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M/T Noreg To Noreg on the "Ships starting with N" page. Manager: H. M. Wrangell & Co. A/S, Haugesund Delivered in July-1931 from Burmeister & Wain's Skibs- & Maskinbyggeri, Copenhagen (586) as Noreg to Skibs-A/S Corona (H. M. Wrangell & Co. A/S), Haugesund. Captain: Andreas Høviskeland all through the war. Noreg served as oiler for the convoy escorts (Admiralty service).
Convoy SC 3 Convoy HX 94 Convoy HX 96 Convoy OB 286 Convoy HX 116 Convoy HX 117 Convoy HX 137 Convoy ON 3 Convoy HX 154 Convoy ON 32 Convoy HX 167 Noreg, with fuel oil for Clyde, is listed in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 3, from which the Norwegian Lotos was sunk in Sept.-1940, and which had a large number of Norwegian ships. However, there's a note in one of the documents for this convoy saying that she was "not traced" - I'm not sure whether this means she did not sail, or perhaps it simply means she lost touch with the convoy. In Dec.-1940 she was scheduled for Convoy HX 94, but cancelled and instead joined HX 96. In Febr.-1941 she's listed in station 45 of Convoy OB 286, her destination being Port of Spain. Early the following month, she was scheduled for HX 116 from Halifax to the U.K., but did not sail. Instead she joined the next convoy, HX 117. Damaged by an incendiary bomb when the outward bound convoy in which she sailed was attacked by aircraft on May 12-1941, but damages were minor. She's listed as sailing in Convoy HX 137 in July-1941, bound for Clyde with Admiralty fuel in station 45 of the Convoy, which also had several other Norwegian ships. At the end of that month she returned with the westbound Convoy ON 3, leaving Liverpool on July 31-1941. Noreg's destination is given as Curacao. In Oct.-1941 she was in Convoy HX 154 along with the Norwegian Hilda Knudsen (and another ? Knudsen - possibly Kaia Knudsen?) Ranja, Tai Shan, Samuel Bakke, Emma Bakke, Polarsol, Skiensfjord, Toronto, N. T. Nielsen-Alonso and an unnamed Norwegian tanker. Some of these ships, including Noreg, subsequently joined the westbound Convoy ON 32 the following month. Noreg's destination is given as Trinidad, and she had station 44 of the convoy, which left Liverpool on Nov. 1-1941. She's also listed as being in Convoy HX 167 which left Halifax on Dec. 27-1941. Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were O. A. Knudsen, Thorshavn, Suderøy, Meline, Bralanta, Abraham Lincoln, Sandanger and several unnamed Norwegian vessels. Ref. links to convoy information above.
Convoy PQ 9 / PQ 10 Convoy QP 8 Convoy RU 16 Convoy SC 84 Convoy RU 26 Convoy HX 205 Convoy HX 206 Convoy HX 217 Convoy ON 155 Convoy ON 157 Noreg was the only Haugesund ship to take part in the Murmansk convoys during the war. She was in the combined Convoy PQ 9 / PQ 10 consisting of 10 merchant ships, leaving Reykjavik on Febr. 1-1942, arriving Murmansk safely on the 10th. The other ships were the British Atlantic, Empire Selwyn and Trevorian, the Russian Ijora, Revolutsioner, Friedrich Engels and Tbilisi, the American West Nohno and the Panamanian El Lago, (and possibly the Russian Kiev). The Norwegian armed whalers Hav and Shika were part of the escort group for this convoy. Noreg returned with Convoy QP 8, which left Murmansk on March 1-1942 and consisted of 15 merchant ships; namely all the ones listed above except Trevorian, and with the addition of British Workman, British Pride, Elona, Explorer (all British), the American Larranga, and the Panamanian Cold Harbor. Due to bad weather the convoy was scattered on March 4 and during this time the Russian Ijora was sunk by the German destroyer Friedrich Ihn (Tirpitz was out with 3 destroyers searching for PQ 12, in fact Convoy QP 8 met this convoy on the 7th). Larranga was also seperated from the convoy in the south westerly gale on March 4 but arrived Iceland safely. QP 8 split up on March 9, with 5 of the ships arriving Hvalfjord on the 11th and the rest of the ships heading for Akureyri. On March 23-1942 Convoy RU 16 left Reykjavik for the U.K. and Noreg is listed among the ships, but with a note saying "not for U.K.". She was heading for the U.S. at the time, and in May she's listed in the eastbound Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 84. The following month, in June-1942, we again find Noreg in Iceland, joining Convoy RU 26 for the U.K. (she may have gone to Iceland directly from Convoy SC 84?). In Sept. that year she sailed in HX 206 (having cancelled from the previous convoy, HX 205), and a couple of months later she's listed in Convoy HX 217 from New York, cargo of fuel for Clyde. This convoy was attacked and 2 ships were sunk (more information is available in the convoys section - links above). At the end of Dec. she joined the westbound Convoy ON 157 (having cancelled from ON 155 earlier that month). Noreg is said to have taken part in the operations in Africa, but unfortunately, I have no information on exactly which convoys she took part in (Athos has a list of other Norwegian ships involved in the Torch operations, which had commenced in Nov.-1942). If this is correct, it must have been quite late in 1943, because it looks like she went back and forth from U.K. to the U.S. towards the end of 1942 and quite a ways into 1943. In fact, I'm inclided to think this is a mix-up with Norelg, which does indeed show up in Convoy KMS 5, leaving Clyde for Gibraltar and North Africa on Dec. 11-1942, also including the Norwegian Anna Knudsen, Vardefjell and Topdalsfjord.
Convoy HX 225 Convoy ON 170 Convoy HX 235 Convoy HX 242 ON 157, mentioned above had arrived New York on Jan. 15-1943, and Noreg subsequently returned with Convoy HX 225 from New York to the U.K. at the end of that month. She headed to the U.S. again with the westbound Convoy ON 170, which departed Liverpool on March 3-1943 and arrived New York on the 20th, returning to the U.K. with Convoy HX 235 the following month, her destination being Invergordon. It looks like she went straight back to the U.S., because at the end of May she's listed as sailing in Convoy HX 242, which left New York on May 31 and arrived Liverpool on June 15. In Sept. that year she was at Bizerta, Italy and experienced air attacks there, but escaped unharmed.
Convoy JW 56A Convoy RA 56 Convoy JW 58 Convoy RA 59 Convoy HX 295 Convoy HX 301 Convoy JW 60 Convoy RA 60 Convoy JW 61 Convoy RA 61 In Jan 1944 she was again back in the Murmansk convoys as escort oiler; leaving Loch Ewe on Jan. 12 as the only Norwegian ship in the eastbound Convoy JW 56A, reaching the Kola inlet on Jan. 28. In the book "Sjøfolk i krig" by Leif M. Bjørkelund I found a personal story told by Able Seaman Johan Byrkja describing the passage of Convoy JW 56A. Byrkja had previously served on another Haugesund ship, M/S Geisha, as well as on M/T Thorshavet (more info in these ships can be found with the help of the alphabet index at the end of this page). Noreg had recently arrived Clyde from New York with a cargo of fuel oil, and anchored at Greenock where some extra supplies started to show up; things like sheep skin coats, boots, wool underclothes, mittens etc., as well as 6 Oerlikons, so it didn't take long for the crew to figure out where they were headed next. Noreg was also given the addition of an extra storm bridge on the starboard side where a hose was placed (for replenishing the escorts) and depth charges were also brought on board (also for the escorts). I wonder if he has gotten the convoys mixed up when telling his story, afterall this book is based on interviews with seamen 50 years after the war was over, so it's quite possible. I say this because he lists King George V and Victorious as 2 of the escorts, none of these ships are mentioned by Bob Ruegg/Arnold Hague in connection with this convoy ("Convoys to Russia"). When approaching Iceland a hurricane hit them with full force. A distress call was received from a Liberty ship which was about to go down, and shortly thereafter another vessel went down (again, this is not mentioned by Ruegg/Hague at all). Due to the horrendous weather the convoy was ordered to Siglufjord, Iceland, and according to Byrkja' story Noreg was one of the few ships arriving without bad damages or lifeboats destroyed. He says the convoy had consisted of 25 ships but only 12 were able to continue the journey (according to Ruegg/Hague 5 of the original 20 ships did not proceed beyond Iceland, or returned to Loch Ewe. The convoy sought shelter at Akureyri, Iceland from Jan. 18-1944 until the 21st). 2 American and 1 British merchant were sunk during this passage, and a British destroyer damaged (this would be the Penelope Barker, Andrew G. Curtin and Fort Bellingham and the British destroyer Obdurate, my page for JW56 A has the details). Byrkja says that being as they were the supply ship they had a radio and a speaker on board so that they could be contacted by the escorts day and night, and they were under a "Blue Warning", meaning all guns had to be armed continuously. Noreg had 9 of them, a 4 inch aft, 2 -3 inch and the rest 20 inch Oerlikons. 5 British soldiers manned the largest, while the crew manned the rest when they weren't on their regular sea duty; in other words, they were on some sort of duty 24 hours a day. He says they caught what sleep they could, while fastened to the guns. If they set the gun at the right hight and locked it, it was possible to sleep with their arms on the gun. Byrkja says that one night the attacks got really bad. He was at the helm and had the speaker right over his head, getting increasingly annoyed at having to listen to all the jibberish (it was all in code), when suddenly a voice came on saying "This is the Commanding officer of the convoy - admiral..", he can't remember the name. Then the voice continued politely "are we going to get a ship through to Russia or not?". Then a brief pause - "If so, then see the hell to it that we do!". A number was then called out and ordered to rescue survivors of a torpedoed ship, then another number was called and ordered to beat the enemy down on that side, and "see to it that it gets done". Byrkja says it was obvious the man was furious, and the results were amazing to watch; depth charges exploding, guns firing etc. Noreg returned with Convoy RA 56 along with 38 other ships, departing Febr. 3-1944 (this was a combination of the ships that had been in eastbound convoys JW 56A and JW 56B), arriving Loch Ewe without incident on Febr. 11. The Panamanian Norlys (Norwegian managers, listed under N's on this website) was also escort oiler for this convoy. Back to Russia in JW 58, a large convoy which left Loch Ewe on March 27-1944, arriving Kola Inlet on Apr. 4. No merchant ships were lost on this passage, but 4 U-boats were sunk. The return trip for Noreg started on Apr. 28 in Convoy RA 59 and she was again the only Norwegian ship. She had a number of British seamen as passengers on board as did all the other vessels, including the escorts (some also had Russian personnel as passengers). The rest of the convoy consisted of 33 American and 7 British ships and was also attacked by U-boats resulting in the loss of the American merchant William S Thayer and 43 crew and passengers on Apr. 30, 192 were rescued. 3 U-boats were subsequently sunk; the convoy dispersed and arrived Loch Ewe and Clyde May 6 and 7 respectively. In June-1944 she shows up in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 295, and the following month she's listed in Convoy HX 301 from New York (ref. list of convoy links above). About a month later she joined Convoy JW 60 from Loch Ewe on Sept. 15-1944, arriving Kola Inlet on Sept. 23, then departed Kola Inlet on Sept. 28 in Convoy RA 60 for the return trip together with 31 other ships. Edward H Crockett, with a cargo of 1659 tons chrome ore and Samsuva, cargo of pitprops, were sunk by U-310 on Sept. 29, with the loss of 1 man from the American ship and 3 from Samsuva. (For info, Edward H. Crockett can also be found in HX 301). Noreg can again be found in the next convoy to Murmansk, JW 61 on Oct. 20-1944, arriving the Kola Inlet without losses on Oct. 28. The Norwegian Marathon is also listed in this convoy, but there's some disagreement in my sources; follow link to Marathon for explanation. 6 Russian SC boats also sailed in this convoy. For her return voyage from Murmansk on Nov. 2 Noreg was part of Convoy RA 61. No ships were lost, though the frigate Mounsey was torpedoed (by U-295) and had to return to Kola. Before the next convoy headed east, the battle ship Tirpitz had been sunk and a serious threat to the Arctic convoys was thereby eliminated, though the U-boats remained a threat, as the thermal layers of the Arctic made the spotting of them by Asdic almost impossible. A visitor to my site (Philippe van Wersch) has told me that on Jan. 28-1945 Noreg, together with the Dagmar Bratt, arrived at Delfzijl in the Dutch province of Groningen with a total 3600 tons of food for the starving Dutch. However, this date does not quite fit with the fact that Noreg is listed in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 334, which left New York on Jan. 23-1945.
Laid up at Bøvågen in July-1958. Sold in Dec. that year to I/S Geron (Per Lodding), Oslo and renamed Geron. At Oslo Sept. 19-1959, in use as a depot ship. Delivered to Norsk Skipsopphugging (breakers), Christiania Spigerverk, Grimstad in Aug.-1960. Related external links: Russian Convoy Series | Russian Convoys 1941-1945 An Authobiography - At the end of this page there's an interesting personal account of the passage of JW 61. Back to Noreg on the "Ships starting with N" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Våre motorskip" by Leif M. Bjørkelund and E. H. Kongshavn, "Convoys to Russia 1941-1945" by Bob Ruegg and Arnold Hague, "Sjøfolk i krig", Leif M. Bjørkelund - ref. Sources/Books.
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