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D/S Octavian To Octavian on the "Ships starting with O" page. Owner: A/S Rederiet Julian Built in Oslo 1938. Captain: Jens L. Dahl
Octavian, bound for London with paper, was in station 43 of the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 32 in Apr.-1940 (the only Norwegian ship listed). While this convoy was underway, Norway was invaded by the Germans, and while signals were being exchanged with her on Norway's entry into the war on Apr. 9-1940, Octavian sent the following to the escorting HMS Malaya: "We will do our best. We all want to go home and go on aktive service". (This info, found at PRO, was received from Mike Holdoway, England, the webmaster of the first external website that I've linked to below). In June that year we find her, with a cargo of wood pulp for London, in station 84 of Convoy HX 47, in which the Norwegian Italia was sunk. Octavian joined this convoy from Bermuda. Several Norwegian ships took part, as will be seen by following the link. At the beginning of the following month she was scheduled for Convoy OA 177, but did not sail (destination Bristol). This convoy departed Southend on July 1-1940, and formed OG 36 on July 3, which arrived Gibraltar on the 9th. The Norwegian Evviva was also scheduled, but did not sail. (See the external links provided below, as well as my own section listing ships in all OG convoys). Related external links:
Octavian left Galveston on Jan. 9-1942, estimated to arrive St. John, N.B. on the 18th. Disappeared with 16 Norwegians and the Canadian Ordinary Seaman Albert Leonard Pott on board. After the war it was established that she had been torpedoed and sunk by U-203 (Mützelburg) on Jan. 17 off Cape Race, New Foundland, which indicates her destination must have been St. Johns, N. F.
Crew List - No survivors:
Related external links: Back to Octavian on the "Ships starting with O" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II, Norwegian Maritime Museum, and misc. for cross checking, as named within text (ref. My sources).
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