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M/S Cypria To Cypria on the "Ships starting with G" page. Owner: A/S D/S Hassel Delivered from Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen (585) on Apr. 22-1931 as Cypria to A/S D/S Hassel (A/S Rederiet Odfjell), Bergen. 379.4' x 54.2' x 24', two 6 cyl. DM (B & W), 2200 bhp. 1st Mate: Sven Svensen, paid off in Baltimore in Nov.-1942, and was replaced by Jacob Olsen. 2nd Mate: Olav Tufta had signed on as ordinary seaman in Oct.-1936. Was 3rd mate from Febr.-1937 till June-1938, 2nd mate from June-1938 till May-1942, at which time he paid off.
What follows is a translated summary of a document received from Tor Leiv Tørvik, Norway, who found it in a company newsletter from 1967. It's an excerpt from the captains own report:
Cypria departed Sines, Portugal on Apr. 5-1940 for Wilmington and New York, arriving Wilmington on Apr. 18 where some of her cargo was unloaded before she continued to New York on Apr. 23 to unload the rest of her cargo. She subsequently made 2 more voyages between U.S. and Portugal, before she was returned from Faber Line on Aug. 13-1940 (I assume she must have been on charter to this line). She then loaded 7000 tons of cargo (incl. copper bars) in New York from Aug. 15 till Aug. 22 and unloaded this in Yokohama from Oct. 5 till Oct. 17, before proceeding to Vizakhapatnam, India where she took on board 7000 tons of manganese ore for Baltimore, arriving Jan. 4-1941 via Cape Town. She was subsequently taken over by the Ministry of War Transport, whereupon she was docked in New York. At the same time armament was installed. She loaded war materials, departing Halifax on Jan. 27-1941 for Suez, via Cape Town. After her cargo had been discharged in Suez between Apr 7 and Apr. 29 she took on board a cargo of sugar at Mauritius May 20-May 23, then proceeded to Hull via Cape Town and Halifax, with arrival Hull Aug. 14. While there, some improvements were made to her armament. She had to endure several air attacks, but was not harmed. After having loaded war materials and ammunition, as well as quite a bit of deck cargo, including 2 large locomotives, she left Hull on Sept. 8, with arrival Suez on Nov. 16, via Freetown, Cape Town and Aden. Cargo was discharged at Port Said from Nov. 17 till Nov. 30, before she headed to Calcutta, via Aden and Colombo, with arrival Calcutta on Dec. 25.
Having loaded, among other things, pig iron, cotton and jute in Calcutta, she left again on Jan. 6-1942 for Madras, where groundnuts in sacks were taken on board. She then headed to Colombo for tea and bunkers, departing on Jan. 16, arriving Liverpool on March 27 (via Durban and Freetown) where her cargo was discharged before she was docked (Cypria had arrived England with Convoy SL 102, which left Freetown on March 4-1942, and arrived Liverpool on the 26th - ref. external link below. The Norwegian Brønnøy, Belnor and Velox also took part). Her next voyage, which started on Apr. 23, took her to New York, with arrival May 7 (possibly Convoy ON 89?), departing again on May 22 for Egypt, via Cape Town and Aden, with 1500 tons coal and misc. general cargo, as well as war materials, including vehicles and aircraft crates on deck. She arrived Suez on July 25 where she started to unload her cargo. The captain says they endured a lot of air attacks while there, but again escaped unharmed. She left Suez on Aug. 4 for Safaga where her coal was discharged. While there, several crew members contracted Dysentery and 6 men had to be admitted to a hospital, among them Chief Engineer Corneliussen, who died on Aug. 12-1942, and Boatswain Ole Stebekk, who died Aug. 16. On Aug. 21 she left for Port Sudan and took on board 1500 tons chrome ore, then headed to Aden for bunkers. On Aug. 30 a new chief engineer signed on, namely Arne Berntsen, who had previously served on M/S Hav. Cypria left Aden on Aug. 31, and via Cape Town, the Magellan Straights and the Panama Canal (passed Oct. 31), she arrived New York on Nov. 17, then on to Baltimore Nov. 19. After having unloaded her cargo there, she went into drydock for misc. repairs, before cargo was again loaded (for Silver Line). This mostly consisted of food stuffs, 1200 tons beer, railway tracks and large tanks as deck cargo. On Dec. 8 she departed for the Persian Gulf in convoys via Norfolk-NewYork-Guantanamo-Colon. The Panama Canal was passed on Dec. 25/26, then via Cape Horn, she arrived Durban on Febr. 4-1943 for routing orders, anchoring off Shat el Arab on March 8.
On March 21-1943 she left for Basrah with arrival March 24, and after having discharged she departed on Apr. 12 for Karachi, with arrival Apr. 24 (via Bandar Abbas). She now took on board a cargo in Bedi Bundar for Anchor Line on Apr. 27, and Navalakhi on May 1, arriving Bombay on May 3. Departed Bombay alone on May 8 with a cargo of ground nuts, cotton, pig iron and misc general cargo. Her destination was Liverpool; via Durban, Cape Town, Freetown (July 5- July13), convoy from the latter to Liverpool, arriving Aug. 4. This fits in with the fact that Mike Holdoway's website about the SL convoys below has her listed in Convoy SL 133 / MKS 18, the SL section of which left Freetown on July 13, joined up with the MKS section (from Gibraltar) on the 26th, and arrived Liverpool on Aug. 5. Her voyage information is Bombay/Bedi Bundar/Navalakhi for Mersey, cargo of manganese ore, cotton and wool*, station 122. Her cargo was discharged, whereupon she was docked. At this time cabins were added on her boat deck for 10 gunners. The cement blocks around her wheelhouse and charthouse were replaced by asphalt ones, and misc. improvements to her armament were also made, before she departed in convoy to Halifax on Aug. 27 (Convoy ON 199?), then on to St. John's with arrival on Sept. 12. Having loaded steel and newsprint she left for Manchester on Sept. 25, via Halifax for convoy Sept. 30, and arrived Manchester on Oct. 16 (possibly SC 143, or HX 259?). Cargo was discharged, and she left again on Oct. 30 for New York for orders, arriving Nov. 16, then continued to Baltimore.
Left Baltimore on Jan. 7-1944 for Philadelphia in order to load misc. war materials, again with a lot of deck cargo. She left for India on Jan. 24, this time through the Mediterranean, and arrived Port Said on March 1, Bombay on March 18, where her cargo was discharged. 1000 tons of general cargo was subsequently loaded before she departed for Mauritius on Apr. 4, arriving Apr. 16. Having discharged her cargo, she loaded sugar and left for Egypt on May 4, arriving Alexandria on May 26, discharged her cargo and left on June 1, arrived Suez on June 3, loaded about 2000 tons asphalt and other oil products, as well as ammunition and misc. military equipment, with a mobil newspaper press on deck, then departed on June 7 for Mombasa (via Aden for convoy), arriving June 28. Cargo was unloaded there, then she took on board about 1000 tons cargo for Durban, mostly soda and coffee, left July 2 and arrived Durban on July 11, unloaded, then went into dock again for misc. work, including inspection of her propeller, which had been damaged in the Suez Canal. She then departed for the Persian Gulf on July 27 with a cargo of sugar, arrived Basrah on Aug. 18, discharged the sugar, then loaded railroad cars. The captain says it was very hot, with temperatures up to 114° F. On Aug. 23 she was ready to leave for Karachi, arriving Aug. 29, unloaded the railroad cars, then continued to South America for orders on Sept. 3, stopping at Cape Town from Sept. 24 till Sept. 26 for routing instruction and supplies. In Rio de Janeiro she loaded cargo from Oct. 12 to Oct. 21, in Paranagua from Oct. 23 to Oct. 27 and in Santos from Oct. 29 to Nov. 3 - lumber, cotton, leather, starch and other general. Arrived Manchester on Dec. 6, having stopped at Dakar(?) for bunkers on Nov. 17. After her cargo had been unloaded she went into drydock where her wheel and propller were repaired.
Completed Jan. 15-1945, left Manchester on Jan. 17, delayed at Belfast due to fog, but eventually left in convoy for Halifax on Jan. 27, arriving Febr. 10 (Convoy ON 280? ON 281?), then continued in a coastal convoy to Digby N.S. where her ballast was unloaded before she went on to St. John's for repairs of misc. damages received during the Atlantic crossing. A cargo of grain was subsequently loaded for the Middle East, departing on March 10, arriving Palermo on Apr. 6 via New York for convoy March 12-March 18, and via Bizerte. Half of her cargo was discharged at Palermo, while the other half was unloaded in Catania from Apr. 10 to Apr. 19. She now proceeded to Casablanca for phosphates Apr. 24-Apr. 26, and via Freetown she arrived Cape Town where her cargo was discharged May 19-May 30, then on to Montevideo with arrival June 15 to pick up a cargo for Norway. In Fray Bentos she took on board canned meat, back to Montevideo for more canned food and wool, departed July 3, stopped at Rio de Janeiro on July 7 to load 1000 barrels of castor oil as deck cargo. She arrived Bergen, Norway at midnight on July 31-1945, having gone by Kirkwall on July 30 for routing instructions across the North Sea.
Sold to Polskie Linie Oceaniczne, Gdynia, Poland on Dec. 22-1950 and renamed Curie Sklordowska. Later used as store ship in Gdynia under the name MPH GDY MP 4. Broken up in 1986(?) Related external links: Odfjell ASA today - with fleet lists. Back to Cypria on the "Ships starting with G" page. This company also had a Cypria post war, originally delivered as Foria to French owners in 1949, 4993 gt, then sold in 1954 to Skibs-A/S Hassel (A/S Rederiet Odfjell), Bergen andrenamed Cypria. Renamed Bow Hill in 1955, sold to Monrovia in 1957 and renamed Acapulco. Broken up around 1972.
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