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M/T Solør To Solør on the "Ships starting with S" page. Manager: S. Ugelstad, Oslo Built by Eriksbergs Mek. Verkstads A/B, Gothenburg 1938. Captain: Fridtjof Olsen. Related items on this website: Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
ON 189 (June-1943) ON 204 (Sept.-1943) ON 255 (Sept.-1944) ON 265 (Nov.-1944) ON 274 (Dec.-1944) All of the above will be added to individual pages in my Convoys Section, but in the meantime, the ships sailing in them are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. By looking at the dates and comparing to the archive documents above, it should be possible to construct a picture of her Atlantic crossings, until I get time to alter the text in this narrative to show her voyages in chronological order. (Solør also sailed in several GUS convoys and returning UGS convoys, among others, but she often sailed independently). As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the documents received from the Norwegian archives, Solør was en route from Singapore to Brisbane when Norway was invaded by the Germans on Apr. 9-1940. Her voyages that year, and the majority of those made in 1941 (and 1942), took place without a convoy. At the end of Aug.-1941 she's listed in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 147, together with the Norwegian Nueva Granada, Bello, Bralanta, Sandanger, Slemmestad, Strinda, G. C. Brøvig, and O. A. Knudsen. Solør was scheduled to return across the Atlantic with the the westbound Convoy ON 19 on Sept. 21, but instead joined the next convoy a few days later, ON 20. She was bound for New York, and had station 82, arriving New York (via Halifax Oct. 11) on Oct. 14, having started out from Clyde on Sept. 25. Follow the links for more convoy info - see also Page 2. Skipping now to Jan. 6-1943, when she was scheduled for Convoy HX 222 from New York, but did not sail; there's also a notation saying "not for U.K." next to her name. This may have something to do with the fact that she took part in the Torch operations, which had commenced in Nov.-1942. In fact, according to Page 3 of the archive documents, she sailed from New York on Jan. 13-1943 and arrived Casablanca on Febr. 2. Arnold Hague has her in Convoy UGS 4 for this voyage, and she's said to have headed back to New York the following month with Convoy GUS 5, arriving her destination on Apr. 1. Hague's listing for both these convoys is available via the external links provided below. (My page about Athos has a list of other Norwegian ships taking part in the Torch operations). In May that same year, Solør was scheduled for Convoy HX 240 from New York to the U.K. (departure May 19-1943), but instead joined the next convoy on May 25, HX 241, taking station 92. She was bound for Avonmouth, where she arrived (via Belfast Lough) on June 11 (heading back to New York a few days later - again, see the archive document already referred to, and the list of ON convoys above). In Aug.-1943 she shows up, with destination Bizerta, in Convoy KMS 21, which she appears to have joined from Convoy UGS 12 on July 29 - see the external link below, as well as the second table on my page for Convoy KMS 21. She arrived Bizerta on Aug. 3, having started out from Hampton Roads on July 12 (with UGS 12). On Sept. 9 she was back in New York, joining Convoy HX 256, again bound for Avonmouth, where she arrived on Sept. 24. According to Fred Turner's story in my Warsailor Stories section, Solør left Philadelphia on Nov. 19, 1943 with a cargo of gasoline, bound for Algiers, docking in Algiers on Dec. 15 (this fits with the fact that she's listed as bound for Algiers in Convoy UGS 25; ref. external link below - note, however, that the dates don't quite agree with the information found on Page 3 of the archive documents, which gives arrival Algiers as Dec. 13). Fred adds that after unloading, they returned to the U.S. and landed in New York on Jan. 19-1944 (archive doc gives arrival New York as Jan. 16-1944 - see also Convoy GUS 25 below). In Apr.-1944 she made a voyage from Algiers to Port Said, having joined convoy KMS 46, which left Gibraltar on Apr. 6 (Solør left Algiers Apr. 8 - see Page 4) and arrived Port Said on the 16th. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all KMS convoys. In June we find her in Convoy MKS 53, departing Port Said on June 18, arriving Gibraltar on the 29th; Solør, however, was bound for Augusta, where she arrived on June 24 (this convoy will also be added, but for now, please see the section listing ships in all MKS convoys). The following month I have her in Convoy GUS 45, which left Port Said on July 4-1944 and arrived Hampton Roads on the 29th, but several ships parted company on the way, while others joined. In fact, Solør joined the convoy from Augusta on July 9 and was bound for Baltimore, with arrival there on the 29th. At the end of Aug.-1944 she joined Convoy HX 306 from New York to the U.K., then in Oct.-1944 she's listed in Convoy HX 314. She was scheduled for Convoy HX 323 on Nov. 29, but instead joined the next convoy on Dec. 4, HX 324; her destination is given as Dingle. Again, see the list of ON convoys further up on this page for details on her westbound North Atlantic voyages, and compare them to the dates found in the various archive documents. Related external links:
Solør had returned to New York with the westbound Convoy ON 274 (departure Liverpool Christmas Eve 1944, arrival New York Jan. 8-1945 - this page has the names of other ships sailing in it), and was on her way back to the U.K. again in Convoy HX 332 with a cargo of 11 000 tons oil for Clyde, as well as gliders, when she was torpedoed in the port side engine room (stern) on Jan. 27-1945 by U-825 (Stölker) while inward bound from New York for St. Georges Channel, position 52 35N 05 18W. The entire after structure was damaged, the poop dropping 4 to 5 ft. The vessel was abandoned at 13:25, about an hour after the torpedo had hit. 4 had died, 40 survived and were picked up by the rescue vessel Zamalek. The crew (except for 7 who had been injured) was placed back on board Solør the next day, while the 7 injured men were taken to Swansea by Zamalek and admitted to Swansea Hospital. Solør was taken in tow and beached at Oxwich Bay late at night on the 29th. Half of her cargo and 17 gliders had been unloaded before she broke in two and was given up as a total loss. The foreward 2/3 of the ship was later refloated and broken up at Briton Ferry, while the stern portion was left at Oxwich, then salved for scrap in July 1952. The inquiry was held in Cardiff on Febr. 6-1945 with the captain, the 2nd mate, the 2nd engineer, Able Seaman Ulleland (helmsman) and Ordinary Seaman Bird (lookout) appearing. The American Ruben Dario was also torpedoed by U-825 that day, but could continue. U-1051 was apparently also in the area, ready for attack, but was never able to deliver a report as it was sunk by an escort that same day, according to "Nortraships flåte". This sinking date corresponds with a footnote in Jürgen Rohwer's book - however, Uboat.net has the 26th in the Irish Sea, saying it was U-1172 that was sunk in St. Georges Channel on the 27th - see external link at the end of this page. Rohwer has Solør listed as a steamer, but that's incorrect. Crew List:
Related external links: Back to Solør on the "Ships starting with S" page. This company had previously had another ship named Solør - see D/S Agnes for further details. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "The World's Merchant Fleets", R. W. Jordan, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II, Norwegian Maritime Museum, and misc. (ref. My sources).
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