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D/S Norfalk To Norfalk on the "Ships starting with N" page. Manager: Nortraship Barbara Mumford (who runs the Convoy ONS 154 website) has sent me some information from Mitchell & Sawyer's "Empire Ships" which says this ship was among the ships requisitioned by USSB and purchased from U.S.A. by the British Ministry of Shipping at the beginning of WW II. Built by Ames Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Seattle, Wash. Ordered in WW I as War Hector for Shipping Controller, London. 5674 gt, 410 ft x 54 ft. Engines: T3cyl. Completed as Western Ally (USSB) in Jan.-1919. Named Forbes Hauptmann (McCormick SS Co. San Francisco) in 1929, then Empire Kittiwake (M.O.S.) in 1940. This was one of 19 ships transferred to Nortraship in 1942 (my page "Ship Statistics & Misc." has the names of the other 18 under Empire Ships). As Empire Kittiwake she arrived the U.K. from Halifax with Convoy SC 80 early in May-1942 and was taken over in Mersey on May 15, renamed Norfalk. 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’, others were named for members of the (exiled) Norwegian Royal Family. Captain: Einar Thoresen
Norfalk is listed in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 91 in July-1942, general cargo for Hull. She was somewhat altered at King George Dock in the summer of 1943 and fitted out for service in the Mediterranean. At that time she had 2 Norwegian and 5 British gunners on board, under the command of Juel Jahren. She left the dock on June 13 for Spurn Point to await a convoy, and witnessed an air attack on Grimsby early the next morning, before continuing to Oban. Departed on June 16 with Convoy OS 50/KMS 17, arriving Gibraltar on June 29. (Lysaker V was also in this convoy, but lagged behind and became a straggler. Other Norwegian ships in the Gibraltar portion, which is available in my own Convoys section at KMS 17, were Evviva, Kristianiafjord, Marga and Vigsnes. (Names of ships in the combined convoy are available at the external link provided below). Norfalk left Gibraltar for Bone the following day with arrival on July 4 and commenced unloading on July 12. On the 19th she departed for Philippeville, then went back to Gibraltar (listed in Convoy MKS 19Y - scroll down to the third table on that page) where 30 tons bombs were taken on board before she headed to Casablanca on Aug. 2. 4 days later she was back in Gibraltar, just 2 days after Thorshøvdi had been destroyed by limpet mines. Norfalk remained in Gibraltar awaiting a convoy until Aug. 15. That same morning a southbound convoy in which Tigre, Facto and Selvik took part had been attacked by aircraft west of Cape St. Vincent (Convoy OS 53/KMS 23 - the British Warfield was sunk in this attack), so an anti aircraft cruiser and 2 Liberator aircraft were added to the escort for the northbound ships. In the afternoon of Aug. 17 a German FW Kurier came towards the convoy but was shot down by the Liberators, and the convoy arrived Loch Ewe on Aug. 26. This must have been Convoy MKS 21, in which Norfalk is listed, together with the Norwegian Sneland I. Norfalk subsequently went to a yard in the Humber, where she stayed for several months. Going back to the external website about the OS and SL convoys below, we find Norfalk in Convoy SL 146/MKS 37 in Jan.-1944, together with the Norwegian Boreas, Troubadour and Tiradentes. For departure and arrival dates, as well as more information on these convoys, follow the link (the Gibraltar portion is also available in my own Convoys section at Convoy MKS 37 - note that she had previously arrived with the Alexandria portion, listed on the same page). Norfalk, cargo of sugar for London, was scheduled for Convoy HX 291 in May-1944, but instead joined the next convoy, HX 292. All the MKS and KMS convoys mentioned on this page will be added to my own Convoys section in due course. Related external link:
On July 20-1944, while in a convoy 7 n. miles south of Barfleur Norfalk struck a mine and sank when en route to Normandy to be used as blockship during Operation Overlord. (According to an excerpt from the ship's journal, she had started her voyage in Glasgow and was headed for St. Laurent, sailing as "No. 4 in the starboard column". When the explosion occurred she was about 1.5 miles east of "Buoy No. L 3"). On the bridge at the time were Captain Thoresen, the 3rd mate and the helmsman, Able Seaman Husevåg, while Able Seaman Holm was on lookout duty. Engine Room Assistant Eliassen and Stoker Olsen were in the engine room. She developed a leak in No. 5 hold, all electric lights stopped functioning and due to broken steam pipes it was impossible to get to the engine room. The main engine was stopped from the boat deck. The British trawler HMS Steepholm (T 356) and the American salvage vessel Diver arrived, whereupon attemps were made to tow her the rest of the way to Normandie, but in spite of continuous pumping the water kept rising in her holds, so her crew was ordered on board Diver while crew from the salvage vessel took over. Several more attempts at towing were made but eventually given up late that afternoon and she was abondoned in a sinking condition (she sank 2 n. miles from her destination). The 1st engineer, the donkeyman and the carpenter, who had been on the after deck when the explosion occurred were injured. The former 2 were picked up by an American MTB and subsequently transferred to a hospital ship, while the carpenter was treated on arrival port. All 3 were later left under medical care on the French coast.
External websites with info related to the text on this page: Mulberry - From the comprehensive website Skylighters. Back to Norfalk on the "Ships starting with N" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II, and misc. (ref. My sources).
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