M/S Salta

To Salta on the "Ships starting with S" page.

Interned - 1940:

This was one of the 26 Norwegian ships interned in North and West Africa 1940-1942. My page Interned Ships has a list of all of them.

According to "Nortraships flåte" she was interned at Dakar on June 22-1940. "Sjømann - Lang vakt" by Guri Hjeltnes says she had a crew of 33, 32 of whom were Norwegian, 24 escaped. On July 27-1941, 21 of her crew managed to escape to Bathurst in a small boat, and were subsequently taken to Freetown in a British corvette, where they joined M/S Lidvard, which had arrived there after her remarkable escape (follow the link to Lidvard for details).

The first external website that I've linked to at the end of this page says Salta was bound for Belfast in station 75 of Convoy SL 37, leaving Freetown on June 25-1940, arriving Liverpool on July 12 (she had been cancelled from Convoy SL 34 on May 31, as well as from Convoy SL 35 on June 8). However, if she was interned at Dakar on June 22, she could not have been in SL 37 either. This also becomes more evident from the next paragraphs.

A visitor to my website has sent me a copy of an interview with the 1st mate on Salta, Knut H. Helland, who was one of the 21 who escaped in the lifeboat on the same night as Lidvard got out of Dakar. He states that Salta had been en route from Buenos Aires to Norway with a cargo of grain, carrying 16 passengers when she encountered engine trouble and proceeded to Dakar for repairs (this must have been in the spring/summer of 1940). While there, France capitulated resulting in the internment of the ships that were in port at Dakar. After the escape Helland joined Lidvard as a radio operator and came with her to the U.S. Once in Boston he joined D/S Bris as a mate and was on board when that ship was torpedoed on April 20-1942 on a voyage from Baltimore to Natal, Brazil (follow the link to Bris for more details on this incident). Knut Helland later served on M/T Egda.

The information in the above paragraph is echoed in this message in my Norwegian Guestbook, posted by the son of someone who served on board at the time. He confirms that Salta was in Buenos Aires (giving the date as Apr. 9), loading a cargo for Norway. En route, they were told to head to Freetown for convoy, but engine trouble resulted in a new order to go into Dakar for repairs. Further problems caused their stay there to be longer than expected and they ended up being interned when France fell. In other words, it looks like Salta could not have been in Convoy SL 37 from Freetown on June 25-1940. He adds that his father, Alfred H. Pilskog, managed to escape with a lifeboat on May 17-1941.

Salta was, of course, freed after Operation Torch in Nov.-1942 and was again registered with Nortraship on June 11 the following year. Some of the men from the torpedoed Corneville joined her that month - follow the link for more details. "Nortraships flåte" says that due to the bad state she was in she was taken to Gibraltar and used as a storeship for the rest of the war(?).

According to "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig" Captan Kylander died of Malaria when on a voyage from Lagos to the U.K. in 1944 (his illness may have been a result of the interment in Africa?). Some other crew members at the time were: 1st Mate Aksel Ingvaldsen, 2nd Mate Kolbjørn Werner Nilsen, 2nd Engineer David Haldorsen, and Steward Anders Emil Aarsund.

POST WAR:

Sold in Sept.-1956 to Hong Kong Navigation & Investment Co. Ltd., Hong Kong and renamed Senorita. Sank off Honshu on Jan. 30-1957, following a collision with unknown item when on a voyage Houston, Texas-Kobe, Japan.

Related external links:
SL Convoys - As will be seen, Salta is mentioned in Convoy SL 34 and SL 35, and is said to have sailed in SL 37.

The captain - Captain Erik W. Kylander is commemorated at this Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway. The Norwegian text says he died on Apr. 12-1944 after having fallen ill on board.

Back to Salta on the "Ships starting with S" page.