Site Map | Search Warsailors.com |Merchant Fleet Main Page | Warsailors.com Home 

D/S Norlom
Updated Jan. 28-2009

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

Crew List


Source: Markus Berger (see Swiss Ships - external link).

Manager: Nortraship
Tonnage:
6326 gt

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 1105 - 9600 tdw, 410.5 ft x 54.8 ft. Engines: T3cyl. 6326 gt. Built by Skinner & Eddy Corp., Seattle, Wash. Completed as Editor (USSB) in 1919.

Empire Dunlin (M.O.W.T.) from 1941. Ran aground on Valient Rock, near New London, Long Island Sound on Apr. 26-1942 on a voyage from New York to the U.K. with a cargo of steel. Leaking; flooded and abandoned. Refloated on May 11 that same year, towed to New York and repaired.

This was one of 19 ships transferred to Nortraship in 1942. Norlom was taken over at Hull on Oct 1-1942. Empire Ships on my page "Ship Statistics & Misc." gives the names of the other 18 ships transferred to the Norwegian flag in 1942.

Captain: Jacob Østhassel Samuelsen.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2



 Some Convoy Voyages: 
(More will be added).

It looks like the information at the beginning of Page 1 above shows her voyages while still Empire Dunlin. In fact, she had arrived the U.K. under that name with Convoy SC 98, which had left Halifax on Aug. 29-1942 and arrived Liverpool Sept. 13; Empire Dunlin arrived Hull (via Loch Ewe Sept. 12) on Sept. 18. As already mentioned above, she was taken over by Nortraship at Hull on Oct 1-1942 and renamed Norlom.

Norlom is listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 144*, departing Liverpool on Nov. 7-1942, arriving New York on the 27th. Norlom, however, was bound for Halifax, where she arrived Nov. 25, having started out from Oban on the 8th. She spent Christmas of 1942 in Convoy HX 219, which originated in New York on Dec. 13, but Norlom joined this convoy from Halifax on the 16th. She had a general cargo for Tyne.

In Febr.-1943 she's listed in the westbound Convoy ON 165; the Commodore's narrative is also available. According to the Commodore, Norlom was among the ships joining the convoy from Iceland on Febr. 8, but but according to Page 1, she started out from Loch Ewe on Febr. 2. ON 165 arrived New York on March 1, however, the same archive document indicates she put into St. John's on Febr. 23, proceeding to Halifax on Apr. 24, with arrival Apr. 27 (she's listed in Convoy JH 50 for this voyage - ref. external link below). In June we find her in station 42 of the slow Convoy SC 133, which left Halifax on June 5 and arrived Liverpool on the 19th; Norlom stopped at Loch Ewe on the 18th. She later joined the westbound Convoy ON 193*, departing Liverpool on July 16, arriving New York on the 31st (Norlom had sailed from Oban on July 15). Note that she's also listed, with destination New York, in Convoy ONS 13*, departing Liverpool on July 14-1943, arriving Halifax on the 29th - she could not have been in both, unless she started out in one and transferred to the other. According to Page 1 and Page 2, she now made voyages to Guantanamo, La Romana, Macoris, Key West, back to New York then on to Boston, before heading to Halifax, where she on Sept. 15-1943 joined Convoy SC 142, cargo of sugar for Liverpool. (Convoy information for the above mentioned voyages is available by following the instructions at the external link below).

In Oct./Nov.-1943 Norlom is listed in Convoy OS 57/KMS 31, voyaging from Liverpool to Italy in station 53, carrying trucks and coal. This convoy left Liverpool on Oct 27 and split up Nov. 9, the Gibraltar bound ships arriving there on Nov. 10, while the OS convoy continued to Freetown, with arrival Nov. 19. See the external website that I've linked to below for more convoy information. The Gibraltar portion, KMS 31, will also be added to my own website, but for now, the ships sailing in it are named on this page. This convoy continued from Gibraltar on Nov. 10, arriving Port Said on the 21st; Norlom proceeded to Augusta with this convoy. She left Augusta again on Nov. 17 (listed in Convoy AH 9), arriving Taranto the next day, then continued to Bari on Nov. 24, where she arrived Nov. 25.

* The ON and ONS convoys mentioned here are available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys and the page for ships in all ONS convoys.

Related external links:
OS/KMS Convoys - As can be seen, Norlom is listed in Convoy OS 57/KMS 31, as are a number of other Norwegian ships. Note also that by going to this section of the same site and clicking on "Ship Search", using "Norlom" as keyword, several convoys that are not mentioned in the above narrative will come up. Here are JH 50 and AH 9, both mentioned in my text.

The attack on Convoy KMS 31

 Final Fate - 1943: 

On December 2-1943 she was still in Bari, where several tankers, ammunition ships and supply vessels were at anchor with much needed supplies for the allied armies for their advance up the Italian mainland. The Liberty ship John Harvey (captain Knowles) had a cargo of liquid mustard gas bombs, (in case the enemy should resort to chemical warfare) and was guarded by a unit of the 701st Chemical Maintenance Company. In addition to Norlom, which had not yet unloaded her cargo of coal, the Norwegian Bollsta, Vest, Lom and Salamis were present (see also my text for Hermelin). About 20 enemy aircraft attacked and one of the ammunition ships was hit and blew up (John L. Motley), starting the domino effect of events, with one ship after another catching on fire. The end result was thousands of deaths, many injured and suffering from the effects of the mustard gas. At least 17 ships were sunk. The external websites that I've linked to below will have more information - see also the link to Bollsta, where a list of ships sunk and/or damaged is available.

2nd Mate Oddmund Hjelde on Norlom reported that he was left on board with the captain and 1st Mate Einar Hansen. He himself had started to experience terrible eye pain by then from the mustard gas, flames were everywhere, on board as well as on the water. He had a flash light in his hands and signalled an S.O.S. in the direction he assumed land to be, and his signal was seen. A military rescue came out and got all 3 of them ashore. 3rd Mate Lars Nilsen, 4th Engineer Agnar Gustavsen and a British gunner had been killed, the captain died at a hospital in Bari a couple of days later, the 1st mate died Dec. 14.

From George Southern, who has written a book about the Bari incident entitled "Poisonous Inferno", I've received the following:
"British Radio Officer Ian Peyman (name given as Fredrick Peyman in the crew list) serving aboard D/S Norlom when in Bari 2 Dec 1943 was watching the Norlom's gunners playing cards in the mess. When the raid began he followed the others onto the upper deck where he was knocked unconcious and regained his senses to realise he was on a small raft in the harbour. Alongside him was his cabin mate, Radio Operator Halvor Stensrud. The crew of a motor launch had pulled both men onto the raft with the intention of towing it to safety.

He asked Halvor if he was all right and he replied he was although Ian says 'we were both too much in shock to know how injured we were'. Of those moments Ian says 'All hell was going on in the harbour, fires on the water and shrapnel falling all over, and when the launch started off to take the raft in tow, perhaps a shade too quickly, both of us having nothing to hold on to, when the raft tipped we were both thrown into the water again'. Ian managed to keep afloat until the launch picked him up once more. I must have passed out again for I do not remember being hauled into either boat or the raft'. His shipmate Halvor Stenrud was never seen again".

George Southern adds:
"This is just one short account in addition to many others of survivors from many ships and participants of the raid in my book "Poisonous Inferno", the only published book researched and written by a survivor. At the time, I was serving aboard HMS Zetland, a Hunt class destroyer berthed adjacent to the Lom, Bollsta and the Norlom when the attack began. I was knocked unconcious but recovered to take part all night long in rescue, firefighting on abandoned vessels and also salvage on four other abandoned ships".

George has since told me that he received the news at the end of Dec.-2008 that Ian Peyman had passed away.

Lars Kruse (ex Danish) had been set on fire and lost 18 men, while the rest of her crew was injured and taken aboard a Norwegian ship, which according to "Nortrahips flåte" may have been Salamis. However, this Guestbook message says these seamen were taken aboard Norlom, and later rescued by the MTB, together with Norlom's own survivors.

Crew List:

Survivors
2nd Mate
Oddmund Hjelde **
Radio Operator
Michael Killian **
(British)
Radio Operator
Halvor Stensrud **
*
Radio Operator
Fredrick Peyman **
(British)
Carpenter
Arne Sørensen **
Boatswain
Bjarne Meland *
Able Seaman
Olv Brattaker *
Able Seaman
Anton Halvorsen *
Able Seaman
Ivar Jensen **
Able Seaman
Bjørn Swan *
Able Seaman
Jens Jensen *
Able Seaman
Anders Rød *
Able Seaman
Olav Rasmussen *
Able Seaman
Hans Haug **
Able Seaman
Odd Natvig **
1st Engineer
Ernst Lindestrand
2nd Engineer
Petter Schmedling
3rd Engineer
Ernst Borge
Donkeyman
Fritz Olsen *
Donkeyman
Henning Helmersen *
Stoker
Ole Johansen *
Stoker
Johannes Fivesdal **
Stoker
Algot Olsen **
Oiler *
Anton Jaastad
Oiler
Olav Ness *
Engine Boy
Joseph de Goias **
(British?)
Engine Boy
Michael Higgins **
(British)
Steward
Gunnar Grimen **
Cook
Finn Olsen *
2nd Cook
Allan Ekdahl *
(Swedish)
Mess Boy
But Leung **
(Chinese)
Mess Boy
Miguel Flaquer **
(Dom. Republic)
Gunner
Ernest Birch
(British)
Gunner
Charles Cummings
(British)
Gunner
Alexander Cook
(British)
Gunner
Leslie Cunningham
(British)
Gunner
Eric Blakey
(British)
Casualties

Captain
Jacob Ø. Samuelsen
(Died in hospital?)

1st Mate
Einar Hansen **
(Died Dec. 14)

3rd Mate
Lars Nilsen

4th Engineer
Agnar Gustavsen

Gunner
Robert Anderson
(British)

* These men left Bari for Taranto on Dec. 4 (Norlom was still on fire), arriving the same day, then continued to Algiers 4 days later with arrival Dec. 13. All of them had been ashore when the attack occurred. An inquiry was held in Algiers on Dec. 19-1943 with Oiler Ness and Boatswain Meland appearing. Donkeyman Helmersen had also been called as witness, but did not appear due to an accident.

Boatswain Meland stated that the men denoted ** were in the hospital when the others left Bari on Dec. 4 - it's very possible that those who are not mentioned were also in hospital. Boatswain Meland had met the 1st and 2nd engineers in town, both covered in oil "and suffering badly". They had told him that when they jumped overboard, 2 men were lying on deck, assumed to be the 3rd engineer and the 3rd mate. (*Note that in the account by George Southern above, it is stated that Radio Operator Halvor Stensrud "was never seen again", so judging from that statement it looks like he may have drowned already on the way to shore). Meland also stated that another Able Seaman, Arne Berg, had been admitted to a hospital in Taranto about a week previously (thereby avoiding the carnage in Bari). Neither of the 2 witnesses seemed to know what had happened to the captain.

* Anton Jaastad is listed as "missing", then added as "saved", later disappeared from Gabon(?) on Oct. 15-1944 while in Matach(?), Belgian Congo.

The only Robert Anderson I can fnd at the Commonwealth War Graves Comm. website who could (possibly) be Norlom's gunner is Robert Russel Anderson, listed as having died on Dec. 11-1943; cemetery is given as Bari War Cemetery.

 POST WAR: 

Refloated in Nov. 1946 and broken up at Bari in 1947.

Related external links:
The Empire Ships - On the "Mariners" website. Empire Dunlin can be found on this page.

Stavern Memorial commemorations - This site says that 4 died on board, 1 in hospital and 1 man died after the war due to the effects of the mustard gas, possibly Radio Operator Halvor Jæger Stensrød(?) who is included among those commemorated here. Oddmund Hjelde is also listed among the casualties, but I believe he was still around in the 1970's. (A search for Anton Jaastad gives no results - I've tried several spellings, Jåstad, Gjørstad, Gjorstad, Gjostad etc.).

Raid on Bari - 3 pages detailing the events.
Tragedy at Bari - Describes what happened to some of the ships (Naval Historical Center).
Bari Italy - This page has tables showing the names of US Navy personnel in the Harbor at Bari during the attack, as well as Chapt. 6 | Chapt. 7 | Chapt. 8 | Chapt. 9 | Chapt. 10 of the book."Disaster at Bari" by Glen Infield. It's a section of the website "US Navy Armed Guard".
Mustard gas

S/S Norlom - Technical data (Darren Dypevåg)

Back to Norlom 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).

   Be   
C
   D   
E
F
G
   He   
I
J
   K   
L
M
N
O
   PQ   
R
   So   
   To   
U
V
W
   Ø   

 Site Map | Search Warsailors.com |Merchant Fleet Main Page | Warsailors.com Home