074 gt (Norwegian), Vienna 4227 gt (British), Zetland 1050 gt (British escort destroyer). Ships sunk: Ardito [R 220] 3732, (Italian), Aube* 1055 (French, 1920), Barletta [D 16] 1975 (Italian, 1931), Bollsta, Devon Coast 646 (British, 1936), Norlom 6326 (Norw., 1919), Fort Athabaska 7192 (British, 1943), Fort Lajoie 7134 (British, 1942), Frosione 5202 (Italian, 1914), Genepesca II 1628 (Italian, 1940), John Bascom 7176 (Am.,1943), John Harvey 7177 (Am.,1943), John L Motley 7176 (Am.,1943), Joseph Wheeler 7176 (Am., 1942), Lars Kruse 1807 (Danish 1923, under MOWT control from 1940), Lom 1268 (Norw., 1920), Luciano Orlando (Italian), Lwow 1409 (Polish, 1932), MB 10 13 (Italian), Porto Pisano 226 (Italian), Puck 1065 (Polish, 1935), Samuel J Tilden 7176 (Am., 1942), Testbank 5083 (British, 1937), Volodda 4673 (Italian, 1915).
I'm not sure whether Bollsta was a total loss or not, as stated in most sources. The book "Olaf Tønnevold & Sønner 1878-1978" claims that she was later raised and repaired, then sailed for Italian owners for some years. Related external links: Raid on Bari Back to Bollsta on the "Ships starting with B" page. Other ships by the name Bollsta: This was Fred. Olsen's 2nd ship with this name. The first one was built in Christiania in 1910 as the first in a series of 6 vessels built especially for the lumber trade, 1701 gt, sunk by German destroyers in 1917. The company also had a Bollsta later on (motor tanker), built Glasgow 1951, sold to Midland St. Co., Monrovia in 1964. Their 4th Bollsta (also a motor tanker) was built in Japan in 1965, sold to Panama in 1971. 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), a posting to my Ship Forum, and misc. others for cross checking info. - ref My sources.
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