M/T Pan Europe- Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Misc. War Details:

Pan Europe transported 46 cargoes of oil, 26 of which were for the American Navy, to various theatres of war.

As will be seen when going to Page 1 above, she was on her way from Dunedin to Brisbane when Norway was invaded by the Germans on Apr. 9-1940.

In Nov.-1941, Pan Europe was one of the Norwegian ships that helped search for survivors of HMAS Sydney, but none were found (Herstein and Hermion were also involved, and according to this posting on my Ship Forum, Nordnes and Ohio also took part). Sydney had sunk, and had herself been sunk (with the loss of all her men) by the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran on Nov. 19 (survivors from the German cruiser had been rescued from rafts and lifeboats southwest of Carnarvon, West Australia by allied ships on Nov. 24). My page about Hermion has some links to more details on Sydney's loss (incl. link to complete crew list). According to Page 2, Pan Europe left Singapore on Nov. 19 and arrived Melbourne Dec. 5.

A few days later, three days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the loss of the battle ships Prince of Wales and Repulse stunned the world. (The Norwegian ship Hai Lee transported 150 survivors from those ships from Singapore to Batavia). By the end of the month the Allies had suffered one military defeat after another, due to the rapidly advancing Japanese forces. As the new year of 1942 dawned, supplies and reinforcements had to be shipped to new theaters of operations. Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, the Pacific Islands and even Australia were threatened, and in the course of January, February and March 1942 a steady stream of important military convoys crossed The Indian Ocean to the war zone in the Far East, as well as from Australia and north to the vulnerable areas.

The first convoy from Australia to Singapore, Convoy MS 1, left Melbourne on Jan. 10-1942, reaching the Sunda Straits on the 28th. M/T Pan Europe was in this convoy (see links at the end of this page), but while the rest of the ships continued on, she was held back due to the fact that Singapore was under serious threat of the advancing Japanese forces at the time, and also under continuous air attacks. Note that Page 2 of the archive documents states that Pan Europe departed Melbourne on Jan. 3-1942, not Jan. 10; her destination is given as Fremantle. Her arrival there is not given, but she's said to have left Fremantle again on Jan. 19, arrived Palembang Febr. 1. Did she join Convoy MS 1 from Fremantle, several days after it had left Melbourne?

One Norwegian ship after another found itself right in the middle of this new threat, Hermion, Hindanger, Hellas, Herborg, Herstein, Prominent, Eidsvoll, Erling Brøvig, Elsa, Seirstad, Tunni, Bordvik, Proteus - some survived, others were less fortunate. More details on all of them can be found with the help of the alphabet index at the end of this page.

In Oct.-1942, Pan Europe is listed, together with the Norwegian Fingal, in Convoy OC 35, which left Melbourne on Oct. 14 and arrived Newcastle, N.S.W. on the 18th - ref. external link at the end of this page. Her destination is not given, but going back to Page 2, we learn that she arrived Los Angeles on Nov. 16, returning to Australia in Jan.-1943.

Just a little snippet of information - on my Ship forum there's a message stating the following: "Challenged by HMS Queen in the vicinity of the Panama Canal (Pacific side) on 14th April 1944. 1351 Sighted tanker Brg 3150. - 12'. Co 240. 1355 a/c 1000. Z/Z 10. 1408 Challenged. 1414 Identified vessel as Norg. S.S. Pan Europe". According to Page 3, she was en route from Balboa to Pearl Harbor on that date, arriving her destination on May 2, having left Balboa on Apr. 13.

According to Arnold Hague, Pan Europe took part in Convoy HX 353, which departed New York on Apr. 29-1945 and arrived Liverpool May 15 (in other words, VE Day was celebrated at sea) - see also Page 4. 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; the Norwegian Kaia Knudsen, Samuel Bakke, Skotaas, Solfonn, Stiklestad and Vardefjell are also named. Most of them, including Pan Europe, returned with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 304, departing Southend on May 21-1945, arriving New York on June 5 (see Page 5). This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, the ships sailing in it are named on this page.

POST WAR:

Sold in May-1950 to Norddeutsche Reederei GmbH, Hamburg (of which J. A. Reinecke later became manager),West Germany and renamed Europa. Arrived at Hamburg in July-1954 to be broken up by Eckhardt & Co.

External links related to the text on this page:
The Singapore Convoys - Convoy MS 1 is included. This is a part of Jan Visser's website Royal Netherlands Navy Warships of World War II.

Force Z Survivors Association - Has details of the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse, includes HMS Prince of Wales crew members and HMS Repulse crew members.

Convoy MS 1 - The site also has Convoy OC 35 and HX 353.