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D/S Norlom To Norlom 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 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.
Norlom spent Christmas of 1942 in Convoy HX 219, which originated in New York on Dec. 13, but Norlom joined the 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, and in Sept. that same year we find her in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 142, cargo of sugar for Liverpool.
In Oct./Nov.-1943 Norlom is listed as being in Convoy OS 57/KMS 31, voyaging from Liverpool to Italy in station 53, carrying trucks and coal. See the second external website that I've linked to at the end of this page for more convoy information. On December 2-1943 she was 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. 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: 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 launch 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:
Refloated in Nov. 1946 and broken up at Bari in 1947. Related external links: OS and OS/KMS Convoys - This website lists all the ships in quite a few of these convoys, along with their convoy stations and info on their destination. As can be seen, Norlom is listed in Convoy OS 57/KMS 31, as are a number of other Norwegian ships. 6 Norwegians - This site (memorial in Stavern, Norway) 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. 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).
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