M/T Britannia - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/T Britannia
Updated March 25-2013

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

Source: Bjørn Pedersen's collection.
The Australian War Memorial has another picture (external links).

Manager: The Texas Company (Norway) A/S, Oslo. This company was controlled by The Texas Co., US, and its ships managed by Haakon Chr. Mathiesen, Oslo.
Tonnage: 9977 gt, 5801 net, 14 250 tdwt.
Dimensions: 503.8' x 67.4' x 34.3'.
Machinery: Two 8 cyl. 2T single acting DM (MAN, Augsburg), 5100 bhp.
Call Sign: LKDK.

Delivered on March 10-1939 from Deutsche Werft A/G, Hamburg (217) as Britannia to The Texas Company (Norway) A/S, Oslo.

Captain: Johan Karsten Hallén (previously of the torpedoed M/T Italia).

Some other Crew Members:

1st Mate: William Taxt
2nd Mate: Henning Milward Vaagsnes
Able Seaman: Riverdy Hulliard (British)
1st Engineer: F. Haaskjold
3rd Engineer: Asbjørn Flakstad

Related item on this website:
An entry to my "Warsailor Stories" section from Fred Turner, who served on this ship, with information on some of her 1944 voyages. He also served on Solør, Ole Bull and Stirlingville.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5

Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.

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

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

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Apr. 10	Dublin	St Michaels	Apr. 13	Independent	Compare w/Page 1
	Apr. 16	St Michaels	Bermuda	Apr. 24	Independent	–
	Apr. 25	Bermuda	Port Arthur	May 1	Independent	–
	May 3	Port Arthur	Falmouth Bay	May 21	Independent	See also narrative below
	May 21	Falmouth Bay	Clyde	May 23	Independent	–
	May 29	Clyde	New York City	June 11	Independent	Again, see also Page 1.
	June 19	New York City	Cristobal	June 27	Independent	–
	June 28	Balboa	Los Angeles	July 8	Independent	–
	July 9	Los Angeles	San Francisco	July 11	Independent	–
	July 15	San Francisco	Shanghai	Aug. 7	Independent	–
	Aug. 8	Shanghai	Hong Kong	Aug. 11	Independent	–
	Aug. 17	Hong Kong	Singapore	Aug. 23	Independent	–
	Aug. 26	Singapore	Colombo	Sept. 1	Independent	–
	Sept. 1	Colombo	Bahrein	Sept. 9	Independent	–
	Sept. 12	Bahrein	Fremantle	Oct. 2	Independent	–
	Oct. 2	Fremantle	Sydney, N.S.W.	Oct. 10	Independent	–
	Oct. 13	Sydney, N.S.W.	Newcastle, N.S.W.	Oct. 13	Independent	–
	Oct. 14	Newcastle, N.S.W.	Brisbane	Oct. 16	Independent	–
	Oct. 20	Brisbane	Bahrein	Nov. 15	Independent	–
	Nov. 17	Bahrein	Singapore	Dec. 1	Independent	Left Singapore Dec. 2 (Page 1).
	Dec. 19	Shanghai	Sourabaya	Dec. 31	Independent	–
1941	Jan. 5	Sourabaya	Singapore	Jan. 8	Independent	–
	Jan. 9	Singapore	Colombo	–	Independent	–
	Jan. 15	Colombo	Bahrein	Jan. 23	Independent	–
	Jan. 25	Bahrein	Durban	Febr. 10	Independent	–
	Febr. 15	Durban	Bahrein	March 2	Independent	–
	March 3	Bahrein	Durban	March 18	Independent	–
	March 23	Durban	Bahrein	Apr. 7	Independent	–
	Apr. 8	Bahrein	Mombasa	Apr. 19	Independent	–
	Apr. 22	Mombasa	Bahrein	May 2	Independent	–
	May 5	Bahrein	Lourenço Marques	May 21	Independent	–
	May 24	Lourenço Marques	Bahrein	June 8	Independent	–
	June 9	Bahrein	Durban	June 27	Independent	–
	July 1	Durban	Palembang	July 22	Independent	–
	July 23	Palembang	Singapore	July 25	Independent	–
	July 27	Singapore	Wellington	Aug. 17	Independent	–
	Aug. 21	Wellington	Nelson	Aug. 22	Independent	–
	Aug. 23	Nelson	Sourabaya	Sept. 7	Independent	–
	Oct. 9	Sourabaya	Singapore	Oct. 15	Independent	Missing voyages? (see Page 2).
	Oct. 23	Singapore	Auckland	Nov. 12	Independent	–
	Nov. 13	Auckland	Lyttleton	Nov. 16	Independent	–
	Nov. 19	Lyttleton	Wellington	Nov. 20	Independent	–
	Dec. 27	Wellington	Los Angeles	Jan. 21-1942	Independent	–
1942	Jan. 31	Los Angeles	San Francisco	Febr. 1	Independent	–
	Febr. 8	San Francisco	Auckland	March 9	Independent	–
	March 12	Auckland	Lyttleton	March 14	Independent	–
	March 18	Lyttleton	Talara	Apr. 9	Independent	–
	Apr. 15	Talara	Auckland	May 13	Independent	–
	May 15	Auckland	New Plymouth	May 19*	Independent	*Page 2 gives arrival May 17
	May 20	New Plymouth	Wellington	May 20	Independent	–
	June 10	Wellington	Los Angeles	July 1	Independent	–
	July 9	Los Angeles	Capetown	Aug. 16	Independent
	Aug. 20	Capetown	Aden	Sept. 5	Independent	–
	Sept. 7	Aden	Port Sudan	Sept. 10	Independent	–
	Sept. 11	Port Sudan	Suez	Sept. 14	Independent	–
	Sept. 20	Suez	Massawa	Sept. 23	Independent	See also narrative below
	Sept. 25	Massawa	Aden	Sept. 27	Independent	–
	Sept. 29	Aden	Bahrein	Oct. 7	AP 3	–
	Oct. 11	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 13	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PB 6	For Mombasa. Detached Oct. 15. Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Oct. 15	Detached from PB 6	Mombasa	Oct. 26	Independent	–
	Oct. 31	Mombasa	Bahrein	Nov. 9	Independent	–
	Nov. 14	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 16	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PB 12	For Melbourne. Detached Nov. 22. Convoy available via link above
	Nov. 22	Detached from PB 12	Melbourne	Dec. 15	Independent	–
	Dec. 19	Melbourne	Sydney, N.S.W.	Dec. 21	Independent	–
	Dec. 26	Sydney, N.S.W.	Los Angeles	Jan. 21-1943	Independent	–
1943	Apr. 2	Los Angeles	Hobart	Apr. 30	Independent	–
	May 1	Hobart	Melbourne	May 4	Independent	–
	May 11	Melbourne	Bahrein	June 4	Independent	–
	June 6	Bahrein	Durban	June 25	Independent
	July 1	Durban	Lourenço Marques	July 3	DN 50	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	July 10	Lourenço Marques	Durban	July 11	LMD 25	Convoy available via link above
	July 16	Durban	–	–	DN 52	Dispersed in 34 02S 37 40E, July 18. Convoy available via link above
	July 18	Dispersed from DN 52	Bahrein	Aug. 5	Independent	–
	Aug. 7	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PA 49	Detached Aug. 15. Convoy available via link above
	Aug. 15	Detached from PA 49	Durban	Aug. 31	Independent	–
	Sept. 2	Durban	Lourenço Marques	Sept. 4	DN 59	Convoy available via link above
	Sept. 11*	Lourenço Marques	Durban	Sept. 12	LMD 32	Convoy available via link above *Page 3 gives departure Sept. 9.
	Sept. 17	Durban	–	–	DK 1	Detached Sept. 28. Convoy available via link above
	Sept. 28	Detached from DK 1	Bandar Abbas	Oct. 6	Independent	Torpedoed See narrative below.
	Oct. 11	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	Oct. 17	PB 59	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Dec. 19	Bombay	Abadan	Dec. 25	Independent	See also Page 3
	Dec. 29	Abadan	Aden	Jan. 6-1944	Independent	(See also narrative).
1944	Jan. 6	Aden	Suez	Jan. 11	–	On to Port Said Jan. 13 (Page 3) See also narrative below
	Jan. 15	Port Said	Augusta	Jan. 21	GUS 28	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Jan. 22	Augusta	Taranto	Jan. 24	AH 20	Convoy available at AH convoys (external link)
	Jan. 29	Taranto	Augusta	Jan. 31	HA 21	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link)
	Febr. 4	Augusta	Naples	Febr. 6	VN 19	Convoy available at VN convoys (external link)
	Febr. 13	Naples	Bizerta	Febr. 14	Escorted	–
	Febr. 22	Tunis	Baltimore (for repairs)	March 18	GUS 31	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	June 23	Baltimore	Philadelphia	June 24	Independent	–
	June 27	Philadelphia	New York City	June 27	Independent	–
	June 29	New York City	Philadelphia	June 30	Independent	–
	July 3	Philadelphia	Hampton Roads	–	Independent	Page 3 gives arrival same day
	July 4	Hampton Roads	Algiers	July 21	UGS 47	Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	Aug. 11	Algiers	New York City	Aug. 27	GUS 48	–
	Aug. 31	New York City	Hampton Roads	–	Independent	Page 3 gives arrival Sept. 1.
	Sept. 2	Hampton Roads	Port Said	Sept. 28	UGS 53	Convoy available at link above. On to Suez same day (Page 3).
	Sept. 29	Suez	Port Sudan	Oct. 2	Independent	–
	Oct. 3	Port Sudan	Aden	Oct. 6	Independent	–
	Oct. 10	Aden	Khor Kwai	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 15	Khor Kwai	Abadan	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 19	Abadan	Aden	Oct. 27	Independent	–
	Oct. 27	Aden	Suez	Nov. 1	Independent	On to Port Said Nov. 4 (Page 4).
	Nov. 5	Port Said	Augusta	Nov. 11	MKS 67	Convoy will be added. See ships in MKS convoys
	Nov. 12	Augusta	Naples	Nov. 13	Independent	–
	Nov. 19	Naples	Oran	Nov. 22	Independent	–
	Nov. 24	Oran	New York City	Dec. 10	GUS 59	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Dec. 18	New York City	Passed Gibraltar	Jan. 4-1945	UGS 64	Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
1945	Jan. 4	Passed Gibraltar	Augusta	Jan. 8	Independent	–
	Jan. 17	Augusta	Bari	Jan. 18	Independent	–
	Jan. 22	Bari	Oran	Jan. 27	Independent	–
	Jan. 27	Oran	New York City	Febr. 14	GUS 68	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	March 23	New York City	Passed Gibraltar	Apr. 7	UGS 82	Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 7	Passed Gibraltar	Piraeus	Apr. 13	Independent	–
	Apr. 14	Piraeus	Constanza	Apr. 18	Independent	Via Istanbul, Apr. 16 (Page 4).
	Apr. 20	Constanza	Haifa	Apr. 26	Independent	Again, see Page 4.
	Apr. 28	Haifa	Augusta	May 2	Independent	–
	May 6	Augusta	Marseilles	May 10	Independent	–
	May 13	Marseilles*	Oran	May 16	Independent	*See Page 4.
	May 17	Oran	Hampton Roads	June 2	GUS 90	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	June 4	Delaware Capes	Bizerta	June 25	Independent	–
	June 27	Bizerta	Oran	–	Independent	–
	June 30	Oran	Delaware Capes	July 12	Independent	–
	July 15	Delaware Capes	Antwerp	July 28	Independent	Via The Downs (Page 4).
	July 31	Antwerp	Delaware Capes	Aug. 12	Independent	Subsequent voyages: Page 4 & Page 5

Notes:

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's record above. (The differences in dates in this narrative, as compared to those found in the record, could simply be a matter of different time zones used in the reports).

According to Page 1 of the archive documents, Britannia was in Dublin when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940, having arrived there from Port Arthur on Apr. 6.

She's listed as scheduled for Convoys HX 42, HX 43 and HX 44 (Bermuda portion) in May-1940, but did not sail in any of them. It'll be noticed, when going back to the archive document, that she had sailed to Falmouth (from Port Arthur) already on May 3, arriving Falmouth on May 20, and according to A. Hague, this voyage was made independently (in fact, she does not appear in any convoys at all until Sept.-1942). Her 1941 voyages also start on this document and continue on Page 2, which shows a long stay in Sourabaya that fall, with another long stay in Wellington at the end of that year. Page 2 also has some 1942 voyages.

Her 2nd Mate, Henning Vaagsnes, saved the lives of 2 American seamen on the tanker West Nohno at Suez on Sept. 20-1942, when he went into a tank and hoisted them up after they had succumbed to gas poisoning while cleaning the tank without gas masks. A 3rd man died, in spite of Vaagsnes' efforts to revive him for 2 hours. As a reward he received a gift of binoculars from President Roosevelt and a gold watch from the American shipowners. (In 1989 he was awarded St. Olavsmedaljen m/eikegren posthumously).

At the end of that month (Sept. 29-1942), Britannia is listed in Convoy AP 3 from Aden. Her destination is given as Bahrein, where she arrived on Oct. 7. The Norwegian Norfold, bound for Abadan, is also listed in this convoy.

Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 2 and Page 3; convoy information for some of these can be found in the Voyage Record above. As can be seen, she had a long stay in Los Angeles at the beginning of 1943.

Torpedoed - 1943:

Britannia, carrying 7028 bags of sugar, sailed from Lourenço Marques on Sept. 11-1943 in convoy for Abadan via Durban for orders, arriving Durban the next day (A. Hague has included her in Convoy LMD 32 - external link - Page 3 gives her departure as Sept. 9). She left Durban again in ballast on Sept. 17, having taken on board 4 male and 1 female passenger while there (46 people were on board), and proceeded in convoy until the early morning of Sept. 27, then continued alone, steering Admiralty courses (A. Hague says she detached from Convoy DK 1 on Sept. 28, also external).

At 02:34 on Oct. 6* she was torpedoed by U-188 (Lüdden), position 24 23N 58 02E, having been struck in the after deck, starboard side, causing a fire to erupt there, but it was quickly extinguished. The ship listed to port, then to starboard. The lookout, the British Able Seaman Riverdy Hulliard, had seen the wake of the torpedo abeam at a distance of about 200 yards and ran to the officer on watch on the bridge, 2nd Mate Henning Milward Vaagsnes to report it, but too late. Course was then altered 80° to port and an SOS sent out, while 2 shots were fired from the 4" gun in the presumed direction of the U-boat, before Britannia proceeded in a zig-zag course. The ship was righted by trimming the tanks, and at dawn, following a thorough inspection of the damages, speed was reduced and zig-zagging discontinued.

*The above date and position are from the captain's report. J. Rohwer gives the date as Oct. 5 (German time), position 24 21N 58 02E.

Damages:
The torpedo had exploded with tremendous force in the ship's side near No. 8 starboard side tank, causing the bulkhead to No. 8 centertank to be blown away, and bulkheads to No. 9 side and center tanks had been torn to pieces and pressed in. Bulkheads to the aft pumproom on the starboard side had loosened from rivets from the main deck to bottom and severely pressed in. The bottom and the ship's side in No. 8 tank and 3/4 of No. 9 on the starboard side were also blown away, and shrapnel of the torpedo had penetrated through the bulkheads of No. 8 and 9 port side tanks and bulkhead to No. 10 center tank. Some of the plates were still intact, though severely dented. No. 7 port sidetank was leaking, and the aft pumproom and the loading tanks aft of the pumproom (except No. 10 starboard and port sidetanks) were open to the sea and filled to the water line. Additionally, the starboard aft lifeboat had been broken in 2, with the aft part lost overboard; the starboard aft raft was also gone.

All the awning stantions and frames on the starboard side aft were broken and the awnings torn. Securings of the steering engine were broken, and the concrete to the radio room and chartroom had been shaken loose. Even the messrooms and pantry had not escaped, in that a lot of dishes were broken. Several bolts in the way of the foundation and the propeller bearings had loosened, in addition to other damages to the engine. The after part of the ship had given way about 6" from No. 8 tank and aft, while the main deck on the starboard side to the after mast was severely dented, as was the ship's port side outside No. 9 sidetank. The 2nd mate found pieces of the torpedo on deck, with one fragment, 1/2' x 1/2' x 1/4" marked ENNSTOFF. This was later handed over to British Naval officers for inspection.

In spite of all this, there was no loss of life, and on orders from the Admiralty she managed to get to Bandar Abbas that same evening, where she was further examined by the captain and 1st Mate William Taxt (in swimming trunks, no less), whereupon the captain announced she was going to be saved, though she was just barely hanging together.

The captain gave orders for the two parts to be "sewn" together by stretching a 5 1/2" and a 6" wire along the afterdeck on the starboard and port side, between mooring bits on the fore and afterpart of the main deck and between 7 and 9 wingtank hatches; the chain lifts to the derricks were shackled together around starboard No. 8 and 9 hatches. Before they took her to Bombay on Oct. 10 for dry docking the captain had earned the nickname "the crazy Norwegian" from the British Naval authorities after they had inspected the improvised repairs. She arrived Bombay in the afternoon of Oct. 17, where maritime hearings were held on Oct. 25, and where she stayed in dock until Nov. 22 for temporary repairs. She left Bombay in convoy on Dec. 19 for Abadan (A. Hague says she made this voyage independently), then took on a cargo of 6000 tons of oil in the undamaged tanks, before leaving for Aden on the 29th.

On Jan. 2-1944, she stopped and picked up 72 seamen from the American Liberty ship Albert Gallatin, which had been torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-26 (21 21N 59 58E) that same morning. The rescued men were landed at Aden on Jan. 6, while Britannia continued with her cargo that same day and arrived Suez on Jan. 11. She left Suez on Jan. 13 for Port Said, where she arrived on the 15th, then departed that same day for Augusta, arriving Jan. 21. The following day, she proceeded to Taranto, where she arrived on the 24th, departing on the 29th for Naples, arriving on Febr. 6 (via Augusta, according to Page 3). On the 13th of that month she headed for Baltimore, where she arrived on March 18 for more permanent repairs. (The Voyage Record has information on convoys she was in during this time period, as well as her subsequent voyages - as can be seen, she remained in Baltimore until June 23)

Fred Turner, who sent me his story for inclusion in my "Warsailor Stories" section, says the following re Britannia (he had just left Ole Bull):
"My next ship was the M/T Britannia, which I joined on August 31st, 1944 in New York (she had arrived New York from Algiers with Convoy GUS 48 on Aug. 27, after having spent 3 weeks in Algiers). We left New York and sailed for the Mediterranean again. On October 2nd, 1944 we were in Port Sudan. Our next port was Aden. We sailed up the Persian Gulf to Abadan. After loading with octane gasoline, we returned by the Red Sea, Suez Canal*, to Naples. We were in Naples on the 16th of November, 1944. We arrived back in New York on the 13th of December, 1944". (Page 4 gives arrival New York as Dec. 10)

*She's said to have lost a crew member on Nov. 5-1944, when Able Seaman Gotfred Tvedt died due to illness. He's commemorated at the Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway (link at the end of this page). According to her record, Britannia was in Port Said on that date, leaving that same day for Augusta, joining Convoy MKS 67 (later to Naples, as mentioned by F. Turner). 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 for ships in all MKS convoys.

On VE Day she was en route from Augusta to Marseilles, where she arrived on May 10-1945, subsequently travelling to Oran and from there to the U.S. Page 4 also lists most of her 1945 voyages (showing a long stay in New York early that year), while the rest can be found on Page 5 (to Apr.-1946).

For info, U-188 was also responsible for the attack on Viva in 1944 - follow the link for details.

POST WAR:

Sold in May-1950 to Enrico Insom, Rome, Italy and renamed Barbara. Sold in 1956 to Etna Soc. de Nav., Palermo, Italy and renamed Salina, converted to bulk carrier. Sold in 1963 to Cia. Italiana Transoceanica di Nav. S.P.A., Genoa. Sold in 1965 for breaking up at La Spezia, broken up the following year.

Related external links:
Stavern Memorial commemoration - Able Seaman Gotfred Tvedt, mentioned above, is commemorated.

U-188 | Siegfried Lüdden

A WW2 survival story of the U-Boat U188 and two of her victims (Britannia is mentioned in this account).

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

Other ships by this name: Another Britannia was delivered to The Texas Company (Norway) A/S in May-1954, renamed Texaco Britannia in 1960. Broken up in 1975. There was also a British (a liner, sunk by the German Aux. cruiser Thor on March 25-1941) and a Swedish ship by this name.

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), and misc. others for cross checking info. - ref My sources.