M/T Grena - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Some Voyages – 1940-1944:

Grena is listed as sailing in the Freetown-U.K. Convoy SL 51 in Oct.-1940. Towards the end of 1940 she's listed in Convoy OB 262, leaving Liverpool on Dec. 20, dispersed on the 23rd - see the external links below for names of other ships in these convoys, some of which were Norwegian.

In Jan.-1941 she sailed in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 104, having cancelled from HX 103. The following month she joined Convoy OB 291, departing Liverpool on Febr. 27-1941, dispersed on March 3. Grena's destination is given as Port Arthur. She subsequently went back to the U.K. in Apr. with Convoy HX 121, and in the middle of May she's listed in Convoy OB 323. In June that year she joined HX 134, bound for Mersey with kerosene, joining the convoy from Bermuda; other Norwegian ships also took part. She returned to Halifax in the middle of July with Convoy OB 348, then in Aug.-1941 she joined Convoy HX 144 (station 73, sailing between Suderøy and Eidanger) along with the Norwegian Polartank (station 95), Orwell (station 54), Hallanger (station 53), Eidanger (station 83), Havprins (station 82), Suderøy (station 63), Evanger (station 84), Norse King (station 15), Vinland (station 66) and Sommerstad (in station 93, all listed on this website). She went back across the ocean in Oct.-1941 with the westbound Convoy ON 28, returning to the U.K. in the middle of Nov.-1941 with Convoy HX 160, again in the company of several other Norwegian ships. Grena rounded off the year of 1941 by making a voyage to Curacao, Convoy ON 48. These 2 ON convoys will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, in the meantime, please go to this list of ships in all ON convoys. The OB convoys mentioned here are available at the external links provided below (more details on all the other Norwegian ships can be found with the help of the alphabet index at the end of this page).

Early in Nov.-1943 she's said to have made a voyage to Oran with Convoy UGS 23 (ref. link below), and at the end of that month she shows up in Convoy KMS 33, voyage from Oran to Port Said. In Jan.-1944 she's listed in Convoy MKS 38 and the following month in Convoy KMS 39 - please see this list of ships in MKS convoys and this list of ships in KMS convoys (will also be added to individual pages).

Related external links:
OB convoys
See also Convoy SL 51 | OB 262 | OB 291 | OB 323 | OB 348 | UGS 23 - all from this section based on A. Hague's research.

Final Fate - 1944:

Grena left Aden alone on March 17-1944 for Abadan in ballast. At 13:04 ship's time on March 21 she was in position 20 48N 59 38E, about 30 n. miles off land(?) when struck on the port side by 3 torpedoes in the course of less than 10 seconds from the Japanese submarine I-26 (Kusaka). The 1st torpedo hit in the after section of the engine room (in boiler room), resulting in the entire poop being lifted from the water, with flames, steam, smoke and oil rising high in the air. The 2nd struck in No. 1 port wing tank, causing the after section to break down and sink. The 3rd, which had struck in No. 2 port wing tank (numbering from aft) broke the ship off around No. 4 center tank. She listed heavily to port about 60° and was expected to capsize immediately. The captain, who had been in his cabin at the time ran to the bridge and ordered the radio operator to send an SOS but the transmitters had been rendered completely inoperative.

Lachlan Lang (head of the gunners), who was on deck on the aft port side when the 1st torpedo hit right next to him says in a report that the first explosion was followed immediately afterwards by a 2nd, and adds that another 2(?) torpedoes subsequently hit the ship. As the afterpart of the ship had sunk below the surface, all those who had been in that area, including Gunner Lang ended up in the water, then swam away. Both port lifeboats had been destroyed and with the heavy list it was impossible for the others to launch the starboard boats so they had to jump overboard. The entire afterpart of the ship now broke off, then the foreship leveled up slightly and the motor lifeboat fell into the water. Some of the survivors were able to get into this boat and started to pick up others from the oil covered, shark infested water as well as from rafts that had broken loose and were floating in the water among the debris. While this was taking place the sub surfaced and fired 2 shells towards the remainder of the ship, but the shells landed in the water among the survivors instead, though nobody appears to have been hurt. Later on the starboard stern lifeboat was found capsized and after the majority of the crew had been picked up they were able to right and bail this boat.

As the foreship levelled it had been their intention to go back on board in order to release the remaining forward starboard raft and also to get the lifeboat transmitter from the wheelhouse so that they could send out distress calls, but there was no time to do so. As they pulled away Grena's list to port increased until she capsized completely in about half an hour. The sub then submerged and they did not see it again.

3 men were found to be missing. The gun platform had collapsed in the first explosion and the British gunner Donald Ball, as well as Cook Martinsen, who had both last been seen in hammocks underneath the after gun deck were believed to have been killed at that time. The British Oiler Geoffrey Lewis had been in the boiler room and was also believed to have been killed in the first explosion. 7 men were injured, some with serious burns, namely 3rd Engineer Peder Pedersen, Mechanic Anton Jørgensen, the Australian Francis Topham, the Canadian Saloon Boy Tom Daniels and Able Seaman Eilif Dahl, while Mechanic Paul Jensen and the Canadian Mess Boy Robert Haldane had cuts and lacerations.

At 17:00 the motorboat took the other lifeboat and the raft in tow, heading towards the Arabian Coast. However, after about half an hour the motor stopped working so it was decided to release the raft and set sail for land independently in order to obtain medical assistance for the injured men as quickly as possible. They had been divided between the 2 boats and were taken care of the best they could under the circumstances. During the evening the loom of the Masira Island beacon was seen but as the wind increased from the south it was impossible to reach the island against the wind and seas. At dawn on March 22 they could vaguely discern the coast and they continued north along the coast in the hopes of reaching a populated area. That afternoon the lifeboat sighted an Arabian dhow lying at anchor. This was hailed and with the help of sign language the fisherman agreed to guide them to a settlement where medical assistance would be available. During the previous night the boats had drifted out of sight of eachother buth were reunited again that afternoon. When the wind died down at dusk they decided to anchor for the night, then at 3 in the morning, March 23, when the wind had freshened again they continued sailing north under the guidance of the fishing boat, though with 1 person less among them - Mechanic Jørgensen having passed away in the course of the night.

In the motorboat, continuous attempts had been made to get the motor started again, and at 08:00 that morning they finally got it to function whereupon the lifeboat was again taken in tow. At 16:00 that afternoon they arrived at the British RAF base near Ras el Hadj where the remaining injured men were immediately taken to the camp hospital for medical treatment. Mechanic Jørgensen was buried at the base after sunset with all his uninjured shipmates present. The 6 injured men, 3 of whom were in critical condition, were ordered by the camp doctor to be transferred to the British General Hospital at Karachi and were picked up by 2 aircraft the following morning, March 24, but the 3 could not be saved.

The remainder of the crew embarked HMIS Investigator which left for a convoy port in the inlet to the Persion Gulf that same afternoon, with arrival on the 26th. On the 29th they were transferred to the Dutch Noesaniwi which was carrying explosives according to Lachlan Lang. (A message in my Guestbook says Noesaniwi was the ex Wuppertal - Hamburg America Line, built 1936, seized in 1940 by Holland and renamed Noesaniwi, transferred to Rotterdam Lloyd in 1946). This ship landed them in Suez on Apr. 14, and the hearings were held there on Apr. 19 with the captain, the 1st and 2nd mates and the 1st engineer appearing. The seamen had been placed in the Merchant Navy Club, the officers in the Bel Air hotel, and the DEMS gunners stayed in a camp while waiting to join another Norwegian ship.

Grena was the last Norwegian ship to be lost in the Indian Ocean during WW II.

Other ships by this name: A/S J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi, Bergen had previously had another Grena, delivered in Dec.-1912, built in Sunderland, 6371 gt. Sold in 1934 and renamed Orone, managed by Johan Gran, Bergen. Sold to Japan in 1937, renamed Nichian Maru. Torpedoed and sunk in Sept.-1944 by American sub Spadefish (see this external page, scroll down to Sept. 8). In Apr.-1950 another Grena was delivered to the company, built in Amsterdam, 10 426 gt. Sold in Jan.-1956 to Belgium and renamed Purfina Suisse. Sold to France in 1963, renamed Escale Dieu. Renamed Arsinoe in 1965. Ran aground on Aug. 30-1965 when on a voyage Singapore-Shanghai, broke in 2 and sank. The company received another Grena in Jan.-1958, 13 065 gt. Sold to Italy in 1967 and renamed Sofia d'Amico. Broken up around 1975 or early '76. In Dec.-1974 another Grena was delivered, 24 997 gt., built in Japan. Sold to Hong Kong in 1984, sold again in Dec.-1988, managed by Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi A/S, Bergen, renamed Hato Arrow in 1991. Had various owners and managers until 2001 when she was renamed Hato for owners in Nassau. A more recent Grena (tanker) was delivered to Grena A/S, Bergen in Dec.-2003, built in Japan, 80 691 gt.