D/S Ragnhild - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Related items on this website:
Empire Ships Transferred to Norway - The 19 ships transferred to Nortraship in 1942.
Guestbook message from someone who served on this ship as well as D/S Cetus during the war (Jack Myers). He's looking for a Canadian shipmate, Ronald Bacon.

Ship's History & Some Voyages:

(very kindly sent to me by B. Mumford. See her website at Convoy ONS 154. Her source: "W.H. Mitchell & L.A. Sawyer, The Empire Ships - A Record of British-built and acquired Merchant Ships during the Second World War", 2nd edition. Lloyd's of London Pr. Ltd., 1990:

Built by William Gray & Co. Ltd., West Hartlepool in 1942 as Empire Carey. Poop length 33 ft., bridge 82 ft and forecastle 34 ft. Hull length 327.9 ft (oa), 315.5 ft (bp) and breadth 46.5 ft. Engines: T3cyl (10 knots). 2833(?) gt. Launched Oct. 20-1941, completed in Dec.-1942(? I believe this year is a misprint - see next paragraph). Scandinavian-design cargo ship, meaning she was a single-deck general cargo carrier, with high bulwarks in the wells, enabling deck cargoes, especially timber, to be carried without obstruction. All lifting and handling gear was placed on the three islands. Some of these ships were adapted and became crane ships, and were equipped with larger derricks, and many of these were used on the Russian convoys. William Gray & Co. constructed 25 of these ships between 1941 and 1944.

Empire Carey was 1 of 19 ships transferred to Nortraship in 1942. Most of the ‘Empire’-named ships that were transferred from the British to the Norwegian flag during the war years were given the prefix ‘Nor’ while some were named for members of the Norwegian Royal Family, as in the case of Ragnhild (who was one of the King's daughters). "Nortraships flåte" states she was taken over at Clyde on April 30-1942, but this makes no sense if she was not completed until Dec. that year, unless the transaction took place before completion(?). This book also says she was built in 1941. There's a Ragnhild listed as taking part in Convoy ON 92 in May-1942. No nationality is given for this ship on the convoy form, but I'm inclined to suspect that the date given for completion by Mitchell & Sawyer might be an error and that the Ragnhild in Convoy ON 92 is the one listed here(?). This suspicion is further strengthened by the fact that she's listed in other convoys as well, before Dec.-1942, as will be seen below. (There was a Danish ship by this name, but according to R. W. Jordan's "The World's Merchat Fleets" the Danish Ragnhild became Panamanian Leonatus in 1941).

In June-1942 Ragnhild is listed in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 87, general cargo and flour for Swansea, and at the end of Aug. she sailed in Convoy SC 98.

Ragnhild was in the first westbound convoy of 1943, Convoy ON 158 in which the rescue vessel St. Sunniva was lost on her first and only voyage as rescue ship, not due to U-boat activities, but due to the horrendous weather endured by so many convoys that winter. Sunniva was last seen 2 days out of Halifax and was not heard of again according to "Convoy Rescue Ships" by Arnold Hague. He adds that she was believed to have iced up and capsized without warning, a theory supported by the state of another ship from the convoy which arrived Halifax the day before with up to 10 ft thick ice in some parts. Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Acasta, Iron Baron, Hallfried and Solitaire. ON 158 had departed Liverpool on Jan. 2-1943 and arrived New York on Jan. 23. It looks like Ragnhild may also have gone into Halifax on that occasion, because she shows up again in the westbound Convoy ON 160. This convoy had started out in Liverpool (for New York) on Jan. 11, but it looks like Ragnhild joined from Halifax on Febr. 1.

Ragnhild can also be found listed in Convoy SC 126 from Halifax in Apr.-1943, then returned across the ocean with the westbound Convoy ONS 7 early in May, along with several other Norwegian ships. The following month she sailed from Halifax with Convoy SC 135, and in Sept. that year she shows up in the Sydney (C.B.) section of Convoy SC 142, cargo of steel and lumber for London.

The second external website that I've linked to at the end of this text has her in Convoy OS 58/KMS 32 in Nov.-1943, voyaging from Oban to Gibraltar with coal in station 34. We also find her in Convoy SL 145/MKS 36 at the beginning of the new year. The SL portion of this convoy had departed Freetown on Jan. 1-1944, joined up with the MKS convoy from Gibraltar on the 12th (in which Ragnhild took part, and which is also available in my own Convoys section on this page), and arrived Liverpool on Jan. 24. Ragnhild had a cargo of ore and ammunition and was bound for Barrow. The same website also lists her in Convoy OS 68/KMS 42 in Febr.-1944, voyage Milford-Casablanca in station 124, subsequently returning to England with Convoy SL 150/MKS 41. SL 150 left Freetown on Febr. 21-1944, joined up with the MKS portion from Gibraltar on March 3, and arrived Liverpool on March 14-1944. Ragnhild, on a voyage Casablanca-Mersey, had a cargo of phosphates on that occasion. (Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Bestik, Elg, Norvarg and Olaf Bergh).

In May-1944 we find her in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 291, cargo of pit props for Garston.

In Sept.-1944 she was scheduled for Convoy OS 90/KMS 64, but did not sail. She must have joined a later convoy, because in Oct. we find her returning to the U.K. with the Gibraltar portion of Convoy SL 175/MKS 66, the SL portion of which departed Freetown on Oct. 28, joined up with the MKS portion from Gibraltar on Nov. 8, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on Nov. 15. Ragnhild was on a voyage Almeria-Barrow with iron ore. (The Norwegian Toledo and Heimvard also took part in this convoy, having joined in Freetown). In Dec.-1944 she's listed in Convoy OS 98/KMS 72, voyage Clyde-Lisbon with coal in station 11.

In Febr.-1945 she can be found in Convoy OS 111/KMS 85 which departed Liverpool on Febr. 17. She was on a voyage from Liverpool to Gibraltar with coal in station 11 (KMS 85), as the only Norwegian ship in the convoy. Follow the link to the website about these convoys for more information.

(All the KMS and MKS convoys mentioned here will be added to my own site in due course).

POST WAR:

(from "The Empire Ships"):

Renamed Penelope for John Wilson's Rederi, Norway in 1946. Belonged to Rederi A/B Pandia, Finland in 1950, Lundqvist-Rederierna, Finland in 1955. Sold in Nov.-1972 to Wackatz & Co., Gothenburg, converted to grain store/floating warehouse (engines removed).

Related external link:
The Empire Ships - On the "Mariners" website - alphabetical list.

OS and OS/KMS Convoys - The site also has a section on the returning SL/MKS convoys. As can be seen, Ragnhild is listed in all the OS and SL convoys named in my text, as are many other Norwegian ships.