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D/S Rym To Rym on the "Ships starting with R" page. Manager: Johs. Larsen, Bergen Built by NV Scheepsbouwwerf De Noord, Alblasserdam in 1919. Previous names: Mont Rose, then Mosel. According to Uboat.net, she was completed in July 1919 as Dutch Mont Rose for Van der Eb & Dresselhuys Scheepvaart Mij, Rotterdam. Sold in 1922 to Germany and renamed Mosel for Rochling Menzell, Hamburg. Sold to Norway in 1925 and renamed Rym for Johannes Larsen, Bergen. See also this external page. Captain: Conrad Rustad (Senta also had a captain by this name, who died when that ship was sunk in 1942 - same person?). Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives: Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.
According to A. Hague, Rym took part in Convoy HN 8 from Norway to the U.K. in Jan.-1940. In March that same year she's listed among the ships in Convoy OA 102, departing Southend on March 2, dispersed March 5. Her destination is given as Swansea (Avance I is also named in this convoy - ref. link provided within the Voyage Record). Later that month, we find her in Convoy OB 109, originating in Liverpool on March 13. Her voyage information is given as Swansea - Massachusetts with coal. However, A. Hague says she returned to port, later joining Convoy OB 111, which originated in Liverpool on March 16 and dispersed on the 20th. Emma Bakke and Leiesten are also included in the latter. (Rym is also listed as cancelled from Convoy OB 107 on March 11, see the external website that I've linked to below). According to Page 1 of the archive documents, she had left Swansea on March 11 and arrived Boston on Apr. 6, proceeding to Halifax later that month in order to join Convoy HX 41 back to the U.K. on May 8, cargo of lumber for Portland and Montrose. She was unable to maintain the convoy speed and left the convoy 2 days after departure, arriving Weymouth Bay on May 23, Portland May 30, later arrived Montrose on June 12. As can be seen when going back to the archive document, she made a voyage from Reykjavik to Sydney, C.B. in July-1940 (remaining there for a month); A. Hague says she made this voyage independently. At the beginning of Sept.-1940 we find her in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 3, from which the Norwegian Lotos and others were sunk, follow the links for details. Rym had a cargo of lumber for Methil on that occasion. Together with Arosa and Reiaas, she later joined Convoy OA 229, which left Methil on Oct. 13 and dispersed on the 18th. No destination is given for Rym (ref. external link in the table above), but from Page 1, we learn that she arrived Sydney, C.B. on Oct. 30. With a cargo of pit props for Sunderland, she was scheduled to return with Convoy SC 14 at the end of the following month (according to A. Hague, she had run aground at Cran Rock a few days earlier), but instead joined the next Convoy on Dec. 8, SC 15. However, she put back to St. John's, N.F. on Dec. 18, and did not head to the U.K. until Jan. 31-1941, when she shows up in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 21. She arrived her destination Sunderland on Febr. 28. In March-1941 she can be found in Convoy OG 56, which originated in Liverpool on March 17 and arrived Gibraltar Apr. 2; Rym, however, was bound for Halifax, so had left the convoy in order to proceed to this destination, where she arrived Apr. 5, having started out from Oban March 18 (this convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, please see my page listing ships in all OG convoys - Atle Jarl, Hørda, Sneland I and Vigsnes are also listed). With a cargo of lumber for Boston (Lincs.), she was scheduled to return to the U.K. in Convoy SC 31 from Halifax on May 9, but did not sail. According to Arnold Hague, she joined Convoy SC 35 from Sydney, C.B. on June 20, but it looks like she returned to port, or was only bound for St. John's, N.F., where she arrived June 27, then proceeded to Sydney, C.B. the next day (Page 2 says "put back"), joining Convoy SC 36 from there on July 1, along with Berto (returned), Bjerka, Bollsta, Chr. Knudsen, Don, Einvik, Loke, N. T. Nielsen Alonso and Rena. SC 36 will be added to my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all SC convoys. Rym arrived Boston, Lincs. on July 23. The following month, she can be found in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 4, joining from Loch Ewe, bound for Halifax, station 56. She arrived Halifax on Aug. 24, the convoy having been dispersed on Aug. 18. Her voyage back to the U.K. in Oct.-1941 proved to be her last. For more details on all the other Norwegian ships mentioned here, please see the alphabet index at the end of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index. Related external link:
With a cargo of 570 standards of timber for Londonderry, Rym joined Convoy SC 48, which departed Sydney, C.B. for the U.K. on Oct. 5-1941. Cruising order/Commodore's notes as well as misc. other reports are also available for this convoy. At about 21:00 on Oct. 16, a ship ahead of her was sunk, namely W. C. Teagle, which sailed in the 10th column of the convoy (station 103, right in front of the Norwegian Erviken - Rym was in station 85). Shortly afterwards the crew on Rym saw the lights from the survivors of this tanker and immediately altered course in order to pick them up, being as she was the last ship in the column and no escort vessel was in sight (the escorts had drawn further astern of the convoy that afternoon). At the same time, Erviken had also decided to pick up survivors from the British tanker, and Rym had to alter course to avoid a collision with the Norwegian ship. Rym had turned around to steer towards another light from a lifeboat or a raft, when they heard another explosion and saw that D/S Erviken had been torpedoed (follow the link for more details. M/T Barfonn and D/S Ila were also sunk). Rym proceeded at full speed to catch up with the convoy again, then caught sight of one of the escort vessels which at that time appeared to be 3-4 n. miles astern of the convoy. At about 22:00 they saw the convoy ahead of them, and around 10 minutes later Rym was herself torpedoed. The torpedo, which had come from U-558 (Krech) struck on the starboard side forward, between hatch No. 1 and 2 ("Nortraships flåte" says between 2 and 3). The forward part of the ship went over to port (another report says starboard) and looked as if it was torn away from the rest of the hull, only kept together by the cargo. The cargo on the foredeck had been partly thrown overboard, and discharge derricks were swung out towards port and splintered. The bridge had also received heavy damages, and the starboard lifeboat had been destroyed and the davits bent. She listed heavily to starboard, with the water steadily rising so that the stokehold and engine room were gradually filled, as were the cabins on the starboard side, and the cargo on the after deck was gradually washed overboard. 17 men were ordered to the port lifeboat while the captain, a stoker, an able seaman and the 1st engineer stayed on board to see if the ship could be saved. The corvette HMS Veronica (D. F. White, RNR) came to assist an hour after midnight (Oct. 17), picked up the 17 in the lifeboat then stayed nearby, ready to pick up the 4 left on the wreck if necessary. In the morning it became clear she could not be saved so at 09:00 the remaining 4 men went on board Veronica, which headed back to the convoy. Rym's captain had been told by the commanding officer that a destroyer would be ordered to sink Rym, and "Nortraships flåte" states she was later shelled and sunk by an escort, but I don't know the identity of this ship. However, one of Erviken's survivors, who had been rescued by an unnamed corvette says this corvette cruised around the area until daylight, but no more survivors (of Erviken) were found, only a Norwegian ship floating on its lumber cargo. The ship referred to here is probably Rym, and he says the ship was sunk by the corvette before course was set for Londonderry, "packed" with survivors, adding they were landed on "Sunday night". This leads me to believe that the corvette may have been HMS Veronica (a report by Rym's captain states her survivors were landed by Veronica at Londonderry on Sunday, Oct. 19). So perhaps Veronica eventually shelled and sank Rym? As mentioned, Rym's survivors were landed at Londonderry on Oct. 19, then sent to Glasgow the next day. The maritime hearings were held on Oct. 29 with the captain, the 1st mate and the 1st engineer appearing. At the time of the attack, Able Seaman Sætre was at the helm, Ordinary Seaman Korr was on lookout duty, and the 1st mate was on duty on the bridge, while the chief engineer was on watch in the engine room. The captain was also on the bridge.
Other merchant ships lost in addition to the Norwegian ones already mentioned, were the Panamanian Bold Venture (cargo of cotton, steel and copper - 17 died), the Greek Evros (7000 tons iron ore - 30 died), the British Empire Heron (7673 tons sulphur - 42 died), Silvercedar (7300 tons steel and general - 20 died). W. C. Teagle, with a cargo of 15 000 tons fuel oil lost 48 men. The remainder of the convoy arrived Liverpool on Oct. 22. In addition to my own pages about this convoy, the misc. external websites that I've linked to below have a lot more details on the battle. For info, U-558 was also responsible for the attacks on Eidanger and Vilja the following year - follow the links for details. Crew List - No Casualties:
Related external links: Convoy SC 48 - 15 - 17 Oct 1941 Operations information for U-558 Hyperwar - Robert Cressmans book "The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II", linked directly to 1941. Entries for the dates Oct. 14 through 18 have details on SC 48. U.S.S. Kearny - Interesting account of the attack on the Kearny, torpedoed by U-568 when on escort duties in Convoy SC 48, Oct. 17-1941. The Kearney and Convoy SC 48 - The ships involved on all sides (from Encyclopedia of WW II Naval Battles). Details on SC 48 escorts can also be found towards the end of Back to Rym on the "Ships starting with R" page. Norway had also lost a steamship by the name Rym to WW I, built Fredrikstad 1908, 1073 gt (J. Lund & Co.) - torpedoed? and sunk by a German U-boat in the North Sea on July 14-1915. Jan-Olof, Sweden has told me that "Lloyd's War Losses" credits her sinking to a minefield laid by UC-1 near Shipwash Lt., adding she was on a voyage from Tyne for Rochefort with a cargo of coal. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flate", J. R. Hegland, "The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II and misc. others for cross checking info (My sources page has more information on the books listed here).
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