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D/S Senta To Senta on the "Ships starting with S" page. Crew List Owner: Skibs-A/S Senta Built by Union Iron Works, Alameda, California in 1917. Previous names: Regulus until 1938, Sirehav until 1939 (A. I. Langfeldt & Co., Kristiansand). Captain: Conrad Rustad (Rym also had a captain by this name; same person?). Related item on this website: 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. Errors may exist, and several voyages are missing.
As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Senta was on her way from Buenos Aires to New York when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. From New York, she headed to Hampton Roads, then on to Halifax, and from there, she joined Convoy HX 45 on May 24, having been cancelled from the previous convoys, HX 43 and HX 44. She had a cargo of lumber and paper for Liverpool. According to the Commodore's notes for this convoy, she dropped astern on May 25, but arrived Liverpool safely on June 7 (later proceeding to Dublin). In July, we find her, together with Austvard, Benjamin Franklin, Hellen, Ingerfem, Margrethe Bakke and Skrim, in Convoy OB 178, which originated in Liverpool on July 3 and dispersed July 7, Senta arriving Sydney, C.B. on July 16 (she had started out from Milford Haven on July 4). Having made a voyage to Newcastle, N.B., she sailed to Halifax, and with pit props for Hull, she was scheduled to return to the U.K. with Convoy HX 66 from there on Aug. 16 (Norne was sunk - see also Eli), but instead proceeded to Sydney, C.B., joining the slow Convoy SC 2 on Aug. 25, in which the Norwegian Gro and others were sunk - follow the links for details. Senta arrived Hull on Sept. 21, remaining there for almost a month. At the end of Oct.-1940 she appears in station 82 of Convoy OB 237, which originated in Liverpool on Oct. 31 and dispersed on Nov. 2. Bur, Hardanger and Sama are also listed. Senta's destination on that occasion is given as Newfoundland (ref. external link provided within the Voyage Record); going back to Page 1 of the archive documents, we learn that she arrived Wabana on Nov. 11, having sailed from Oban on Oct. 29. She headed back to the U.K. on Nov. 22 with Convoy SC 13 from Sydney, C.B., cargo of iron ore for Port Talbot, where she arrived on Dec. 12. With destination Pepel, she's now listed as scheduled for Convoy OB 265, which left Liverpool on Dec. 26, but she did not sail (see external link below). Together with Brisk, Egda, Facto, Hallanger and Nesttun, she shows up again in Convoy OB 268, originating in Liverpool on Jan. 1-1941, dispersed Jan. 4 (direct link in table above). She arrived Freetown on Jan. 24, having started out in Milford Haven on Dec. 31. In Febr.-1941, she's listed with a cargo of iron in Convoy SLS 65, departing Freetown on Febr. 9 (again, ref. link in Voyage Record). This convoy joined up with Convoy SL 65 on Febr. 13 and arrived Liverpool on March 8; Senta arrived Barrow on March 11 (Page 1). SL 65 had several Norwegian ships, namely Belinda, Belita, Bur (bombed, follow link for details), Fernlane, Morgenen and Polartank. The following month, she made a voyage to Gibraltar, having joined Convoy OG 58*, which originated in Liverpool on Apr. 6 and arrived Gibraltar on the 21st (Polyana was sunk; follow the link for more info). Senta was scheduled to return in Convoy HG 62 on May 14, but instead joined the next convoy on May 25, HG 63, bound for Port Talbot with iron ore in station 72, arriving that destination, via Belfast Lough, on June 11. According to Page 2 of the archive documents, she made a voyage from Milford Haven to Wabana in June/July 1941, but I have no convoy information for this voyage (it has not been included in Hague's Voyage Record). It looks like she was scheduled for the Wabana portion of Convoy HX 139 in July-1941; the document is very blurry, but I believe it's Senta. There's a note for the ship in question saying that she was instead sent to the slow Convoy SC 38*, which left Sydney, C.B. on July 22, and A. Hague has indeed included Senta in this convoy (she had previously arrived Sydney from Wabana on July 17). However, she returned to port, having struck ice (as did several of the other ships in this convoy), and does not show up again in an eastbound convoy until Sept. 24, when she's listed in Convoy SC 46*, which arrived Liverpool on Oct. 10. (As will be seen when going back to the archive document, she had made voyages to Quebec and Montreal in between and had spent a month in Quebec). Senta lost a crew member on this voyage, ref. link at the end of this page to the Stavern Memorial. From Liverpool, she proceeded to Manchester, Partington and Eastham, and early in Nov.-1941, we find her in station 33 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 33 (she had initially started out in ON 31 on Oct. 28, but returned to port; arriving Belfast Lough Oct. 30). Her destination is given as Sydney, C.B., where she arrived Nov. 25, the convoy having been dispersed on Nov. 23 (she had joined from Belfast Lough). Having made another voyage to Quebec and back to Sydney, C.B., she headed back to the U.K. on Dec. 10 with Convoy SC 59, bound for Ellesmere Port, cargo of aluminium and pulp, arriving her destination on Dec. 27. At the beginning of 1942, Senta joined the westbound Convoy ON 55*, which left Liverpool on Jan. 8 and dispersed on the 26th. Her destination is given as Galveston; she arrived Hampton Roads on Febr. 3, continuing to Texas City a week later - again, see Page 2. In March, she's listed among the ships in Convoy SC 75 from Halifax, cargo of sulphur for Manchester, returning across the Atlantic with Convoy ON 88*, departing Liverpool on Apr. 21. Her destination is not given, but from the archive document, we learn that she arrived Three Rivers on May 8, proceeding to Montreal the next day. According to Page 3, she headed back to Three Rivers again a few days later, then stopped at Quebec and Bic Island, before heading to Sydney, C.B. in order to join Convoy SC 85 back to the U.K. on May 29, cargo of steel and lumber for Manchester. At the end of the following month we find her listed as bound for Wabana in Convoy ON 108*, which left Liverpool on June 30. She arrived Wabana on July 12, St. John's, N.F. on July 18, and was scheduled for the Newfoundland portion of Convoy SC 92 the next day, but instead joined the N.F. portion of the next convoy a week later, SC 93, cargo of iron ore for Middlesbrough, where she arrived, via Loch Ewe and Methil Roads, on Aug. 11. At the end that month, I have her in station 63 of the westbound Convoy ON 126, for which the Norwegian Rena served as Commodore Vessel. Senta was bound for Halifax, where she arrived Sept. 16, having started out from Loch Ewe on Aug. 29. She left Halifax again on Oct. 6 in order to return across the Atlantic, but did not make it to her destination, as will be seen below.
Related external link:
As already mentioned above, Senta left Halifax again on Oct. 6-1942, and joined Convoy SC 104, which had originated in New York on Oct. 3. Bernhard, Bonde (returned), Boreas, Garnes, Gudvor, Inger Lise, Ingerfem, Lido, Nea, Fagersten (sunk), Suderøy and Vinga are also listed in this convoy (scroll down to SC 104 on this page). Senta was bound for Belfast Lough with a cargo of steel and pulp, sailing in station 102. On Oct. 13, she was torpedoed and sunk by U-221 (Trojer), position 53N 44W. She was struck immediately after the British S/S Ashworth had been torpedoed. The bad weather made it hard to see what was actually taking place, and when the rescue vessel came over to Senta's and Ashworth's position, both ships were gone with all hands (49 on Ashworth). Please go to my page about Potentilla for more on this battle. See also my page about D/S Fagersten and the external links at the end of this page. Acanthus, Eglantine and Montbretia are also named among the escorts for this convoy. Some of the other merchant ships sunk: The British Empire Mersey (16 died) and Southern Empress (48 died), the Greek Nellie (32 died), the Yugoslavian Nikolina Matkovic (14 died), and the American Susana (38 died). For info, U-221 was also responsible for the attacks on Jamaica and Sandanger the following year. Crew List - No survivors:
Related external links: Group Wotan and the Battle for Convoy SC 104 - Article with a very detailed description of the convoy battle (a section of Rob Fisher's Home Page). Back to Senta on the "Ships starting with S" page. Ole Løkke had another ship by this name in 1939, became Siremalm (looks like the two companies swapped ships that year!). Sweden also had a steamship by the name Senta, built 1905, 1497 gt - bombed and sunk by British aircraft off Borkum on June 12-1942. (A Swedish sailing ship by this name had been sunk by a German U-boat in the Kattegat on Dec. 4-1916). The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II, Norwegian Maritime Museum, "The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hauge, "Våre falne - 1939 - 1945", Published by the Norwegian State 1948, lists all Norwegian casualties of the war, 4 volumes, and misc. (ref. My sources). For info, "Våre falne" is available online - the first book, with last names starting with A to G, starts on this page, Book 2 (H to K) on this page, Book 3 (L to R) is on this page, while Book 4 (S to Å) can be found on this page.
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