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D/S Norjerv To Norjerv on the "Ships starting with N" page. Manager: Nortraship Info from Barbara Mumford (her source: "Empire Ships"): One of the ships built under United States Shipping Board contracts (WW I) and purchased from U.S.A. by British Ministry of War Transport at the beginning of WW II. Design 1080 Ames-type - 8800 tdw, 410 ft x 54 ft. Engines: T3cyl. 5775 gt. Built by Ames Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Seattle, Wash. Completed as West Islip (USSB) in 1919. Sailed as Golden Rod (Oceanic & Oriental SN Co., San Francisco) 1928, Willhilo (Williams SS Co. Inc., New York) 1935, Indianan (American Hawaiian SS Co.) 1937, Empire Eagle (M.O.S.) 1940. This was one of 19 ships transferred to Nortraship in 1942, Empire Ships on my page "Ship Statistics & Misc." gives the names of the other 18. Norjerv was taken over in Hull, April 14-1942. 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’, others were named for members of the (exiled) Norwegian Royal Family. Captain: Karl Johan Hamre Related item on this website:
Norjerv was scheduled for the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 87 in June-1942, but instead joined the next convoy, SC 88, steel and cotton for Liverpool. In Sept. that year she's listed in Convoy SC 99. In Febr.-1943 she's listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 165, bound for Philadelphia, station 22, and at the end of March we find her in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 125. In July that year she sailed in Convoy SC 136 from Halifax - follow the links for cruising orders. She subsequently made a voyage to Buenos Aires. This is possible to determine from the external website that I've linked to at the end of this page, where Norjerv is listed in Convoy OS 53/KMS 23 which left Liverpool on Aug.8 -1943. Norjerv had a cargo of chemicals and sailed in station 123 of the convoy. In Apr.-1944 she shows up in Convoy SL 154/MKS 45. The SL portion of this convoy, in which Norjerv took part, left Freetown on Apr. 1-1944 and joined up with the MKS portion from Gibraltar en route, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on Apr. 23. Norjerv was on a voyage from Rosario to Mersey with a cargo of wheat, corned beef and general.
Norjerv was sunk as blockship at Normandy in 1944. I've come across conflicting dates, Aug.-1944, June 26, July 20, and July 16. I'm inclined to lean towards the latter date as it comes from the diary of Hjalmar Holthe (see crew list below), which can be found on this page (external site - text is Norwegian). He says they departed Barry in the evening of July 6, anchored up for the night, then continued the next morning, joining a large convoy and arriving France on July 10. They remained there for several days enduring several air attacks, before Norjerv was eventually sunk on July 16, whereupon those who had been on board were taken aboard a landing craft and landed in Southampton on July 18. Crew List:
Raised in 1949 but broke in two on June 3-1949 while in tow of tugs Tradesman (ex Empire Julia) and Rifleman (ex Empire Vera) bound for Strangford Lough, N. Ireland, for scrapping. Both parts sank. External websites with info related to the text on this page: OS and OS/KMS Convoys - The site also has a section on the SL convoys going in the other direction. As can be seen Norjerv is listed in Convoy OS 53/KMS 23, as are several other Norwegian ships, and in SL 154/MKS 45. Mulberry - From the comprehensive website Skylighters. Back to Norjerv 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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