Owner: Skibs A/S Victoria
Manager: Sigurd Herlofsen & Co. A/S, Oslo
Tonnage: 3339 gt

Built by Götaverken A/B, Gothenburg in 1936. Fruit carrier, which operated for Skibs-A/S Fruit Express Line.

Captain: Alf Sigfred Paulsen.

WW II:

In service on the Pacific coast, later chartered by the US Army and fitted out as troop ship, carrying troops and equipment to the front, and wounded soldiers on her return voyages. She caught the attention of Douglas MacArthur, who chose her as his "personal" ship, and she performed many a special task for him. She took part in the operations at Leyte during the first phase of the landings, carrying a group of generals, was attacked en route by Japanese bombers but escaped with small damages. She was escorted by the destroyer O'Bannon on that occasion. (See what General Fleischer endured at Leyte).

In Febr.-1945, MacArthur entrusted her with the special task of bringing his wife and son from Brisbane to Manila, along with some troops and officers. She was the first non-American ship to land at Baatan on March 6, escorted by a number of warships.

There's a little follow up story related to General MacArthur's goodwill towards this ship on my page about M/S Ravnaas.

More information on her war voyages will be added. In the meantime, please follow the instructions provided at the external link below to find information on some convoy voyages.

Related external link:
Misc. convoys - By clicking on "Ship Search" on the left hand side, using "British Columbia Express" as keywords, a few convoys will come up.