D/S Nea - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Some Convoy Voyages:

(More will be added).

Nea is mentioned in connection with Convoy HN 10 from Norway to the U.K. in Febr.-1940, bound for London with pulp; several Norwegian ships took part. The following month she shows up among the ships in Convoy OA 105G. This convoy later joined up with OB 105 from Liverpool and formed OG 21 for Gibraltar bound ships, follow the links for more info.

A French visitor to my site has told me that Nea sailed from Oran on May(?) 14-1940 in Convoy 19-RS under French escort. West of Gibraltar the convoy merged with the French convoy 86-KS from Casablanca, arriving Brest on Apr. 16. Both these convoys are now available at the external website that I've linked to at the end of this page, but note that departure Oran is given as Apr. 9 for 19R so May is probably a typing error (in fact, according to Page 1 of the archive documents, Nea was at Caen on May 14, leaving that day for Glasgow).

In June-1940 she's listed in Convoy OA 168GF, which left Southend on June 15 and joined up with OB 168GF from Liverpool 2 days later to form Convoy OG 34F, arriving Gibraltar on June 24. Nea, however, was only bound for St. Nazaire on that occasion (ref. external links at the end of this text - these convoys had many other Norwegian ships as well - OG 34 will be added, in the meantime, see ships in all OG convoys).

As will be seen when going back to the archive document mentioned above, she made a voyage from Milford Haven to St. John's, N.F. in Aug.-1940. She had started this voyage in Convoy OB 203, which originated in Liverpool on Aug. 24 and dispersed on the 28th, Nea arriving St. John's on Sept. 4 - again, ref. external link provided at the end of this page. She returned to the U.K. later that month with the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 5, cargo of pulp wood, bound for Ridham Dock, where she arrived, via various other ports, on Oct. 16 (she had been cancelled from HX 74).

At the end of 1940 Nea, voyage Oban-Georgetown, is mentioned in Convoy OB 262, leaving Liverpool on Dec. 20, but may not have sailed, because she shows up again with the same destination in OB 264, which left 4 days later (Christmas Eve) and dispersed on the 29th - again, see the external link below for names of other ships in these convoys, some of which were Norwegian; see also Page 2.

She also took part in Convoy SC 26, leaving Halifax on March 20-1941 and was one of the lucky ones that escaped the torpedoes, making it safely to Iceland on Apr. 6 after the convoy had been dispersed. She had a cargo of bauxite and pitch and was originally bound for Burntisland. See also D/S Helle, as well as the external link provided at the end of this page. Shortly thereafter Nea rescued 14 men from the French ship Celte, which had been bombed and sunk between Iceland and Scotland; 10 others were rescued by a British ship. The company fleet list gives the date for this rescue as Apr. 27-1941, and going back to Page 2 of the archive documents, we see that Nea was en route from Reykjavik to Scrabster on that date, later continuing to Burntisland.

The following month she made a voyage from Oban to Montreal, where she arrived June 11. Arnold Hague has now included her in Convoy SC 35, and she later joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 1, originating in Liverpool on July 26-1941, but she returned to port, joining Convoy ON 4 the following month. Her destination is given as Sydney (Cape Breton), and she had station 94 of the convoy. According to the archive document already mentioned, she arrived Parrsboro on Aug. 26, having started out from Loch Ewe on the 8th; proceeded to Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 12. A little over a week later she joined Convoy SC 45, departing Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 18-1941, arriving Liverpool Oct. 4; Nea stopped at Loch Ewe on that date. SC 45 will be added to my Convoys section, for now, please see ships in all SC convoys.

On Christmas Eve that same year the British ship Eastwood struck a mine off Aldeburgh and sank, according to "Nortraships flåte". 7 or 8 men managed to get into a lifeboat, but it capsized and only one man remained afloat. After an hour in the water he was rescued by Nea, which took him to Grimsby, after having searched for other survivors in vain. A visitor to my website says "British Vessels Lost at Sea" states that Eastwood was only damaged, not sunk. "Battle of the East Coast" says "Another impressive success, this time of the rescue tugs, was the Eastwood operation on Xmas Eve 1941. That collier had been mined and sunk near the Aldeburgh Light Float but was refloated and towed into Harwich in pitch darkness."

In the spring of 1942 Nea made another voyage across the Atlantic, having joined the westbound Convoy ON 90, which originated in Liverpool on Apr. 28 and arrived Halifax May 15. Nea joined from Loch Ewe and arrived New York May 17 - see Page 4. She returned at the end of June in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 89, cargo of lumber for London. In Aug.-1942 we find her in the westbound Convoy ON 118, originating in Liverpool on Aug. 1, Nea arriving St. John's, N.F. on Aug. 15, having started out from Loch Ewe again. Both the ON convoys mentioned here will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section, but for now, please see ships in all ON convoys. According to A. Hague, she later joined the Sydney, C.B. portion of Convoy SC 102, which originated in New York on Sept. 19-1942, but she returned to port (St. John's), subsequently joining the Newfoundland section of Convoy SC 104, which had started out from New York on Oct. 3 - again, see ships in all SC convoys. My page about Potentilla also has information on this convoy, in which Fagersten and Senta were sunk, among others, and for which Acanthus, Eglantine and Montbretia acted as escorts, in addition to Potentilla. Several Norwegian ships took part.

Nea was scheduled for Convoy OS 46/KMS 13 from Liverpool in Apr.-1943, but instead joined the next convoy, OS 47/KMS 14 which departed on May 5 and split up on May 16, with the ships going to Gibraltar arriving there on May 17, Nea being among them (see Page 5). She was on a voyage from Clyde to Gibraltar with coal, station 13. Follow the external link provided at the end of this page for more convoy details. (KMS 13 and KMS 14 will also be added to my own Convoys section, but for now, the ships sailing in them are named in the section listing ships in all KMS convoys). At the end of the following month we find her in Convoy KMS 17 - scroll down to the second table on that page. It looks like she joined this convoy from Gibraltar on June 30 and was bound for Bizerta, with arrival there July 5. Further convoy voyages in that part of the world can be found by following the instructions at the external link below. Compare this information with the voyages listed on the archive documents.

POST WAR:

In bad state of repair at war's end in May of 1945, and laid up in River Thames at the end of duty for Nortraship. Sold on Apr. 20-1946 to Rederi-A/B Sueccia, Ystad, Sweden (no name change). Sold on Dec. 24-1946 to Råå Rederi A/B, Råå, Sweden and renamed Juno. Sold on Nov. 2-1950 to Seger Hushållsmaskiner A/B (E. Andihn), Gothenburg and renamed Seger; the company changed its name to Rederi-A/B Seger in 1951. Sold on Nov. 17-1952 to Airiston Laiva O/Y, Helsingfors and renamed Tarvo (or Meri?). Stranded in a snow storm on Nov. 25-1956 about 300 miles from Rödkallen pilot station when on a voyage Nordenham-Luleå and broke in two. Forepart afloat on Oct. 8-1957, but sank near Ratan due to towing wire breaking.

Related external links:
OB (& OA) convoys - OA 168, OB 262, OB 264 are included. There's also a section for OS/KMS Convoys and as can be seen, Nea is mentioned in Convoy OS 46/KMS 13 and is said to have sailed in OS 47/KMS 14. Note also that by going to this section of the same site and clicking on "Ship Search", using "Nea" as keyword, several convoys that are not mentioned in my own text will come up, though you'll have to sift through other ships with the letters NEA in their names. Here are 19-R, 86-KS and OB 203, all mentioned in the above narrative.

SC-26, 1-4 Apr 1941