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M/T Høegh Hood To Høegh Hood on the "Ships starting with H" page. Manager: Leif Høegh & Co. A/S, Oslo Completed in Dec.-1936 by Odense Staalskibsværft, Odense, Denmark. Managed during the war by British Tanker Co Ltd, London. Captain: Gustav Saanum. A visitor to my site, George Monk, has told me that the captain recived the British award Hon OBE(Civ) = "Honour of the British Empire" - his source: Seedies List of awards to the British Merchant Navy which includes awards to Allied merchant seamen.
"Nortraships flåte" states that this ship was in one of two convoys that arrived Malta on May 9-1941 with oil, war materials and supplies for the British forces. One of the convoys had departed Gibraltar on May 6 and consisted of 5 British ships, 2 of which struck mines near Malta, 1 sank, all the rest reached their destination. The other convoy, given the designation MW 1* in this source, left Alexandria on May 6 escorted by Admiral Cunningham's forces and consisted of the Norwegian ships Talabot, Thermopylæ, Høegh Hood and Svenør, as well as the Danish M/S Amerika (under MOWT control) and the British M/S Settler. As the ships arrived, they were cheered by a large group of people; the Maltese were well aware of how dangerous the transport of the much needed supplies had been. * However, upon checking "The Allied Convoy System" (Arnold Hague) I find no Convoy MW 1 to Malta. The first MW convoy listed there is MW 3 back in Nov.-1940. The 2 convoys that fit the above departure dates are Operation Tiger, which left Gibraltar on May 6-1941, and MW 7A which departed Alexandria on the same date. But the arrival date and port of Operation Tiger do not match the above details from "Nortraships flåte", in that Arnold Hague gives the port of arrival as Alexandria and the date as May 12 for this convoy - 5 ships, 1 lost, namely Empire Song. This ship struck a mine on May 9. MW 7A had 4 ships and arrived Malta on May 10. Then there's MW 7B, which is listed as having departed Alexandria on May 5, also arriving Malta on the 10th, 2 ships. I'm inclined to believe that the author of "Nortraships flåte" has gotten the information somewhat "muddled up" in this case, but since I don't know exactly which ships sailed in Operation Tiger, MW 7A and MW 7B, I can't even attempt to set the records straight, though if I were to guess, I would lean towards MW 7A and B, since they arrived Malta on the same date, even though the number of ships differ. Also, I've been told by a visitor to my website (I don't know what his sources are) that the convoy with the Norwegian ships was in two parts, which left Alexandria at different times but arrived Malta at the same time. He says Høegh Giant and Svenør were with the slower part, leaving Alexandria on May 5 (this fits with MW 7B), while the others were with the faster part that left on May 6 (this might be MW 7A). He has also told me that the convoy arriving Malta from Gibraltar on May 9 was not intended for Malta but for Alexandria. It was loaded with tanks that were used a few weeks later to launch an offensive against Rommel (operation "Battleaxe"). The fact that there were 2 separate parts of the convoy is confirmed at the external webpages below. Related external link: The Norwegian source mentioned above further states that during the 3 months the 6 ships were forced to stay in Malta (because of the danger involved in leaving), the island endured no less than 300 air attacks. While there, the ships were camouflaged with red and white diagonal stripes, like the Italian merchant ships. In Gibraltar Admiral Somerville's battle fleet was reinforced with the addition of the battle ship Nelson and 3 cruisers, and Admiral Cunningham's forces were sent from Alexandria in an effort to get the attention away from the new Malta convoy consisting of 6 British ships which left Gibraltar on July 21 (this would be Convoy GM 1). Two days later, on July 23 the 6 ships that had been waiting in Malta were given the order to leave, all of them under the Italian flag, and with no escort whatsoever (Arnold Hague has a Convoy MG 1 leaving Malta on this date, with 7 ships, and gives arrival Gibraltar on July 26). The hope was that the enemy would concentrate on the battle fleets in the west and east, which also came to pass ("Operation Substance"). Høegh Hood arrived Gibraltar on July 27, though not without damage. Both the eastbound and the westbound convoys had been attacked during the crossings, but all the ships in both convoys made it to their respective destinations. Høegh Hood was hit by a torpedo on the port side in tank No. 1, leaving a large hole in the side of the ship, but no-one was injured and she could continue at reduced speed, arriving Gibraltar as the last ship. The torpedo damage was temporarily repaired, and she continued to Galveston, Texas for further repairs. Leif Høegh's fleet list claims she was heavily damaged by air torpedo in June-1941, but this date must be an error. According to a message in my Guestbook, Høegh Hood's damage (by an Italian air torpedo) in the Substance operation occurred on July 24-1941. See also a more recent Guestbook message, posted by Edgar Merrey, who was a gunner on bord at the time, and who says they were hit by 2 torpedoes. He has sent me the pilot's report, which says the following (I received it in a translated English version, the original is in Italian):
Høegh Hood can be found listed among the ships in Convoy HX 196 from Halifax to the U.K. in June/July-1942. In July-1944 she's listed as sailing in Convoy HX 300 from New York, bound for Mersey, Milford Haven and Devonport - several Norwegian ships took part in both these convoys.
Sold in April-1953 to Denizcilik Turk, Ltd., Turkey and renamed Barbaros. Owners became Denizcilik Ltd., Sirketi in 1959. On Sept. 23-1965 she was heavily damaged by explosion and resulting fire while at Izmir, 15 died. Towed to Buyukdere and laid up. Demolition began in Febr.-1966 at Pasabahce by Mehmet Canakci ve Ortaklari. Related external links: To Høegh Hood on the "Ships starting with H" page. Other ships by this name: Leif Høegh later had two more ships by named Høegh Hood. One was an ore/oil carrier built in Dunkirk in 1965, 37 339 gt; became Greek Epic Colocotronis in 1968. The other was built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Sakaide in 1973, 128 954 gt; under Panamanian flag from May-1986, then sold on Apr.-1987 to Merit Shipping Corp. and renamed Merit. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Misc. sources, incl. "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Leif Høegh & Co. fleet list, misc. E-mails from visitors to my site, and The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague - ref. My sources.
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