D/S Fana
Updated June 5-2009

To Fana on the "Ships starting with F" page.

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.

Errors may exist, and some voyages are missing (see archive documents).

Fana is listed as bound for New York in Convoy OB 110 in March-1940. The Norwegian Salonica is also included in this convoy, which left Liverpool on March 16, joined up with Convoy OA 110 on March 18, the combinded convoy forming the Gibraltar bound Convoy OG 22*. Since Fana was bound for New York, she probably parted company with OG 22 at some point in order to proceed to her destination, where she arrived, via Georgetown, S.C., on Apr. 14. (OB 110 is available via the external link provided below and within the above table).

She headed back to the U.K. on Apr. 22-1940 in Convoy HX 37 from Halifax, sailing in station 35 of the convoy, carrying paper and rosin for Bristol, with arrival there on May 6. She subsequently joined Convoy OB 151, originating in Liverpool on May 19-1940, dispersed May 22, Fana arriving New Orleans independently on June 10 (having joined from Milford Haven). Alaska, Stigstad, and Titanian are also listed. Again, see the external links below. With a cargo of wood pulp, she went in the other direction with Convoy HX 52, joining with the Bermuda portion, arriving Liverpool July 5. We now find her, together with Balduin, Fenris, Haakon Hauan and Polartank, in Convoy OB 184, departing Liverpool on July 15, dispersed on the 18th, Fana arriving Halifax independently on July 28. She returned to the U.K. the following month in Convoy HX 66, bound for Hull with a cargo of pit props, joining the convoy from Sydney, C.B. (HX 66 had started out in Halifax). In Oct.-1940, she listed in Convoy OA 225, which left Methil on Oct. 6. Fana arrived St. John's, N.F. independently on Oct. 23, the convoy having been dispersed (also available via the external link below). Christmas that year was celebrated while in Convoy HX 96 from Halifax, bound for London with a cargo of lumber.

She's mentioned as cancelled from Convoy OB 286 in Febr.-1941, voyage is given as Aultbea-Freetown. She instead joined Convoy OG 53*, which originated in Liverpool on Febr. 15 and also included the Norwegian Gudvin and Rimfakse (Fana joined from Oban). This was a Gibraltar bound convoy, but Fana, bound for Freetown with cement, parted company on Febr. 26 in order to proceed to her destination, where she arrived independently on March 7. She later joined Convoy SL 73 back to the U.K., departing Freetown on Apr. 27-1941. At the beginning of July that same year, she's listed in Convoy OB 341, together with Brisk, Evanger, Leikanger, Novasli, Nueva Granada, Nyholt, Polartank, Ringstad, Sommerstad, Thorøy, Thorshavn, Thorsholm and Vigsnes. OB 341 had originated in Liverpool on June 30; Fana joined from Oban and arrived Freetown independently on July 22, the convoy having been dispersed on the 6th. Both these convoys are available at the external website that I've linked to below and within the Voyage Record.

She rescued 27 (21?) survivors from the torpedoed British S/S Dixcove in Sept.-1941, when in Convoy SL 87 from Freetown (convoy departed Sept. 14, Fana arrived Liverpool Oct. 6). Captain Nic Knudsen says in an article that Fana had 4 survivors from the torpedoed Sildra on board on this voyage - follow link for more details. Also, Fana is said to have rescued about 50 men from a naval vessel in British waters (this might have been in connection with the incident recounted further down in this narrative?).

Fana later joined Convoy OS 10 on Oct. 25-1941 in order to go back to Freetown (station 12). However, she returned to port (Clyde, Oct. 28) following a collision with the Norwegian Rio Verde, and later joined the next convoy on Nov. 8, OS 11, arriving Freetown on Nov. 28. Other Norwegian ships taking part in OS 10 were San Andres and Somerville, while Dagrun, Danio, Elg and Tigre are said to have sailed in OS 11.

She headed back to the U.K. again with Convoy SL 99, departing Freetown on Jan. 27-1942, arriving Liverpool Febr. 16. Elg, Norma, San Andres and Vest are also listed. The following month, Fana joined Convoy OS 21, voyaging from Liverpool to Bathurst and Gambia with general cargo in station 34 of the convoy, which left Liverpool on March 4 and also included Brand (though she may not have sailed? - see Brand), Evita, Kollskegg, Petter and Triton. Fana arrived Bathurst on March 22, and later returned to the U.K. with Convoy SL 107/SLF 107, which left Freetown on Apr. 16-1942. Fana was in the slow section (SL); her destination is given as Loch Ewe, where she arrived on May 7, cargo of groundnuts, station 13. Maloja was also scheduled, but did not sail (the Norwegian Norfjell sailed in the fast section, SLF 107, which detached on May 4 and arrived Liverpool on May 6).

Fana subsequently made a voyage to Halifax at the end of May, having joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 98*, which departed Liverpool on May 26-1942 and had New York as its final destination; Fana arrived Halifax on June 11, having joined from Loch Ewe. Other Norwegian ships were Fjordheim and Måkefjell. According to Arnold Hague, she went back to the U.K. with the slow Convoy SC 99 in Sept.-1942, having joined with the Sydney, C.B. section (SC 99 started out in Halifax on Sept. 5). Fana was bound for Manchester, where she arrived on Sept. 21. It will be noticed when following the link to my page about this convoy that she's not mentioned there, but Halifax ships only are currently listed (will be updated); see the external link provided below. She subsequently joined the westbound Convoy ON 136*, this time bound for New York, where she arrived on Oct. 26, the convoy having left Liverpool on Oct. 3. She had again been in the company of other Norwegian ships, namely Astrid, Glarona (from Halifax), Iron Baron, Lisbeth, Novasli and Ravnefjell (also from Halifax). A. Hague now has her returning, together with Ferncliff, Gezina, Hallfried, John Bakke, Meline, Norbris (Panamanian flag), Norefjord, Tanafjord and Vav, in Convoy SC 110, departing New York on Nov 17, arriving Liverpool Dec. 6. (Will be added to my Convoys section, in the meantime, see ships in all SC convoys - its' also available via the external link provided below).

For several years I've suspected that Fana was in Convoy ON 154 in Dec.-1942. In an article in "Krigsseileren", Issue 4/1989, Captain Knudsen describes a voyage they took part in, and mentions that Norse King had disappeared one morning, and also says Ravnefjell was in the convoy. The captain's story, coupled with voyage descriptions found in the book "Ravnefjell", written by Mate/Radio Operator Peder Kr. Nilsen lead me to this tentative conclusion, and I am now able to confirm that both ships were indeed in this convoy - please scroll down to the list of ships in Convoy ON 154 posted on this page. I will add this convoy to its own individual page in due course, with the ships in their proper stations; James Hawson, Norhauk, Ramø, Veni and Vest are also listed (in addition to Norse King and Ravnefjell, already mentioned). See also my page about Ravnefjell for a summary. This convoy departed Liverpool on Dec. 18-1942 and arrived New York on Jan. 12-1943. Captain Knudsen says that the ships came from various ports to assemble north of Ireland on Dec. 19, with the U.S. bound ships in ballast, while Fana and all the other ships in the port side column had cargoes for West Africa and were to leave the convoy at a certain point north of the Azores. Fana was the first ship in this column, and was bound for Bathurst, where she arrived on Jan. 14-1943.

Captain Knudsen and Peder Kr. Nilsen both say the convoy was attacked on Christmas Eve, but other sources indicate the first attack took place on Dec. 27 - the external sites that I've linked to at the end of this text describe the convoy battle in great detail and also give the names of all the ships sunk, so I won't go into that here. Knudsen describes how Fana after several U-boat attacks was the only ship left in her column, and was in fact the only ship to reach West Africa (38 days after departure U.K., according to him), delayed as a result of the constant attacks. The fact that Fana, according to the captain's article, was still present on the morning they discovered that Norse King had disappeared, indicates that Fana must have left the convoy some time after Dec. 29. After having discharged her cargo in Bathurst, he says she continued along the coast to Lagos, via Freetown, with about 150 native passengers on deck, and after having taken on board general cargo there she returned to Freetown, then back to Liverpool.

For info, there's a book about ON(S) 154 entitled "The convoy that nearly died" by Henry Revely. It's available from amazon.com.

External websites related to the narrative above:
SL/MKS convoys and OS/KMS Convoys - Fana is listed in Convoy SL 73, SL 87, SL 107/SLF 107, and in Convoys OS 10, OS 11 and OS 21. The site also has OB convoys (OB 151 is included), and several other series. Another section of the site, based on Arnold Hague's database, has info on OB 110 , OB 184, OA 225, OB 341, SL 99, SC 99, SC 110 - here's the main page.

ON(S) 154 Memorials - Names of those lost from the ships in this convoy, incl. Norse King. This is a section of Battle of the Atlantic - Convoy ONS 154 - Barbara & Gordon Mumford's website which describes the battle in great detail.

See also
ONS-154, 26-30 Dec 1942

The captain says that Fana was in a convoy with Belnor for Freetown with general cargo in the fall of 1943. Belnor and a British ship which was similarly built for heavy equipment had new patrol boats on their decks, and these boats were so wide they extended far beyond the sides of the ships. The danger from U-boats along the coast of Freetown had increased and these patrol boats would help protect the ships in this area. The ingenuity applied in unloading these boats, with the help of practical use of the ballast tanks and other methods did not go unnoticed among the naval authorities, who could put them into action immediately. (Captain Knudsen says that theft and robbery had become so bad in the ports along this coast that the area had to be fully lit).

Fana departed for England with a cargo of groundnuts and again Belnor was part of the convoy, which stopped by Gibraltar and anchored up near Thorshøvdi which had been sunk by limpet mines in Aug.-1943*, and was still partly visible above water (follow the link for more details). Due to the sabotage danger they were given TNT filled hand grenades by Navy Control. Knudsen says that when fishing vessels accumulated near the ship, causing general fear of acts of sabotage, it was often enough just to show the grenades and the vessels would remove themselves. There were also patrol boats which maneuvered in among the ships at anchor and dropped depth charges every 5 minutes, so the crew didn't get much sleep.

* This note about seeing Thorshøvdi is confusing, and does not fit with Fana's voyages at all - as far as I can see, she never went to Gibraltar after Thorshøvdi had been lost. She did, however, arrive Gibraltar from Bathurst on March 8-1943 in Convoy SR 2, together with Belnor, both ships continuing to Clyde on March 16 in Convoy XK 3 (external links), arriving Clyde on March 27. Fana's cargo is given as palm kernels.

On arrival Clyde Fana and Belnor were permitted to leave the convoy, with Fana proceeding to Greenock and Belnor to Ardrossan (again, this fits with details found on Page 3 of Fana's voyages for the spring of 1943, as well as with the info in Belnor's Voyage Record for this period). En route, Fana passed an aircraft carrier engaged in exercises, and watched as 3 aircraft landed on the carrier. Suddenly, a big explosion occurred and the next time they looked towards the carrier behind them all they could see was the bottom of the forepart and hundreds of people clinging to her hull and a rubber raft, before the carrier sank a few minutes later. Fana stopped, lowered her lifeboats as well as lines and nets and started to pick up survivors, a difficult task, smeared as they were with oil. But to their horror the surface of the water started to burn amongst the desperate swimmers, several of whom managed to reach Fana but one by one they died before they could be taken on board. Only 2 were still alive and were treated by a doctor who was a passenger on board, but they both died within 20 minutes. Fana's lifeboats managed to get clear of the burning surface and were able to transfer 37 survivors to a patrol boat which had arrived from shore. Some of the survivors had died in the lifeboat after having been given a cigarette, and Fana's rescuers were later told by the doctor, who had previously served in the U.S. Navy during battles in the Pacific, that he had had the same experiences with regard to giving cigarettes to survivors; they simply died. This was thought to be caused by them having inhaled the gasses resulting from the oil covered water while swimming in it, and a cigarette after that caused their heart to stop.

After about half an hour no survivors were seen and Fana continued towards the pilotboat near Towards Point, about an hour away, where they met a number of vessels on their way to investigate the black smoke they had seen in the distance. People on Belnor had seen a U-boat nearby and assumed the aircraft carrier had been torpedoed, while the people on Fana believed the ship had struck a mine. Captain Knudsen was summoned to the naval authorities in Glasgow to give a report on the incident, but the name* of the aircraft carrier was not revealed to him.

*A visitor to my site has suggested it might have been HMS Dasher - ref. external links below. As already mentioned, and as can be seen in her Voyage Record, Fana did arrive Clyde on March 27-1943, the day Dasher exploded, and it'll be noticed when going to Convoy XK 3 (external link), in which Fana had arrived from Gibraltar, that Belnor is also included. The date of Dasher's demise does not fit in with Captain Knudsen's story, since he says it took place towards the end of 1943, but I believe he remembers the sequence and dates of events incorrectly. (Several years later, while in for repairs in England, on board another ship, one of the workers at the yard approached Captain Knudsen and asked him if he had been captain of Fana during the war. It turned out this man was one of the men they had saved).

He says Fana was again involved in a rescue about half a year later, when on a voyage Havana-New York (according to her Voyage Record, she was in Havana in Nov.-1943). An American aircraft drew their attention to a small rubber boat, and when they came near they discovered an injured pilot in the bottom of it. They took him on board, whereupon they were told by radio to head towards Key West where they were met by a frigate which put a doctor on board, and the pilot recovered.

Purchased by Fred. Olsen & Co. in 1947 and renamed Bergamo. Sold to John Bruce, Glasgow in 1949 and renamed Alpera.

Related external link:
S/S Bergamo (ex Fana) - Technical data, and picture of Fana (Darren Dypevåg).

Back to Fana on the "Ships starting with F" page.

Other ships by this name: Norway had a motor vessel named Fana in the 1960's. This ship sailed as M/S Molda during the war. Also, Vilhelm Torkildsens Rederi, Bergen had another Fana delivered to them in Apr.-1950, 2459 gt. This ship was sold to Skibs-A/S Orion (Martin Bruusgaard), Oslo in the late fall of 1959 and renamed Nepos, then sold again a year later to Olaf Pedersens Rederi, Oslo and renamed Sunny Boy. Sold to China in 1961 and renamed Hong QI 154 - deleted in 1991.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Articles in the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren", "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland and misc. other.