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M/S Sørvard To Sørvard on the "Ships starting with S" page.
Sørvard was 1 of the 26 Norwegian ships interned in North and West Africa - the names of all of them are available at Interned Ships. According to "Nortraships flåte" she was interned in Dakar on June 22-1940 (as will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, she had arrived Dakar from Bathurst that same day). "Sjømann - Lang Vakt" by Guri Hjeltnes says she had a crew of 26, 25 of whom were Norwegian, 18 escaped, 1 went home (Engineer Einar Eide, who contracted malaria, was sent to Marseilles, then to Norway where he died in Apr.-1947). Sørvard was returned to Nortraship's register on March 20-1943 (freed because of the allied invasion of North and West Africa in Nov.-1942 - Operation Torch), and according to the archive document referred to above, she left Dakar for Freetown the following day. From Freetown, she travelled to Lagos and Takoradi, then back to Freetown (convoy information for these voyages will be added). She subsequently headed to the U.K., having joined Convoy SL 130, which left Freetown on May 30-1943, joined up with Convoy MKS 14* off Gibraltar on June 11, and arrived Liverpool on June 21. Her cargo is given as W. A. produce and mails, voyage Takoradi-Mersey; several Norwegian ships took part, as will be seen when following the link provided at the end of this page. At the beginning of Dec.-1943, Sørvard joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 214*, departing Liverpool on Dec. 2, arriving New York on the 20th. Sørvard, however, was bound for Halifax, where she arrived on Dec. 18. At the end of Jan.-1944 she joined Convoy HX 277 from New York, cargo of steel and lumber for Southampton, where she arrived on Febr. 16. She subsequently joined the westbound Convoy ON 228*, which originated in Liverpool on March 15-1944 (Sørvard joined from Belfast Lough) and arrived New York on Apr. 1. The following month we find her, with a cargo of sugar for Hull, in Convoy HX 292 from New York, and in July she's listed in the westbound Convoy ON 243*, which originated in Liverpool on July 3 and arrived New York on the 18th. Sørvard's destination is given as St. John, N.B., where she arrived on July 17, having started out from Loch Ewe on July 3 (see Page 2). In Aug.-1944 she sailed in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 305. Sørvard, bound for Cardiff with a cargo of lumber, joined this convoy with the Halifax portion and arrived her destination on Sept. 10. She later returned with the westbound Convoy ON 256*, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 28 and arrived New York Oct. 12. In Nov.-1944 she shows up in Convoy HX 318 from New York, bound for Liverpool with general cargo, then headed back across the ocean with the westbound Convoy ON 269*, departing Liverpool on Nov. 29-1944, arriving New York on Dec. 15. All these convoys had several other Norwegian ships as well. In Jan.-1945 she joined Convoy HX 332 from New York (in which Solør was torpedoed), then returned with the westbound Convoy ON 285*, which left Southend on Febr. 16-1945 and arrived New York on March 5 (Sørvard had joined this convoy from Clyde). According to Arnold Hague, she also sailed in Convoy HX 356, which left New York on May 13-1945 and arrived Liverpool on the 26th. This convoys is not available among the HX convoys included on my own website, but I've linked directly to Hague's listing at the end of this page. The Norwegian Dalfonn, Emma Bakke, Fenris, Lista, Sørvard, and the Panamanian Norvinn (Norwegian managers) are also listed. Further voyages are listed on Page 3 of the archive documents; as will be seen, she got to go home to Norway in the fall of 1945.
Related external link: Back to Sørvard on the "Ships starting with S" page.
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