M/S Dagrun

To Dagrun on the "Ships starting with D" page.


Picture received from Sverre Johansen (postcard collection).
Please note: I've now been told that this picture shows an earlier Dagrun, a steamship built in 1905 - can anyone confirm?

Some of Dagrun's War Voyages:

1940:

When Norway was invaded on Apr. 9-1940, Dagrun was on a voyage from Durban to Baltimore with ore, arriving Apr. 11. After having unloaded her cargo she had to wait until Apr. 26 before receiving new orders, first for Norfolk for coal with departure Apr. 29 for Buenos Aires where the cargo was discharged. Taken over by Ministry of War Transport (time charter) then departed Buenos Aires on May 29 for Bahia Blanca, arriving June 2. With a cargo of grain she headed to Freetown, then on to Belfast for the installation of degaussing (she's listed in station 44 of Convoy SL 38, which departed Freetown on July 1-1940 and arrived Liverpool on the 20th. See the external website that I've linked to at the end of this text). She subsequently continued to Clyde to join a convoy which departed on July 31-1940. On Aug. 3 the convoy was attacked by aircraft, but though bombs fell quite close and a ship in front of her was hit and set on fire, Dagrun was unharmed. However, she collided with a small vessel when the latter had to perform evasive maneuvers in order to steer clear of the bombed vessel, but received only minor damages and could continue her voyage.

Jan-Olof, Sweden has told me that this vessel was the Swedish Johanna (Captain Axel Winberg) and the location was 20' WSW Cape Wrath. He has sent me a copy of a report in which the captains of the 2 ships blame each other, the captain of Johanna saying that the indirect cause of the collision was the air attack which caused confusion in the convoy, but the direct cause was Dagrun's attempt to get out of the convoy. The Swedish captain says he believed Dagrun had originally had station 26 in the convoy, and had sailed on Johanna's starboard side, but had passed the Swedish ship after the aircraft attack and disappeared out of sight in the dark for a while, then appeared again on her starboard side, striking Johanna in her starboard bow with great force, causing serious damages. However, Johanna was also able to continue and was later repaired in Grangemouth where she arrived on Aug. 8 (demanded 4000 pounds in security from Dagrun's company).

Dagrun was accused of "not keeping lookout, not keeping her station in the convoy, of having changed her course towards Johanna, of not having stopped or backed up, of having broken the rules for behaviour at sea and of "bad station keeping", while Dagrun accused Johanna of the same things, adding that Johanna had gone to starboard without signalling. Dagrun's side of the story says she was on a voyage from Bahia Blanca for Hull with 7420 tons of wheat and frozen meat, and was about 10 miles off the coast of The Minch between Ru Stoer(?) and Cape Wrath when the collision occured shortly after 01:00 on Aug. 3. Johanna was No. 8 in the same column as Dagrun, which would mean Johanna was sailing behind her (if the Swedish captain's statement saying Dagrun was in station 26 is correct), but the Swedish ship was way out of her position, being 2 ship lengths away from Dagrun's port beam when the aircraft attack occurred. According to this report it was Dagrun who had to steer clear of a burning ship in front of her, then shortly afterwards Johanna's starboard bow hit her port bow. The report adds that Dagrun was on British time charter from May 20 until Aug. 19-1940.

As mentioned, the owners of Johanna claimed damages from the owners of Dagrun, while the owners of Dagrun counterclaimed against the owners of the Swedish ship, but a judge put an end to this dispute when he delivered his judgement in May-1941 that neither vessel was to blame for the collision. "He held there was no negligence on either side and he dismissed both claim and counterclaim, making no order as to costs" (from a newspaper clipping dated May 7-1941, also received from Jan-Olof).

After the collision, Dagrun arrived Hull on Aug. 6 where her cargo was unloaded, whereupon she went to dry dock. At the same time she received a 4" gun and a machine gun. She departed Hull on Aug. 25-1940, arrived Montreal via Sydney C.B. on Sept. 13. (This voyage from the U.K. would have been with Convoy OA 206, which left Methil on Aug. 29-1940, and in which she's listed as sailing with destination Sydney, C.B. station 72 - again see external links below). A cargo of iron and lumber was loaded before departing on Sept. 26 for the U.K., via Sydney, C.B. for convoy, departing Sydney on Oct. 1. After the convoy had been attacked on Oct. 11 and several ships sunk (this may have been HX 77 in which Davanger and Brandanger were sunk?*), it was dispersed, and Dagrun continued alone until Oct. 13 at which time a torpedo from U-138 (Lüth) barely missed her and detonated about 30-50 meters from the side of the ship. This took place between the northern point of Ireland and the Hebrides. The gunners fired back with the 4" gun. During the next hour they saw a periscope several times, but nothing further happened. After Dagrun had sent out a radio signal at 14:39 about being attacked, the destroyer Witherington proceeded at full speed to her position, while at the same time the destroyer Weston was also sent to investigate. At 17:50, HMS Shikari established contact with Dagrun, which reported that a torpedo had detonated close by and that the U-boat had last been seen at 15:30. With regard to Dagrun on this date Rohwer says that the name Dagrun was quoted by the xB-Dienst (U-138), but that there's no report of damage by enemy action in allied documents. Dagrun was now escorted by a destroyer until they reached the coast of England, then continued to Manchester where they arrived Oct. 25. Unloading of cargo in Manchester was completed on Dec. 5, whereupon Dagrun went to St. Johns, N. B., with arrival Dec. 28. She is, in fact, listed in Convoy OB 257, which left Liverpool on Dec. 10-1940 and dispersed on the 13th - ref. external link at the end of this page for the names of other ships in this convoy, some of which were Norwegian.

* I've suggested HX 77 here because that convoy was attacked on the date given above, Oct. 11. According to Arnold Hague, this convoy departed Halifax on Sept. 30-1940 with 39 ships, arriving Liverpool Oct. 15. He lists 6 ships lost, namely Pacific Ranger (no casualties), Port Gisborne (26 dead), St. Malo (28 dead) and Stangrant (9 dead) in addition to the 2 Norwegian ones already mentioned. Another possibility would be SC 7 which originated in Sydney C. B. on Oct. 5 and was also attacked and several ships sunk, but not until Oct. 17; besides, she's not listed in that convoy.

1941 & 1942:

A cargo of wheat was now loaded at St. Johns, with departure on Jan. 1-1941 for the U.K. via Halifax for convoy. She was scheduled for Convoy HX 101, but instead joined the next convoy, HX 102. Arrived Clyde on Jan. 30, unloaded her cargo in Glasgow, Scotland, departed again for St. John's on Febr. 9 (Convoy OB 284 - ref external link at the end of this page), arrived Febr. 23 for another cargo of wheat, departed Febr. 28 for Avonmouth via Halifax (cancelled from Convoy HX 112, sailed in HX 113), with arrival Avonmouth on March 22. Cargo was unloaded, 1000 tons ballast taken on, departed for New York on Apr. 5 with arrival Apr. 24. Subsequently went into dry dock for various repairs. Departed New York on June 6 for La Romana, Haiti to pick up raw sugar for the U.K. via Bermuda and Halifax, arriving Greenock on July 27-1941 (she had been scheduled for Convoy HX 136, Bermuda section, but cancelled. Also cancelled from the next convoy, HX 137, but finally got away with Convoy HX 138).

Her next voyage took her to Philiadelphia (Convoy ON 6, which left Liverpool on Aug. 11-1941), where iron was loaded, then on to Norfolk for more iron. She's said to have departed Norfolk on Aug. 15, again for the U.K., but this date must be an error - I believe it should be Sept. 15 (since she had been in the westbound ON 6 leaving the U.K. on Aug. 11). She's listed among the ships leaving Halifax in Convoy HX 151 on Sept. 22 (station 54) along with the Norwegian Sama (85), San Andres (105), Meline (43), Morgenen (93), Belinda, Thorshøvdi (53), Sophocles, Tigre (44), Hardanger (94), Leiv Eiriksson (24), and Laurits Swenson. This convoy arrived Liverpool on Oct. 7. Dagrun arrived Manchester on Oct. 8, and after the cargo had been unloaded she took on board a general cargo at Birkenhead for Dar Es Salam and Mombasa, via Freetown and Cape Town. This may have been Convoy OS 11, which departed Liverpool on Nov. 7-1941 - see the external link below.

New cargo was loaded at Mombasa, Dar Es Salam and Beira, departing the latter on Jan. 22-1942 for Manchester with arrival March 18 (Convoy SL 101 - again, see external link below, where she's listed in station 95 of that convoy - cargo is given as copper and sugar). Having unloaded the cargo she had to go into dry dock again, then headed for New york on Apr. 10, arrived on the 24th. From there she went on another, longer journey, namely with ammunition and general to Suez. At this tame Captain A. Amundsen took command (May 1). Departure took place on May 21-1942. A few days later, on May 26, Dagrun rescued 17 men from the British M/T Darina (near Bermuda), which had been torpedoed by U-158 a week earlier, and landed them at Cape Town. (The Norwegian Norland was sunk from the same convoy, ON 93, which will be added to my Convoys section in due course). She continued her journey to Suez, then on to Safaga in The Red Sea where cargo of phosphates was loaded for Durban, from there to Georgetown and took on board a cargo of bauxite for New York with arrival Nov. 19-1942.

Captain Amundsen now had to take a leave of absence due to illness, and I'm not sure who took over meanwhile. Again war stores and landing barges (for Sicily) were loaded in New York, and this time she unloaded them at Alexandria, having travelled around Cape Horn.

On Apr. 25-1942 Dagrun's captain had written to Nortraship, recommending the following men for Krigsmedaljen (the War Medal):
Chief Engineer Haldor A. Pedersen, who came on board in 1928 and was still there.
2nd Engineer Asbjørn Karlsen, who came on board in 1937.
Mate Adolf Berg, who had been on board since 1936, became 1st Mate in Nov.-1940 when 1st Mate K. Leif Johnsen paid off in Manchester.
2nd Mate John T. Knudsen had been on board since 1938.
Boatswain John Stensvik, since 1939.
Steward Thomas A. Nilsen, since 1937.
Cook Harry Alexandersen had been on board since 1939.

1943, 1944 & 1945:

By now it was probably a ways into 1943. She continued to Mauritius where a somewhat more peaceful cargo was taken on board, namely sugar for the U.K. - this would have been Convoy SL 131/MKS 15, ref. external link below. The Norwegian Anna Odland, Hallfried, Karmt and Norheim also took part in this convoy, the SL portion of which had departed Freetown on June 13-1943, joined up with the MKS portion from Gibraltar on June 24, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on July 4. Dagrun's cargo is given as sugar and mail, voyage Mauritius to Mersey, which fits in with the captain's statements. She also carried 3 passengers on this voyage. (The Gibraltar portion of this convoy, MKS 15, is also available on my own website at MKS 15).

From England she headed back to New York in ballast. A. Amundsen came back on board in St. Johns a few days later and Dagrun proceeded to load iron and lumber for Hull, with arrival Sept.* 12-1943, unloading until Nov. 6, then continued in ballast via New York to Tampa, Florida where a cargo of phosphates was loaded for Melbourne, Australia, departing Tampa on Jan. 1-1944 with arrival Febr. 26 - from Australia she proceeded to Taltal, Chile for salpeter for Suez, from there on Aug. 2 to Casablanca Aug. 14 (note that the external site below lists her as scheduled for Convoy SL 167 from Freetown on Aug. 9-1944, but did not sail - she is, however, listed in my own Convoys section as sailing in Convoy GUS 48, which departed Port Said on Aug. 3-1944).

* This date does not fit in with the fact that she's listed, with a cargo of steel and lumber for Hull, in Convoy SC 143, which left Halifax on Sept. 28-1943 and arrived Liverpool on Oct. 12. I believe the date is erroneously given as Sept. instead of Oct.

She now loaded phosphates again, this time for Aberdeen, and back to the U.S. to pick up more lumber and iron, with arrival Manchester on Dec. 20-1944. This voyage was made with the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 162. After having unloaded the cargo she went to a yard for misc. work, and did not leave again until March 20 the following year, this time her destination was Williams Head, British Columbia (via New York) for further orders, arriving May 12-1945 with the knowledge that Europe was again at peace. On VE Day they had been off San Pedro, Calfornia. But daily routines still had to be carried on and she proceeded from Williams Head to New Westminster to pick up a cargo, arriving May 16, then loaded cargo at Port Alberni and Vancouver Island, then back to Liverpool with arrival July 6. Departed for Buenos Aires on July 24, then took on board wheat, coffee and general at various Brazilian ports. It's hard to imagine what the atmosphere must have been like on board, because this time the cargo was meant for Oslo, Norway! She arrived there on Oct. 9-1945, and by this time Japan had also capitulated so the world was truly at peace, and coming home after so many years of sailing in dangerous waters, and of desperate longing and concern for their country and family, must have been quite an experience.

POST WAR:

Sold in 1950 to Unterweser Reederei GmbH, Bremen, renamed Griesheim. Arrived Hamburg on June 8-1966 for breaking up.

External links related to the text on this page:
SL Convoys - There's also has a section on the OS and OS/KMS convoys, OB & OA convoys (next link) and the Russian Convoy series. As can be seen, Dagrun is listed in Convoy SL 38, as well as OS 11, SL 101 and SL 131/MKS 15. The site also mentions Dagrun in Convoy SL 167 - did not sail.

Back to Dagrun on the "Ships starting with D" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague, "19 Oslo-skips historie under verdenskrigen, fra April 1940 til krigens slutt i 1945" ("The Story of 19 Oslo ships during the World War, from April 1940 until the End of the War in 1945") Harald Nicolaisen - based on the ship's logs and diaries, as well as the captain's and 1st mate's reports - ref. My sources.