D/S Kristianiafjord

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


Source: Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

Misc. War Voyages:

Kristianiafjord, with destination Gulf of Mexico, is listed among the ships in Convoy Convoy OB 279, which left Liverpool on Jan. 28-1941, dispersed on Febr. 2. The external website that I've linked to at the end of this page has the names of the other ships in this convoy, some of which were Norwegian. In Apr./May that year she sailed in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 123, bound for Hull with a cargo of steel.

Tony, a visitor to my website has told me that Kristianiafjord (in station 86) was in Convoy HX 142 in Aug.-1941, together with the Norwegian Nyholt (56) Siljestad (76) and Morgenen (124). Corvus was also initially in this convoy but was sent to SC 39 because she was too slow for HX 142. According to Arnold Hauge, HX 142 departed Halifax on Aug. 1-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 18th, 65 ships (please note that this does not mean that all the ships had Liverpool as their final destination, many ships went to other ports on arrival UK waters). According to Tony's information 63 ships sailed from Halifax in this convoy, 8 from Sydney, C.B. Kirkpool and Scottish Musician had engine defects and were sent back to Halifax. Like Corvus, Hercules (Dutch) was also sent to join SC 39 because of her slow speed. Rotterdam, Murena, Hjelmaren and Narragansett went missing in the fog (from HX 142). Empire Sailor did not join HX 142 till Aug. 6. Perth was the rescue ship for this convoy.

The following comes from the Commodore's report:
Delayed in sailing by fog which persisted during the whole convoy. First count was on August 4th when four ships were missing. On Aug. 5 Sydney portion of 8 ships and SC 39 of 27 ships joined HX 142. SC 39 parted company with HX 142 on Aug. 13.

At the end of that month (Aug. 30-1941) we find Kristianiafjord going in the other direction with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 11, bound for Hampton Roads, station 12.

In Jan.-1942 she was in Convoy HX 171 together with several other Norwegian ships. In March that year she can be found listed in Convoy OS 22, voyaging from Liverpool to Capetown and Middle East in station 62. More details on the latter is available at the external website that I've linked to at the end of this text.

The same website has her in Convoy SL 128, which departed Freetown on Apr. 20-1943 and arrived Liverpool on May 14. She had a general cargo, voyage Calcutta/Vizagapatam for Loch Ewe. The Norwegian Toledo, Rutenfjell and Evviva are also included. Kristianiafjord can also be found in station 62 of Convoy OS 50/KMS 17 in June-1943, voyage Oban-Algiers. The Gibraltar portion is available in my own Convoys section at KMS 17, and as can be seen the Norwegian Norfalk, Evviva, Marga and Vigsnes are also listed. Some of them, including Kristianiafjord, are also listed in the second table on my page about KMS 17, so it looks like she continued from Gibraltar for her destination Algiers on June 30. (Names of ships in the combined convoy are available at the external link already mentioned). In July-1943 she made a voyage from Algiers to Gibraltar with Convoy MKS 18 (scroll down to the second table on the page). In Oct. she sailed in Convoy SL 138/MKS 28 in which the Norwegian Hallfried was sunk. Kristianiafjord (listed in the SL convoy) was on a voyage from Rosario to Loch Ewe, cargo of linseed and general. Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Lisbeth and Norefjord. (The Gibraltar portion, MKS 28, is also available on my own site at MKS 28, which also adds the Norwegian Spurt).

A year later, in Oct.-1944, we find her in Convoy SL 174 / MKS 65, voyage Casablanca-Immingham, cargo of phosphates, peas and mica. The SL portion of this convoy (in which Kristianiafjord sailed) departed Freetown on Oct. 18-1944, joined up with the MKS portion from Gibraltar at the end of that month, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on Nov. 7. The Norwegian Jenny, Brønnøy and Norelg also took part, the latter joining with the MKS portion from Gibraltar, which will be added to my own site in due course. In the meantime, follow the link provided for more details.

She was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 167 in the middle of Febr.-1945, but did not sail.

POST WAR:

Sold in 1955 to Marinos & Frangos Ltd., Nassau and renamed Aghios Stefanos. Stranded and on fire on Febr. 15-1958 on Gem Reef near Sandaken, position 05 35N 119 09E. Fire extinguished the next day. Refloated on Febr. 20, and arrived at Sandaken on the 24th for examination. Sold on June 18-1958 by Court order for £ 31,505. Arrived Hong Kong on Aug. 21-1958 for breaking up by Hong Kong Chiap Hua Manufactory Ltd.

Related external link:
OS and OS/KMS Convoys - The site also has a section for the SL / SL/MKS convoys, as well as the OB (& OA) convoys. As can be seen, Kristianiafjord is listed in Convoy OB 279 in Jan.-1941, OS 22 in March-1942, in SL 128 in Apr.-1943, in OS 50/KMS 17 in June-1943, in SL 138/MKS 28 in Oct.-1943 and in SL 174/MKS 65 in Oct.-1944.

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

Den Norske Amerikalinje had 3 ships with this name at various times; this was the second one. Here's a picture of the the 1st Kristianiafjord built in 1912, on the Norway Heritage Project website. It looks like this picture was taken in the Stavanger harbour. A lot of those buildings are still standing.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Norwegian America Line fleet list, and misc. (ref. My sources).