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D/S Jernfjeld To Jernfjeld on the "Ships starting with J" page. Manager: Harald Grieg Martens, Bergen Built in Krimpen ann de Ijsel, Holland in 1917. Previous name Troldtind. Captain: Leif V. Christiansen. Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. Errors may exist, and as can be seen, the record is incomplete.
For info, I found the following under Saturday, Febr. 3-1940 in a diary for the northeast of England (both these links are external, and go to a site by Roy Ripley and Brian Pears - see also Tempo):
In July-1941, we find her in station 56 of Convoy OS 1. This was a Freetown bound convoy, which left Liverpool on July 24 (July 21?) and arrived Freetown Aug. 10, but Jernfjeld was only bound for Glasgow; she arrived Clyde on July 25, according to Page 2 - see the external link provided in the table above for more convoy information; other Norwegian ships are also listed. Later that year Jernfjeld, with destination Iceland only, joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 12, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 1. Jernfjeld sailed from Loch Ewe on Sept. 3 and arrived Reykjavik on the 8th, having detached from the convoy the day before. In Nov.-1941, she shows up in station 14 of the westbound Convoy ON 35, again bound for Iceland, where she arrived on Nov. 15 - see Page 3. Jernfjeld had left the convoy at 17:00 on Nov. 13 with escort Thirlmere, 60 23N 14 21W. Both these convoys had several Norwegian ships, as will be seen when following the links. (The Commodore's narrative is also available for ON 35). She made another voyage to Iceland at the beginning of Febr.-1942 with Convoy UR 11, and is said to have returned to Loch Ewe with a convoy that has been given the designation QP 7A*, departing Seidisfjord on Febr. 25, arriving Loch Ewe on the 28th. Her 1942 voyages start on Page 3 above, and continue on Page 4 and Page 5.
Jernfjeld was at Falmouth on Aug. 29-1942 when German bombers attacked. One of the bombs fell so close by that she sprang a leak. She was beached, then towed to dock a couple of days later and repaired. According to Page 5 of the documents received from the Norwegian archives, she did not leave again until Oct. 17. Her 1943 voyages start on Page 6, continuing on Page 7 and Page 8. The Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway, says she lost a crew member on Sept. 30-1943, namely Able Seaman Trygve Løberg, who is said to have died at sea on that date, following an accident on board; judging from the information found on Page 8 of the archive documents, it looks like Jernfjeld was at Gravesend on that date. Her Dec.-1943 voyages are listed on Page 9, which also holds some of her early 1944 voyages. She was used as supply ship for the invasion of Normandy (Overlord), arriving Omaha Beach on June 11-1944, departing again on July 8, according to "Nortraships flåte" by J. R. Hegland. Hegland adds that the reason for this long stay was the fact that a storm had caused a flash flood, resulting in Jernfjeld and several other ships drifting so far up on the beach that there was not enough water beneath them to enable them to go out at high tide. Bulldozers dug a channel in the sand so that she was finally able to get out. See also Page 10 and Page 11 for info on her 1944 voyages (some early 1945 voyages are also shown on the latter document). On VE Day, she's said to have been in Antwerp, having arrived there from Southend on May 7-1945 with Convoy TAM 160 (together with Martin Bakke), departing again on May 10 with Convoy ATM 150, with arrival Southend the next day - see also Page 12. Her 1945 voyages continue on Page 13, while Page 14 has the rest (up to and including Apr.-1946). Related external links: Omaha Beach - includes several Maps Back to Jernfjeld on the "Ships starting with J" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, and misc.
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