M/S Kattegat

To Kattegat on the "Ships starting with K" page.

Some of Kattegat's War Voyages:

Info found in "19 Oslo-skips historie under verdenskrigen, fra April 1940 til krigens slutt i 1945" (The story of 19 Oslo ships during WW II), Harald Nicolaisen - 1945, listed in My Sources.

When Norway was invaded on Apr. 9-1940, Kattegat had just unloaded a cargo of coal in Bergen and was on her way back to the U.S., having departed Bergen on Apr. 4. On the evening of Apr. 8, a submarine or U-boat had signalled to her, asking for her name and destination (this according to the captain's report). While these questions were being answered a large vessel was seen coming from the south, and the boat changed course and disappeared, identity unknown. Upon hearing the news of the invasion on the radio the next morning, Kattegat headed towards New York instead of Cape Race, which had been her initial destination (for orders). She remained in New York for 2 weeks while all necessary insurance questions etc. were taken care of (ref. my page Nortraship), and was then time chartered to an American company for a round trip to South Africa, whereupon a general cargo and vehicles were loaded. These were discharged in Cape Town, Port Elisabeth, East london, Durban and Lorenco Marques. On her return trip she stopped at Durban for a cargo of ore for Baltimore. Having finished unloading this in Baltimore at the end of July she was time chartered to another American company, this time for just one voyage, with return to owners in the Far East. She was ordered to New Orleans in order to take on board scrap iron for Japan, but that same day export of scrap iron to this country was prohibited so she was instead ordered to La Plata in ballast. In Santa Fe and La Plata a cargo of flaxseed was loaded before heading through the Magellan Straits, and via Honolulu for bunkers she disharged this cargo in Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe and Osaka, where she was handed back to owners in Nov.-1940.

Nortraship, New York now ordered her to head for Vancouver B.C. in ballast. Having been docked there for a while a cargo of lumber was loaded and she proceeded through the Panama Canal, then disharged her cargo at Cape Town, Port Elisabeth, Durban and Lorenco Marques. By then it was March-1941. She was subsequently time chartered by a company in New York and was sent to Kolachel, India where she (via Cape Town for bunkers) loaded a cargo of ilmenite sand for Pensacola (a visitor to my site has told me that this was a coarse sand used as a flux material in blast furnaces and as a sandblasting abrasive. It may also have had additional uses in the armament industry of the world war two era). Having disharged in Pensacola in June-1941, Nortraship sent her in ballast to Vancouver again, via San Pedro for bunkers. In Vancouver, lumber was loaded and she again went through the Panama Canal to unload in Cape Town, Durban and Lorenco Marques. While there in Sept.-1941 she was taken over by Ministry of War Transport. Some general cargo was loaded at Lorenco Marques as well as in Beira before heading to Durban to complete the cargo. She was also docked at the latter port for a while before continuing to Port Elisabeth where degaussing and other necessary safety equipment were installed. At the beginning of Oct.-1941 she departed for Gt. Britain via Cape Town and Freetown, where she joined her first convoy (this must have been Convoy SL 90 - ref. link below). Up until then she had always sailed alone. She arrived Liverpool on Nov. 5-1941. After the cargo had been unloaded there she took on board a full cargo of locomotives, each weighing 110 tons, for Basrah, with departure Liverpool on Jan. 5-1942. This must have been Convoy OS 16 - see the external link below. She stopped by Cape Town for bunkers and further instructions, then arrived Abadan at the end of Febr. to unload part of the cargo there while the rest was discharged in Basrah.

Her next orders were for Bombay to load a cargo for Gt. Britain again, but on arrival there no cargo could be obtained, so she was sent on to Durban in ballast, from there to Cape Town, with arrival May 11, only to be told to continue to Montevideo for a cargo for New York. Departure from Cape Town took place on May 12, and this proved to be her last voyage. On May 20-1942 she encountered the German auxiliary cruiser Michel, 28 11S 11 30W, about 400 n. miles north of Tristan da Cunha. The 32 on board were taken prisoners while Kattegat was sunk. For a lot more information on the capture of Kattegat and the fate of her crew, please continue to my page Norwegian victims of Michel, where the text is concentrated around the details found in the captain's diary, as I assume those are the most accurate. The page also contains a link to a complete crew list at the time of capture and info on all the other Norwegian ships captured by Michel.

Related external link:
OS and OS/KMS Convoys - This website lists all the ships in quite a few of these convoys, along with their convoy stations and info on their destination. As can be seen, Kattegat is listed in Convoy SL 90 as well as OS 16, with departure Jan 5-1942, together with several other Norwegian ships.

Back to Kattegat on the "Ships starting with K" page.

Germany had a tanker named Kattegat (6031 gt - John T. Essberger). According to "Handelfsflåten i krig", book 5, Lauritz Pettersen this ship was en route to Narvik with supplies for the German invasion fleet on Apr. 9-1940 and had taken refuge in Glomfjord south of Bodø due to the danger of the minefields in Vestfjord. She was discovered, and the surveillance vessel M/S Nordkapp was sent to seize her on Apr. 10. Kattegat was fired upon, scuttled by the Germans, but raised shortly thereafter and taken as prize under the Norwegian flag and renamed Bodø with the intention of taking her to Tromsø, but she didn't make it that far, as she was attacked and damaged by German aircraft. After the Norwegian capitulation that summer she went back to German control (June-1940), repaired and put back into service under her original name Kattegat. She ran aground near Sandefjord on Nov. 10-1944 and while in dock at Sandefjord she was bombed and further damaged by allied aircraft on Apr. 2-1945 (see the external link Sorties Flown by Banff Strike Wing). She was again placed under the Norwegian flag, and later entered service as Sandar. Roger W. Jordan's "The World's Merchant Fleets" says this ship (Kriegsmarine Olschiff 2) was sunk by a British destroyer on Apr. 9-1940 in 58 26N 17 25E, then raised and repaired in July that year. When the war was over in May-1945 she was in Sandefjord and became the British Empire Tegebaya, then Norwegian Sandar on Sept. 6-1946. The name Bodø is not mentioned by this source.