D/S Ophir - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

D/S Ophir
Updated Febr. 11-2009

To Ophir on the "Ships starting with O" page.

From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

Ophir is listed in Convoy ON 12, which left Methil for Norway on Febr. 13-1940. Later that month we find her in Convoy HN 15 from Norway to the U.K., in ballast for Sunderland. In March she's listed in Convoy ON 21 to Norway, and is said to have gone back to the U.K. at the end of March with Convoy HN 23B, again in ballast for Sunderland, however, she may have returned, because she shows up again in Convoy HN 25 on Apr. 7, and arrived Sunderland on Apr. 14, according to Page 1 above (the Germans invaded Norway on Apr. 9). Please follow the links for more info on these convoys.

In Sept.-1940, she's listed in Convoy OG 42, which left Liverpool on Sept. 4 and arrived Gibraltar on the 16th. Ophir was bound for Lisbon, where she arrived Sept. 16, having started out from Milford Haven on Sept. 3. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named on my page listing ships in all OG convoys. She returned to the U.K. the following month with Convoy HG 45 from Gibraltar, bound for Methil and Sunderland, cargo of pit props (see also Page 1)- again, follow links for more info, several Norwegian ships took part in all the convoys mentioned here.

A Guestbook message from George Green, who served as a gunner on this ship, states that she was severely damaged by bombs dropped by a Focke Wolf Condor in Oct.-1940 in the Pentland Firth. He adds: "We made port at Oban, then to Liverpool, we then made port at Milford Haven, only to end up at Swansea, and we were docked at the Cambrian Dry Docks, I was with her over the X/Mas period" (compare this to the details found on Page 1 above).

She was mostly in coal service around the U.K. See the external website below for information on some of the convoys she was in, and compare these to the voyages listed on the various archive documents.

As will be seen when going to Page 16, she finally got to go home to Norway in Nov.-1945.

Related external link:
Misc. convoys - By clicking on "Ship Search", using "Ophir" as keyword, some of her convoy voyages will come up (be aware that a Dutch ship by the same name will also appear in the search results - also, errors may exist).

Back to Ophir on the "Ships starting with O" page.