D/S Nea

To Nea on the "Ships starting with N" page.

Some War Voyages:

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. He adds that she was at Brest on Apr.(?) 16 that year.

In June-1940 she shows up in Convoy OA 168GF, which left Southend on June 15, then 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).

In Sept.-1940 she was in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 5, cargo of pulp wood, bound for Ridham Dock (said to have been cancelled from HX 74).

Towards the end of 1940 Nea, with destination Georgetown, is listed 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.

She was 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 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.

Towards the end of April that same year 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. That summer she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 1, leaving Liverpool on July 26-1941, but returned to port and later joined Convoy ON 4 the following month. Her destination is given as Sydney (Cape Breton), and she had station 94 of the convoy.

On Christmas Eve that same year the British ship Eastwood struck a mine off Aldenburgh 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."

At the end of June-1942 she was in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 89, cargo of lumber for London.

The 3rd website that I've linked to below says 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, dispersed May 16, with the ships going to Gibraltar arriving there on May 17, Nea being among them. She was on a voyage from Clyde to Gibraltar with coal, station 13. Follow the link for more convoy details. (KMS 13 and KMS 14 will also be added to my own Convoys section).

At the end of June-1943 we find Nea 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.

POST WAR:

In bad state of repair at war's end in May of 1945, and laid up in River Thames at 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 - A section of the OS Convoys website below.

SC-26, 1-4 Apr 1941

OS and OS/KMS Convoys - As can be seen, Nea is mentioned in Convoy OS 46/KMS 13 and is said to have sailed in OS 47/KMS 14.

Back to Nea on the "Ships starting with N" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Bachke & Co. fleet list, Finn R. Hansen, Nordenfjeldske D/S fleet list, Finn R. Hansen and misc. (ref. My sources).