D/S Olaf Bergh
Updated Febr. 9-2009

To Olaf Bergh on the "Ships starting with O" page.

Misc. Convoy Voyages:

(More will be added).

Early in the war in Norway, on May 14 and 15-1940, D/S Olaf Bergh, with a cargo of ore, was at Fiskefjord near Tjeldsund, and was attacked by German bombers both days. She did not receive bad damages but the crew was sufficiently shaken up to request an escort for the voyage out. The British had no warships to spare just then, but the Norwegian vessel Kvitøy took on the job of escorting Olaf Bergh to Harstad, where Svalbard II took over the job on May 17 part of the way out, then Olaf Bergh continued west on her own and went to a British port (Page 1 above says she arrived St. John's, N.F. on May 28).

In July-1940 she was scheduled for the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 57, but did not sail. She was also cancelled from HX 58 and HX 59, but eventually got away in Convoy HX 60 on July 23, cargo of scrap iron for Manchester - follow the links for more on these convoys. In Sept.-1940 she's listed in Convopy OB 217, leaving Liverpool on Sept. 21, dispersed on the 25th (ref. external link at end of this text), Olaf Bergh arriving Montreal on Oct. 4. Later that month, she joined the Sydney, C.B. portion of Convoy HX 82, cargo of grain for Methil, but went into St. John's, N.F. on Oct. 25, then headed to Halifax on Nov. 13, later joining Convoy HX 89 from there on the 17th. She arrived Methil Roads on Dec. 5, according to Page 1. Again, follow the links for further details on these convoys.

In Febr.-1941 she's listed in Convoy OB 285, which left Liverpool on Febr. 11, dispersed on the 17th. Her destination is not given, but when going back to the archive document mentioned above, we learn that she arrived Halifax on Febr. 28, having started out from Loch Ewe on the 13th. In July, she was in station 124 of Convoy HX 140, carrying steel and scrap for Swansea, where she arrived Aug. 9 (she had been cancelled from HX 139). Other Norwegian ships were Madrono (112), Boreas (16), Velox (56), Velma (96), Alaska (106), Stiklestad (95), Vardefjell (84), Evita (114), Thorshov (83), Skiensfjord (97), Ferncastle (113), Thorshavet (43), Bonneville (82) and Helgøy (77). Beth and Petter were also initially in this convoy but left due to engine problems. At the end of that month we find her in station 26 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 11, bound for Hampton Roads. She arrived New York on Sept. 15, the convoy having been dispersed on Sept. 11.

According to Arnold Hague, she returned to the U.K. in Convoy HX 155, leaving Halifax on Oct. 16-1941, arriving Liverpool on the 31st. This convoy is not available among the HX convoys included on my own website, but I've linked directly to Hague's listing at the end of this page - see also Page 2. At the beginning of Dec.-1941 she's listed as bound for New Orleans in the westbound Convoy ON 42*, which left Liverpool on Dec. 1 and dispersed on the 14th, Olaf Bergh arriving New Orleans on Dec. 25.

She was scheduled for Convoy HX 175 in Febr.-1942, but instead joined Convoy HX 176, which left Halifax on Febr. 19-1942 and arrived Liverpool on March 6. At the beginning of the following month she's listed as bound for Mobile, Alabama in the westbound Convoy ON 83*, which departed Liverpool on Apr. 4. Olaf Bergh arrived New York on Apr. 20; her arrival Mobile is not given on Page 2 of the archive docs. She headed back to the U.K. again on May 10 in Convoy HX 189 from Halifax.

Going back to the external site below, we find Olaf Bergh in station 12 of Convoy OS 32 in June/July-1942, voyaging from Milford to Freetown and The Middle East. This convoy departed Liverpool on June 21 and arrived Freetown July 8 - follow the link provided for more convoy details. From Freetown, Olaf Bergh continued to Table Bay, Durban, Aden and Safaga; again, please see Page 2 of the archive documents.

According to this posting to my Ship Forum Olaf Bergh rescued the surviving crew from the British D/S Llandilo on Nov. 7-1942 and landed them in Trinidad on the 26th. This ship had been sunk by U-172 on Nov. 2. Here's a more recent forum posting, which includes the names of Llandilo's casualties. According to Page 3, Olaf Bergh was on her way from Table Bay to Trinidad at the time.

Follow the instructions provided at the external link below for information on some of her convoy voyages in this time period, and compare these to the details found on Page 3 of the archive docs.

In the fall of 1943 she's mentioned in Convoy SL 137 / MKS 26, bound for Loch Ewe, cargo of linseed and general. SL 137 left Freetown on Sept. 23-1943, joined up with MKS 26 from Gibraltar on Oct. 5 and arrived Liverpool on Oct. 17. The Norwegian Drammensfjord and Jenny are also listed - the external site about these convoys has more details (the Gibraltar portion is also available on my own site at MKS 26). The same site also has her in station 95 of Convoy OS 63 / KMS 37*, voyaging from Belfast to Freetown with coal. This convoy departed Liverpool on Dec. 25-1943 and split up on Jan. 7-1944, the Gibraltar portion arriving there that same day, while the OS convoy continued to Freetown, with arrival Jan. 17 - again, see Page 3 above, as well as Page 4. She left Freetown again for Dakar on Febr. 11, arriving Dakar on the 15th (see link to Convoy SL 149 below), then shows up in Convoy SL 150 / MKS 41*, the SL convoy having left Freetown on Febr. 21, joined up with the MKS convoy from Gibraltar on March 3, arriving Liverpool on March 14. Voyage information for Olaf Bergh on this occasion is given as Dakar-Loch Ewe, cargo of groundnuts, also carrying 1 passenger. As will be seen when going to Page 4, she left Dakar on Febr. 24 and arrived Loch Ewe March 14.

She now started making some voyages between the U.S. and U.K again. In Apr.-1944 she appears in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 233*, which originated in Liverpool on Apr. 20 and arrived New York May 8. On June 24 she headed back to the U.K. with Convoy HX 297 from New York, bound for Methil and London with a cargo of sugar, later returning across the Atlantic with the westbound Convoy ON 248(S)* (departure Liverpool Aug. 10, arrival New York Aug. 27). Her destination is given as Sydney, C.B.; according to Page 4 of the archive documents, she arrived Sorel on Aug. 23, having started out from Loch Ewe on the 10th. She subsequently joined Convoy HX 306, which originated in New York on Aug. 31, but Olaf Bergh, cargo of grain, joined from Sydney, C.B., as did the Norwegian Hardanger and Velox. We now find her in the westbound Convoy ON 256*, departing Liverpool Sept. 28, arriving New York Oct. 12; Olaf Bergh, however, arrived Montreal that day, and early in Nov.-1944 she shows up in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 160, bound for Avonmouth with grain, again joining with the Sydney, C. B. portion, together with the Norwegian Cetus. Olaf Bergh arrived her destination on Nov. 18, according to Page 5.

The following month she's listed in Convoy OS 97/KMS 71*, voyage Milford-Oran for Marseilles with coal in station 21. This convoy left Liverpool on Dec. 3 and split up on the 7th. Olaf Bergh arrived Oran on Dec. 12, left again on the 14th and arrived Marseilles on Dec. 17.

In March-1945 we find her in Convoy MKS 87*, departing Gibraltar on March 6-1945, arriving Liverpool on the 14th.

As will be seen when going back to Page 5 of the archive documents, she got to go home to Norway in the fall of 1945. See also Page 6.

Again, for information on some convoy voyages made in between those noted here, please follow the instructions at the external link below and compare the results with the voyages listed on the various archive documents.

* All the ON 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. The MKS and KMS convoys mentioned on this page will also be added; please see ships in all MKS convoys and ships in all KMS convoys. Olaf Bergh is included in KMS 71 and MKS 87.

Related external links:
OS/KMS Convoys - There's also a section on the SL Convoys, going in the other direction. As can be seen, Olaf Bergh is listed in the SL and OS convoys mentioned above. Note also that by going to this section of the same site and clicking on "Ship Search", using "Olaf Bergh" as keywords, several convoys that are not mentioned in my own text will come up. Here are OB 217, OB 285, HX 155, and SL 149, all mentioned above.

The loss of Llandilo

Back to Olaf Bergh on the "Ships starting with O" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Skip og menn", Birger Dannevik (and various sources named on each convoy page) - (ref. My sources).