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Owner: Skibs-A/S Selvik Delivered in Aug.-1921 from Ouse Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Goole (79) as Hubro to Bergen Lloyd (Bjørnstad & Brækhus), Bergen. Managed from 1923 by Sigurd A. Brækhus, Bergen. Sold in Jan.-1933 to Ångfartygs-A/B Kjell (L. Jeansson A/B, Stockholm), Kalmar, Sweden and renamed Balder. Sold again in 1938 to Skibs-A/S Selvik (Einar Wahlstrøm), Oslo and renamed Selbo. Captain: Arne Ragnar Lund
Selbo is listed in the Norway-U.K. Convoy HN 10 in Febr.-1940, bound for Northfleet with pulp. She returned to the U.K. early in March with Convoy ON 18, and at the end of that month, shortly before the German invasion of Norway, we find her in Convoy HN 22, again bound for Northfleet with pulp. Follow the links for more details; several Norwegian ships took part in all these convoys. In Sept.-1940 she sailed in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 4, which also had a large number of Norwegian ships. Selbo was bound for Manchester with a cargo of pulp wood. The following month she was scheduled to sail to Sydney, C.B. with Convoy OB 232, which left Liverpool on Oct. 21-1940, but did not sail. She shows up again in Convoy OB 256, leaving Liverpool on Dec. 8-1940 (see the first external link below for more on these convoys). She was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 19 in Jan.-1941, cargo of pit props for Hull, but cancelled and joined Convoy SC 20 instead. At the end of Apr.-1941, she's listed in Convoy SC 30, bound for Boston, cargo of lumber. Later that year Selbo joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 12, which left Liverpool on Sept. 1-1941. At the very end of Dec.-1941 she shows up in Convoy HG 77 from Gibraltar to the U.K., bound for Barrow with iron ore. In March-1942 we find her, with a cargo of phosphates for Aberdeen, in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 77, and in June that year she's listed in Convoy SC 86, cargo of lumber for Liverpool. A couple of months later, at the end of Aug.-1942, she joined Convoy SC 98 - follow the links for further dates and cruising orders; again, several Norwegian ships took part. Selbo is also listed in a few westbound North Atlantic ON convoys, in between the eastbound voyages mentioned above - these will be added as soon as I can. They were: Related external links: See also this
She served as ammunition and supply ship for Operation Torch in Nov.-1942, and was one of the first supply ships to arrive Algiers after the allied invasion. On Nov. 27 she was given orders to continue to Bone with her cargo of petrol (in 25 gallon cans), and was in a convoy 15 n. miles north of Cape Cavallo when German aircraft attacked on the 28th. She was hit in the stern by a torpedo and immediately set on fire when her cargo exploded. 8 were able to get into the motor lifeboat which the captain and 3rd Mate had launched, the other lifeboats were on fire. The boat landed 4 hours later at Mon near the Phare Alida Light where some British soldiers were stationed. 3rd Engineer A. Samuelsen, who had been badly burnt, was immediately taken by car to an American first aid station at Djidjelli. The next day the others were taken to Bougie where they were accommodated at the theater over night (the 3rd engineer had meanwhile been transported to the military hospital near Bougie). On Nov. 30 they were moved from Bougie to Camp Iferiuer where they stayed until Dec. 3. at which time they boarded M/S Derwenthall which departed Bougie on Dec. 4, arriving Algiers that same evening. On Dec. 12 Cook Borgersen and Able Seaman Sørensen arrived Algiers on board the Norwegian D/S Evviva which had also been in the same convoy (one of Evviva's gunners is said to have shot down a plane and later received a British "mentioned in dispatches"). After the attack several of Selbo's crew had jumped overboard, 9 of whom were rescued by a lifeboat from the British escort trawler Lord Nuffield and taken to Bone. 6 men were left behind in the hospital there when the above mentioned 2 crew members departed with Evviva. Able Seaman Alf Løken and Donkeyman Johannes Hellerud later died and were buried in Bone. According to a personal story found in the book "Tilbakeblikk", survivors from Selbo were taken aboard the freed Norwegian Bosphorus, which had been interned in Algiers for two and a half years. They later arrived Greenock on Dec. 23-1942 aboard that ship, and the maritime inquiry was held there on Dec. 29-1942 with the captain, the 1st mate and Able Seaman Sørensen (helmsman) appearing. The 1st mate stated that all those who had died during the attack had been aft, except for the mess boy who had been amidships. The mate had seen 2 bodies floating in the water, terribly burnt and unidentifiable. Crew List:
Related external link: Back to Selbo on the "Ships starting with S" page. This company had another Selbo post war, this ship sailed as Bencas during the war; follow the link for info. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II, and misc. (ref. My sources).
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