M/S Elg - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Misc. War Voyages:

Elg, bound for Tyne with pit props, was in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 80 in Oct.-1940, joining with the Sydney, C.B. portion. The following month she shows up in station 46 of Convoy OB 251, leaving Liverpool on Nov. 28-1940. Her destination is given as Tampa on that occasion. See the first external website that I've linked to at the end of this page for the names of other ships in this convoy.

In Jan./Febr.-1941 she sailed in HX 105, having returned to port when in HX 102 (Bermuda portion), cargo of phosphates for Aberdeen.

The external website mentioned above also has her in station 94 of Convoy SL 73, which left Freetown on Apr. 27-1941 and arrived Liverpool on May 25. Again, follow the link for more details.

In July that same year she was in Convoy HX 138, bound for London with grain, joining with the Sydney, C.B. portion.

Going back to the external link already mentioned, she's listed in Convoy OS 11 in Nov.-1941, on a voyage from Clyde to Freetown-Takoradi with war stores. Other Norwegian ships taking part were Dagrun, Danio, Fana and Tigre.

The day before Tobruk fell (June 21-1942) Elg had arrived Alexandria with war materials. The 21st was a Sunday with no unloading of cargo taking place, so some of the crew had gotten the day off to go sightseeing at the pyramides. When the news of Tobruk's fall came, Elg was suddenly ordered to leave the harbour area and anchor outside, only to return the following day. It became increasingly obvious that the British were preparing for a hasty departure when Elg took on board a mixture of uniforms, food and other necessities, as well as oil barrels. Some parts of the ship's engine were still in town for repairs; without them she couldn't leave, so the engineer stopped the first car he could get a hold of and ordered it to take him to the workshop and back, which was done without protest. Not until his errands had been successfully completed did he realize he had ordered a British colonel and a major to chauffeur him around! When the ship was given the order to leave without prior notice, two of her gunners and several of the crew were on shore, but Elg had received on board 11 evacuees from a hospital, and several of them were well enough to offer their help. She was sent to Port Said, where the situation was also so critical that the English didn't want to unload, so she was instead sent on to Haifa. Nobody there seemed to be in any immediate need of Elg's uniforms/food/oil mixture, though part of that cargo was gotten rid of in Beirut, whereupon she was again returned to Egypt.

In Sept-1943 she's mentioned in Convoy SL 136/MKS 24. The SL convoy had departed Freetown on Sept. 3-1943, joined up with the MKS convoy from Gibraltar on the 14th, and arrived Liverpool on Sept 23/25. More info is available at the external site.

In Dec.-1943 we find her, with a cargo of steel and pit props for Tyne, in station 11 of the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 148.

In Jan.-1944 she's listed in Convoy OS 66/KMS 40, voyaging from Oban to Oran with coke and coal in station 124 (arriving Gibraltar on Febr. 7 with KMS 40), subsequently returning to the U.K. at the end of Febr.-1944 with Convoy SL 150/MKS 41, voyage Casablanca-Loch Ewe, cargo of phosphates - again, ref. the external site about these convoys.

In July-1944 she sailed in the large New York-U.K. Convoy HX 300, bound for Greenock with cargo of sugar and rum. In Oct.-1944 she shows up in the slow Convoy SC 158, cargo of grain and general for Hull. This convoy originated in Halifax on Oct. 4, but Elg joined with the Sydney, C.B. portion a few days later. In Dec. that same year we find her in Convoy SC 162, cargo of grain for Liverpool.

In Jan.-1945 she sailed in Convoy OS 105/KMS 79, which departed Liverpool on Jan. 17. She was on a voyage from Milford to Freetown with coal in station 61 on that occasion. The Norwegian Mathilda also took part (more details at website below)

Related external links:
OB convoys - OB 251 is included. The site also has a section on SL convoys and OS/KMS Convoys - As can be seen, Elg is listed in Convoy SL 73 and SL 136/MKS 24, SL 150/MKS 41 as well as in all the OS convoys mentioned in my text above.

Lillesand Sjømannsforening has a picture of this ship (scroll down to the letter E).