D/S Marga - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Misc. War Voyages:

When Norway was invaded on Apr. 9-1940 Marga was in Chester, Pennsylvania, with an all Norwegian crew, on time charter to Munson & Co. having been in service to the West Indies. She continued under charter until June that year. On June 5 she arrived New York from the West Indies to find that the charterers had gone bankrupt and it was decided (by Nortraship) she was to sail for Ministry of War Transport. Degaussing was installed, and she departed New York on Sept. 22 arriving Sheet Harbour on the 28th, having stopped at St. John N. B. f. o.. A cargo of pulp was taken on board for Grimsby, and she arrived Sydney C. B. on Oct. 4, departing in Convoy SC 8 on Oct. 15 (Marga had originally been scheduled for Convoy SC 7). During a storm on Oct. 29 the convoy was attacked by U-boats(?), which resulted in it getting scattered, and Marga arrived Rothesay Bay outside Glasgow, where she was to wait for a local convoy for the east coast. En route to Grimsby to unload her cargo, this convoy was attacked by aircraft off Peterhead; some ships were damaged but none were sunk.

Marga now continued in service between Canada and the U.K. with pulp and lumber, except for 3 voyages when she was sent via Canada - Bermuda to Georgetown, British Guiana to pick up aluminum ore for the aircraft factories in the U.K. She's listed, with destination Georgetown, in Convoy OB 256, leaving Liverpool on Dec. 8-1940, as can be seen from the website about the OB convoys that I've linked to at the end of this page. However, she shows up again with the same destination in OB 264, which left on Christmas Eve, so I'm not sure if she actually sailed in OB 256.

In Febr.-1941 she was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 22, but instead joined the next convoy, SC 23, cargo of bauxite for Larne. That summer, in June-1941, she's listed in Convoy SC 33, carrying asphalte and bauxite, destination London.

At the end of May-1942 she joined Convoy SC 85, cargo of lumber for Sharpness, and in Aug./Sept.-1942 we find her in Convoy SC 98 (having been cancelled from the previous convoy, SC 97). After having unloaded her cargo of lumber in Sharpness in Oct., she was fitted out for Operation Torch (though nobody knew this at the time), meaning more armament was also installed, with 12 gunners to operate it, before heading towards Gibraltar in a convoy of 100 ships on Oct. 30-1942, arriving Nov. 12, proceeding to Algiers (with aviation fuel) a couple of days later. She continued in this service as ammunition and supply ship for several months, enduring numerous aircraft attacks, though after Montgomery's victory in Tunisia it got somewhat easier, in that the enemy lost the Bizerta base, where most of the air attacks originated. With the new British airfields along the coast they were also provided with better air protection.

In May-1943 Marga spent some time in dock in Cardiff for a general overhaul, a welcome break, and at the same time she had an extra gun installed on the forecastle, meaning she now had 5 anti aircraft guns mounted in various places on the ship. At the beginning of June-1943 she was finally ready to carry a general cargo to Philippeville. She's listed in Convoy OS 50/KMS 17 that month; see the external link at the end of this page, as well as my own page for the Gibraltar portion, KMS 17. As can be seen the Norwegian Norfalk, Evviva, Kristianiafjord and Vigsnes are also listed. Some of them, including Marga, are also listed in the second table on my page about KMS 17, so it looks like she continued from Gibraltar for her destination on June 30.

Marga was subsequently in service between the coast of North Africa and Sicily, until she on Sept. 5 was waiting for orders at Augusta, with a full cargo of ammunition and equipment as well as 150 British troops on board. That same evening Marga had the honour of being the first allied supply ship to arrive the inlet to Reggio, and the next morning she was the first to start unloading her cargo. D/S Brisk came in as No. 2 in this "race" to be the first, closely followed by the Belgian Prince de Liege and the British Fort Chambly. Marga then carried ammunition and fuel to the ports in South Italy until she, shortly after Crotone had been occupied, was damaged by a mine off the harbour there in the morning of the 18th and initially beached, but damage was minor and she was refloated and arrived Taranto for repairs on Oct. 12 (Taranto had been taken by a small British force on Sept. 9).

After repairs had been completed she continued the service in the Mediterranean for a short period of time*, before being sent to Hull to be fitted out for the Normandie invasion. With a cargo of aviation fuel she then proceeded to the Thames to await further orders; the crew had no contact with shore during this time. Marga arrived Gold Beach on June 12-1944 and departed June 19. She continued running between Southampton and Rouen for quite a while, and was later put into service between Humber and Ghent - Antwerp. After Rotterdam had been freed she was the first Norwegian ship there since the war had started, carrying supplies for the population.

* She's listed as sailing in Convoy SL 151/MKS 42, the SL portion of which having left Freetown on March 2-1944, while the MKS portion left Gibraltar on March 13, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on the 24th. Again, see the external link at the end of this page (MKS 42 will be added to my own Convoys section in due course).

Marga experienced one of the last E-boat attacks against a convoy at the end of the war, when off the south coast of England on a voyage from Grimsby to Ghent on Febr. 22-1945, but damages were minor.

POST WAR:

Billy McGee, England has told me that the 23 old Able Seaman Leonard Wischhusen of Marga died on Jan 16-1947 - not sure what happened to him. I found him on this page on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website (external link). Charles Hocking lists a ship named Marga, also owned by A/S Bruusgaard. Built 1924, 1595 gt - sprang a leak on February 20th 1951, and was towed into Camaret, near Brest. On March 11th she left in tow, but on March 13 there was a gale and she broke in two and sank. She had a cargo of ore. (Note that Hocking' book is available as downloadable, alphabetical pdf files on the Internet from this external page). A message in my Ship Forum confirms this is the same ship as the one I've listed here. Another reply to the query on Marga describes her present condition, and there's also a more recent message re. Leonard Wischhusen in the same thread.

The following pictures are courtesy of the webmaster of Riversea International (external link), who adds:
"Marga sent out a distress signal on 21/2/1951 with her engine-room flooded by exceptional seas. Her crew were rescued in difficult conditions by Abeille no. 25 and several merchant vessels which stood by the casualty. The tug eventually got a line onto the deserted ship and arrived the next day with her at Camaret Bay, Brest. This was not to be the end of the saga, as she sank off Dover on 13/3/1951 while under tow by Dexterous to complete the delivery of her cargo to Rotterdam."