M/S Rena

To Rena on the "Ships starting with R" page.

Some War Voyages:

Rena is listed as sailing in Convoy OB 231, which left Liverpool on Oct. 19-1940 and dispersed on the 23rd. Her destination is given as St. John, N.B., station 53. The first external website that I've linked to at the end of this page has more information on this convoy; the Norwegian Idefjord, Norefjord and Skaraas are also listed.

In Febr.-1941 she's listed as bound for Newport with steel and scrap iron in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 22 (having been cancelled from the faster Convoy HX 104), and in Aug.-1941 we find her in station 12 of the wesbound Convoy ON 4, bound for New York. Early in Nov. that same year she was scheduled for the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 53, but instead joined the next convoy, SC 54, scrap iron for Manchester.

In Apr.-1942 she sailed in the slow Convoy SC 82 from Halifax, and in July that same year she's listed in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 93, cargo of steel and lumber for Manchester. At the end of the following month she acted as Commodore Vessel for the westbound Convoy ON 126 - follow the links for more info on these convoys; several Norwegian ships took part in all them.

In Apr.-1943 she was the Commodore's ship for Convoy ONS 5, departing Liverpool on Apr. 21. See also my page about D/S Bonde, which was sunk while in this convoy, as well as the external links below. In June-1943, Rena is listed in the Sydney portion of Convoy SC 134, and in Aug. she was in Convoy SC 140 from Halifax, sailing in station 104 (having cancelled from the previous convoy, SC 139). A couple of months later we find her in station 61 of Convoy SC 146, which left Halifax on Nov. 6-1943 and arrived Liverpool on the 22nd.

According to one of the external websites that I've linked to at the end of this text, Rena was in Convoy OS 66/KMS 40 in Jan./Febr.-1944, voyaging from Liverpool to Freetown with coal in station 81. In March that year she returned to the U.K. with Convoy SL 152/MKS 43, voyage from Freetown to Loch Ewe with groundnuts, mail and 4 passengers. The Norwegian Lisbeth, Astrid, Cetus, Snar and Slemmestad are said to have joined with the MKS section from Gibraltar. Follow the link for more convoy information.

In Aug.-1944 she sailed in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 303 (having previously cancelled from Convoy HX 301). Rena was bound for Liverpool with a cargo of sugar on that occasion. 16 other Norwegian ships took part, namely Tanafjord, Dalfonn, Noravind, Atlantic, Sommerstad, Skotaas, Geisha, Thorhild, Petter, Stirlingville, Romulus, Para, Titanian, Mui Hock, Fjordaas and Norse Lady, all listed on this website. More details on them can be found with the help of the alphabet index below. In the middle of Dec.-1944 Rena is listed in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 163, sugar and general for London.

POST WAR:

In 1954 she was fitted with two new 4 cylinder 4 scsa oil engines manufactured by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg A.G., Augsburg. Sold in Jan.-1956 to Polish Ocean Lines, Poland, and renamed Slowacki. Transferred in 1967 to Polish Steamship Co. Sold in Febr.-1974 to Chaliotata Shipping Co. Ltd., Cyprus and renamed Rodanthia (Rodanthi A.?). Sold in 1976 to Kefalliniaki Charis Shipping Ltd., Greece. Sold in Febr. 1979 for scrapping at Piræus.

Related external links:
OB (& OA) convoys - OB 231 is included. This is a section of the website about the OS convoys below.

The Battle for Convoy ONS 5 - A long article on this battle - a section of Ahoy - Mac's Web Log, which has a lot of interesting information.

ONS 5, 28 Apr, 1943 - 6 May, 1943 - This is uboat.net's account of the battle.

OS and OS/KMS Convoys - The site also has a section on the SL Convoys, going in the other direction. As can be seen, Rena is listed in OS 66/KMS 40 and SL 152/MKS 43, as are several other Norwegian ships.

Norway Heritage Project has a section on Norwegian America Line with pictures and information on several of the company's ships, including a photo of Rena while she had the name Førdefjord.

Back to Rena on the "Ships starting with R" page.

Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg had earlier had a steamship named Rena, built Sunderland 1911, 4687 gt. Sold on June 19-1934 to Grimstad for breaking up.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Norwegian America Line fleet list, Bjørn Pedersen & F. W. Hawks, and misc. (ref. My sources).