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M/T Havprins To Havprins on the "Ships starting with H" page. Manager: P. Meyer, Oslo Built at Kockums mek. Verkstads A/B, Malmö, Sweden (183), delivered in Sept.-1935 as Havprins to A/S Havprins (P. Meyer), Oslo. 461.5' x 59.8' x 27.4', 6 cyl. 2 TDV MAN DM (builders), 1162 nhp. Related item on this website:
Havprins was in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 133 in June-1941 and rescued 44 women and men from the Dutch Maasdam which had been sunk by U-564 (Suhren) on June 27. M/T Kongsgaard (torpedoed, but not sunk), M/S Vigrid and M/S Soløy (both were sunk) were also in this convoy, as were several other Norwegian ships (follow the link for more convoy information - see also the external links at the bottom of this page). Excerpt of a letter written by a Red Cross nurse, Miss Lillian Evans of Arlington, Mass. to her mother, Mrs. Herbert T. Evans "Aboard a Norwegian tanker. I am safe and well, but have only the clothes on my back plus a sailor's pants and middy. All my things except your watch, Dick's medal, my class ring, and valuable papers and money are in Davy Jones' locker. Please don't worry, the Red Cross will take care of us. I am so glad I don't need all of life's luxuries. We were on a Dutch ship to England. On June 27 at 1:15 in the morning the ship was torpedoed. Everyone was saved. Out of the 17 nurses 9 of us are aboard a Norwegian tanker. We are now off the coast of the Hebrides, and in 2 days we'll be in Barry Docks in South Wales. The Dutch ship was going to Liverpool, but this one is going to Wales. I have made some great new friends; the Dutch are the nicest people imaginable, and the Norwegians are perfect sailors and hosts for so many shipwrecked. I never wept a tear or felt any regrets, because I know everything will turn out right. All I could think about when I was in the lifeboat was you and in my mind was "Lead, Kindly Light" which I say every night when we have our blackout. There were 49 ships in the convoy, and now there are 42 left. Our lifeboat capsized and I swam around for hours until the Norwegians came in their boat and gathered us up. When they came they looked to me like Norse gods from the saga. They had black rubber suits on with yellow hoods (this is the Vaco suit, described in the paragraph covering Lifeboat Contents & Survival on my "Ship Statistics & Misc." page). We still sleep fully dressed with our life jackets for pillows. This ship is quite new but not meant for passengers. The captain gave up his suite for us: bedroom, saloon, guestroom and bathroom, and we 9 nurses are doing fine. We have a radio and record player with the best records. The last two days no ships have been lost, and we are in too shallow water for submarines, so we have been washing and ironing the men's shirts as well as our own clothes. It's fortunate, isn't it that we didn't buy expensive shoes and clothes? You can't believe how cold we have been. I wear sweaters and that heavy coat and furlined gloves all the time". Robert Cressman says with regard to Maasdam "among the survivors are marines under Major Walter L. Jordan, USMC, the advance detail for the Marine Detachment at the American Embassy in London". (M/S Vigrid, also had some nurses on board at the time of her sinking, see text under that ship for more details). In Aug.-1941 Havprins (station 82) was in Convoy HX 144 along with the Norwegian Suderøy (station 63), Polartank (station 95), Orwell (station 54), Hallanger (station 53), Eidanger (station 83), Grena (station 73), Evanger (station 84), Norse King (station 15), Vinland (station 66) and Sommerstad (in station 93). She returned across the ocean the following month with the westbound Convoy ON 13; her destination is given as Mexico. She was also in Convoy HX 161 in Nov.-1941, together with the Norwegian Solfonn, Stigstad, Havkong, Vav, Nueva Andalucia, an unnamed freighter, and 3 unnamed tankers. In Febr.-1942 we find her in Convoy HX 173, along with several other Norwegian ships. According to Arnold Hague, Evita was involved in a collision with the Russian Dvinoles in this convoy, while Roger W. Jordan's "The world's Merchant fleets" says the Russian vessel sank following a collision with Havprins.
On May 14-1942 Havprins rescued 18 survivors from the American tanker Esso Houston, which had been sunk by U-162 on May 12. The next morning the survivors were transferred to the Latvian freighter Everagra and landed at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on the evening of May 18 (Havprins was en route to Africa at the time of rescue). 1 Armed Guard of the Esso Houston (John O. Peterson) later died of wounds suffered in the U-boat attack, not sure whether he had been among the 18 rescued from lifeboat No. 4 by Havprins. Late in the evening of May 16 lifeboat No. 1 with 23 people landed at Byeras Bay, Kingstown (St. Vincent) where they were taken care of by the natives. On May 23 they obtained passage to New Orleans on Robert E. Lee. 38 merchant seamen and 3 U. S. Navy Armed Guards had survived the attack. The book "Ships of the Esso Fleet in World War II" has several pages about Esso Houston, her voyages, cargoes etc., including a detailed account of her sinking, the time in the lifeboats and several pictures of them. It's quite easy to find for sale on the Internet (try bookfinder.com). In Dec.-1944 Havprins was in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 328, and in the middle of Febr.-1945 she shows up in Convoy HX 339.
Sold in 1956 to Leonards Rederier, Landskrona, Sweden, and renamed Havsborg. Arrived Tokyo on Jan. 12-1961 to be broken up. Related external links: Hyperwar - (The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II by Robert J. Cressman). The sinking of Maasdam is mentioned in the entry for June 27-1941. See also the entry for July 5, which mentions the rescue of the survivors from Vigrid, and says that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, John Winant reported on July 11-1941 that out of the 27 American Red Cross nurses who had been en route to England, 9 had arrived safely, 10 had been rescued, 4 of whom were in serious condition, and 8 were missing. The total number of rescued nurses found in my Norwegian sources doesn't quite add up with what is listed by Cressman. As far as I can tell, he does not mention the 2 rescued by Keppel, nor the 9 rescued by Havprins. The 1st Chapter of Joining the War at Sea also mentions the rescue of the American nurses. 2 who died - Havprins - Engineer Sigurd Edvard Juelsen is listed as having died due to an accident on board on Apr. 18-1945, and Stoker Karl Myking died due to illness on Apr. 24-1945. There's also a Canadian Able Seaman William Mosher, listed as having died on Havprins on Dec. 21-1943 (found in the Canadian Merchant Navy War Dead Database), not sure what happened to him. To Havprins on the "Ships starting with H" page. Other ships by this name: Another Havprins was delivered to A/S Havprins (P. Meyer), Oslo in May-1958, built in Alblasserdam, the Netherlands, 12 589 gt. Sold in 1968 and renamed Stolt Eagle for Stolt Nielsen Rederi A/S, Haugesund. Sold again in 1973 to Piræus and renamed Stolt Dimitris, renamed Queen of Skye in 1975. Sold to new owners in Piræus in 1977 and renamed Syros Trader, arrived Texas for breaking up on May 5-1978. A more recent Havprins was delivered to A/S Havtor (P. Meyer), Oslo in Febr.-1975, built in Sweden, 66 591 gt. Renamed Rajah Laut in 1985. Sold in 1986, renamed Banak for Torvald Klaveness & Co. A/S, Oslo. Sold to owners in Cyprus in 1987, renamed Ocean Carrier. From 1991 she had the name Adalya (Turkish owners). Broken up in 1996. A/S Havtor managed a Havprins in the late 1980's, originally launched as Dovertown for owners in Glasgow in June-1973, delivered as Swedish Malmros Multina in May 1974, renamed Mandrill in 1979. Sailed as Stena Oceanica from 1980, and had various owners in the period up to 1988 when she was renamed Havprins. Broken up in 2004. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Tusen norske skip", Lise Lindbæk, and misc. others as mentioned in above text - ref. My sources.
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