D/S Leka - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Misc. War Details:

Leka rescued survivors from the Norwegian Manx in Jan.-1940 - follow link for details. According to a posting to my Ship Forum she also rescued 1 of the 2 surviving crew members of the Swedish steamer Foxen (ex Danish Askø, according to J. Rohwer) on Jan. 24-1940. The other survivor was also rescued by a Norwegian ship (name not mentioned) and taken to Bergen.

In Febr.-1940 she's listed in the U.K.-Norway Convoy ON 11, and in the middle of March we find her in Convoy ON 20, but must have gotten out of Norway somehow, because she was in allied service during the war.

She was in Calais on May 22-1940 during the chaotic days of evacuations from France. On the same day a British battalion was landed with orders to hold the city. The captain managed to prevent the French garrison of 800 men from escaping with Leka, and instead took on board 1125 refugees, mostly women and children, and got them out at the last minute, landing them safely at Southampton. My Ship Forum has postings from one of those refugees, and my Guestbook has a message from the grandson and son of others. I've passed on several articles about this dramatic evacuation, and if time allows I'll write up a summary of them here. In the meantime, I'll be glad to provide these articles if required (my contact address has been added at the end of this page). Among them is a long article found in the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 2 for 1975 written by Captain Utne himself, describing Leka's difficult situation in the spring of 1940, and the frustrating, bureaucratic obstacles he ran into. In Issue No. 2 for 1979 there's another article in connection with his 90'th birthday - the text in both is in Norwegian.

In Sept.-1940 we find her in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 5, cargo of lumber for Preston, and a couple of months later, at the end of Nov., she was scheduled for Convoy SC 13, but instead joined the next convoy, SC 14, pit props for Immingham.

The following spring she's listed in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 25, which left Halifax on March 10-1941, cargo of timber for Great Yarmouth. In June that year, Leka, with a cargo of pyrites for Hull, was the only Norwegian ship in the Gibraltar-U.K. Convoy HG 64.

In Febr.-1942 she shows up in Convoy RU 12 from Reykjavik to the U.K., in ballast for Clyde.

She took part as supply ship for the Invasion of Normandie in June-1944, arriving June 11, leaving July 7 (she had a different captain by then).

Tidbits on Captain Utne, who seems to have had quite a life!
He was the son of sculptor Lars Utne, who is best known for his sculptures at the well known Nationalteateret in Oslo. Captain Utne lived in Berlin as a child. As a young lad of 15 he joined the barque Collingwood of Sandefjord (built in Aberdeen in 1872, 1034 reg. tons, belonged to Zernikoff & Gotaas, Norway from 1896, then had owners in Fredrikstad from 1913, A/S Fremad, Sandefjord in 1917. Sunk by a German U-boat on March 12-1917). He later joined the Scottish 4 masted Robert Duncan (Captain Williams) on which the young Utne voyaged around Cape Horn, a trip taking 152 days from Port Peirie, Australia to Antwerp. In 1906 he became a mate at the tender age of 17 1/2, later joined the D/S Maud as 2nd mate (Captain Stranger). He became a captain in 1910, then passed a Chinese "Ship Commander" exam in Nanking in 1935 and sailed on the coast of China, but returned to Norway where he purchased an old schooner (Asp) in which he, his wife, 4 children and crew of 8 headed for China in 1926, but due to the unrest in China they stayed in Singapore. Asp was chartered to the American Firestone company and was used to transport rubber between the area islands, until she was rammed and sunk by the Norwegian Soli in 1932.

When the war broke out in 1939 he was on D/S Leka in regular service between West Hartlepool and Oslo, by then the family had moved back to Norway. His later carreer included among other titles: Vice Consul in Greenock and Gourock in 1941, Vice Consul in Port Arthur, Texas till 1948, Vice Consul in Galveston till 1951. He had several medals: Krigskorset (The War Cross), Ridder av 1. kl. av St. Olavs Orden (Knight of 1st. class of St. Olav's Order), The King's Order of Merit (in gold), Officer in the most distinguished order of the British Empire (O.B.E.), 1943-1945 Star, Kong Christian 10's Liberty Medal. (He died in 1982).