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D/S Norelg To Norelg on the "Ships starting with N" page. Manager: Nortraship Barbara Mumford has sent me some information from Mitchell & Sawyer's "Empire Ships" which indicates this was one of the ships built under United States Shipping Board contracts (WW I). Built by G. M. Standifer Construction Corp., Vancouver, Wash. and completed in 1919 as Abercos (USSB) - Engines: T3cyl. Purchased from USA by British Ministry of War Transport in 1941 and renamed Empire Ptarmigan. Design 1015 - 9400 tdw, 402' x 53'. Engines: Geared turbines. This was one of 19 ships transferred to Nortraship in 1942. See my page "Ship Statistics & Misc." under Empire Ships for names of the other 18. Norelg was taken over at Clyde, May 1-1942. Most of the ‘Empire’-named ships that were transferred from the British to the Norwegian flag during the war years were given the prefix ‘Nor’, while some were named for members of the Norwegian Royal Family.
Norelg, general cargo for Glasgow, is listed in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 90 at the beginning of July-1942. However, she experienced steering gear trouble and returned to Sydney. She was subsequently scheduled for Convoy SC 93, but instead joined SC 94, general cargo and trucks for Glasgow. In Sept.-1942 she can be found among the ships in the westbound Convoy ON 128. This convoy had started out in Liverpool on Sept. 5, but Norelg joined from Halifax, and arrived New York on Sept. 24. Cruising order and a detailed narrative of the passage are available at the link provided; several Norwegian ships took part. She's also listed in Convoy KMS 5, leaving Clyde for Gibraltar and North Africa on Dec. 11-1942, also including the Norwegian Anna Knudsen, Vardefjell and Topdalsfjord. However, Norelg is said to have returned to port on that occasion. In March-1943 we find her mentioned in Convoy MKS 9 - scroll down in the table on my page for that convoy. In May that year she's listed in Convoy SC 131 from Halifax, in June she can be found in the westbound Convoy ONS 11, and in Aug. that same year she was in Convoy SC 139 - again, follow the links for further information. The 2nd external website that I've linked to at the end of this text lists her in Convoy OS 56/KMS 29 in Oct.-1943, on a voyage from Clyde to Italy with ammunition, stores and vehicles in station 85. The same website has her in station 33 of Convoy OS 74/KMS 48 in Apr.-1944, voyage Liverpool-Malta with general cargo. Later that year we find her in Convoy SL 174 / MKS 65, voyage Carthagena-Mersey, cargo of apricot pulp and cork. The SL portion of this convoy departed Freetown on Oct. 18-1944, joined up with the MKS portion from Gibraltar (with which Norelg joined) at the end of that month, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on Nov. 7. The Norwegian Brønnøy, Kristianiafjord and Jenny also took part. Follow the link for more convoy details. In the middle of Jan.-1945 she joined the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 165, bound for Liverpool with pulp. Note that all the KMS and MKS convoys mentioned here will be added to my own Convoys section in due course.
Managed by Wallem & Co., Panama in 1946. Named New Asia (New Continental SS Co., China) in 1948, Norelg (Wallem & Co., Panama) in 1950. Purple Star Shipping Co., China 1951. Reported sailing as Chung Hsing I in 1955. Name deleted from shipping registers in 1957(67?) due to lack of information. Related external links: OS and OS/KMS Convoys and SL convoys - As can be seen, Norelg is listed in the convoys mentioned in my text above, as are a number of other Norwegian ships. Back to Norelg on the "Ships starting with N" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, and misc., including information received from Barbara Mumford, her source Mitchell & Sawyer's "Empire Ships".
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