M/S Tai Yang
Updated Dec. 17-2010

To Tai Yang on the "Ships starting with T" page.


Received from Trond Jergel, Norway, who had relative on board, Karl Johannes Beck (also served as stoker on Lom)
He disappeared without a trace after the war, and Trond has been searching for more information for years.
If anyone can assist, please contact me via the address provided at the bottom of this page.

In Nov.-1927, Wilhelmsen made an agreement with Barber Steamship Company, New York to provide tonnage for Barber's regular service between the New York area and the Far East, in co-operation with the Liverpool firm, James Chambers & Company. Each company was to have 5 ships available. Existing tonnage was used at first, but between 1929 and 1930, 10 almost identical motor liners were built, specially adapted for transportation of vegetable oil and reefer cargo. 5 of the ships were given Chinese names, beginning with the prefix "Tai". Tai Yang was the first in the series (Troja was the 10th and last). Tai Yang was launched on July 14-1928 by Deutsche Werke A.G., Kiel (Yard No. 220), completed March 18-1929. 7084 gt, 3903 net, 12 400 tdwt, 461.4' x 60.6' x 29.0', two 8 cyl. 4 scsa oil engines totalling 7000 ihp by the shipbuilders, driving twin screws. Service speed 14.5 knots.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3

Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.

Voyage Record From Apr.-1940 to Dec.-1945:

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Apr. 2	Padang	Aden	Apr. 23*	Independent	*Page 1 gives Apr. 13.
	May 3	Aden	Suez	May 7	Independent	–
	May 9	Port Said	Malta	May 12	Independent	–
	May 15	Malta	Gibraltar	–	Independent	–
	May 20	Gibraltar	Southend	May 29	HG 31F	Again, see also Page 1
	July 16	Southend	Methil	July 18	FN 224	Convoy available at FN 224 (external link)
	July 20	Methil	–	–	OA 187	Dispersed July 25. Convoy available at OA 187 (external link)
	July 25	Dispersed from OA 187	New York City	Aug. 1	Independent	–
1941	Febr. 9	New York City	Philadelphia	Febr. 10	Independent	–
	Febr. 16	Philadelphia	Trinidad	–	Independent	–
	March 2	Trinidad	Walvis Bay	March 20	Independent	–
	March 21	Walvis Bay	Capetown	March 25	Independent	–
	March 27	Capetown	Port Elizabeth	March 29	Independent	–
	March 29	Port Elizabeth	East London	March 30	Independent	–
	March 31	East London	Durban	Apr. 2	Independent	–
	Apr. 10	Durban	Lourenço Marques	Apr. 11	Independent	–
	Apr. 12	Lourenço Marques	Mombasa	Apr. 19*	Independent	*Page 1 gives arrival Apr. 17
	Apr. 21	Mombasa	Bombay	Apr. 28	Independent	–
	May 4	Bombay	Cochin	May 6	Independent	–
	May 8	Cochin	Colombo	May 10	Independent	–
	May 12	Colombo	Capetown	May 30	Independent	–
	June 1	Capetown	Montreal	June 29	Independent	–
	July 10	Montreal	Halifax	July 14	Independent	–
	July 16	Halifax	New York City	July 18	Independent	–
	Aug. 15	New York City	Capetown	Sept. 12	Independent	–
	Sept. 18	Capetown	Port Elizabeth	Sept. 20	Independent	–
	Oct. 30	Port Elizabeth	East London	Nov. 1	Independent	–
	Nov. 4	East London	Durban	Nov. 5	Independent	–
	Nov. 14	Durban	Lourenço Marques	Nov. 16	Independent	–
	Nov. 18	Lourenço Marques	Beira	Nov. 20	Independent	–
	Nov. 26	Beira	Mombasa	Nov. 30	Independent	–
	Dec. 6	Mombasa	Fremantle	Dec. 21	Independent	–
	Dec. 21	Fremantle	Adelaide	Dec. 26	Independent	–
1942	Jan. 1	Adelaide	Port Pirie	Jan. 2	Independent	Notional sailing date
	Jan. 5	Port Pirie	Melbourne	Jan. 7	Independent	–
	Jan. 16	Melbourne	Sydney, N.S.W.	Jan. 17	Independent	–
	Jan. 24	Sydney, N.S.W.	Melbourne	Jan. 26	Independent	–
	March 9	Melbourne	Aden	Apr. 5	Independent	–
	Apr. 5	Aden	Suez	Apr. 10	Independent	Engine defects at Port Said May 6 (had arrived Apr. 11 - See Page 2).
	Aug. 14	Suez	Aden	Aug. 21	Independent	–
	Aug. 24	Aden	Mombasa	Sept. 1	Independent	–
	Sept. 12	Mombasa	Melbourne	Oct. 9	Independent	–
	Oct. 30	Melbourne	Sydney, N.S.W.	Nov. 1	Independent	–
1943	July 14	Sydney, N.S.W.	Newcastle, N.S.W.	July 15	Independent	–
	July 18	Newcastle, N.S.W.	Newcastle, N.S.W.	July 19	Independent	Put back, defects
	July 19	Newcastle, N.S.W.	Sydney, N.S.W.	July 20	Independent	–
	Aug. 4	Sydney, N.S.W.	Melbourne	Aug. 9	Independent	–
	Sept. 10	Melbourne	Fremantle	Sept. 18	Independent	–
	Sept. 29	Fremantle	Colombo	Oct. 11	Independent	–
	Oct. 25	Colombo	Bombay	Oct. 30	MB 52	Convoy available at MB 52 (external link)
	Nov. 11	Bombay	Colombo*	Nov. 16	BM 74	Onward to Melbourne. Convoy available at BM 74 (external link)
	Nov. 16	Detached from BM 74	Melbourne	Dec. 2	Independent	–
	*Convoy BM 74 did arrive Colombo on Nov. 16, but as can be seen, Tai Yang was detached from the convoy that day in order to sail to Melbourne - see also Page 2.
	Dec. 8	Melbourne	Sydney, N.S.W.	Dec. 10	Independent	Notional sailing date (agrees with Page 2)
1944	Jan. 13	Sydney, N.S.W.	Melbourne	Jan. 16	Independent	–
	Jan. 24	Melbourne	Fremantle	Jan. 31	Independent	–
	Febr. 6	Fremantle	Fremantle	Febr. 15	Independent	Put back with defects
	Apr. 13	Fremantle	Colombo	Apr. 26	Independent	–
	Apr. 30	Colombo	Bombay	May 4	Independent	–
	May 21	Bombay	Melbourne	June 11	Independent	–
	June 19	Melbourne	Sydney, N.S.W.	June 21	Independent	–
	July 7	Sydney, N.S.W.	Melbourne	July 9	Independent	–
	July 23	Melbourne	Fremantle	July 30	Independent	–
	Aug. 2	Fremantle	Trincomalee	Aug. 14	Independent	–
	Aug. 19	Trincomalee	Colombo	Aug. 20	Independent	–
	Aug. 24	Colombo	Karachi	Aug. 29	Independent	–
	Sept. 10	Karachi	Bombay	Sept. 12	Independent	–
	Oct. 3	Bombay	Sydney, N.S.W.	Oct. 27	Independent	–
1945	Apr. 4	Sydney, N.S.W.	Melbourne	Apr. 7	Independent	–
	Apr. 21	Melbourne	Fremantle	Apr. 27	Independent	–
	Apr. 30	Fremantle	Colombo	May 11	Independent	–
	May 29	Colombo	Bombay	June 1	Independent	–
	June 16	Bombay	Fremantle	July 1	Independent	–
	July 8	Fremantle	Sydney, N.S.W.	July 17	Independent	–
	Nov. 5	Sydney, N.S.W.	Fremantle	Nov. 14	Independent	–
	Nov. 18	Fremantle	Aden	Dec. 7	Independent	–
	Dec. 8	Aden	Suez	Dec. 13	Independent	–
	Dec. 15	Suez	Antwerp	Dec. 29	Independent	See also Page 3

Some War Voyages:

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and Hague's Voyage Record above.

As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Tai Yang had departed Padang on Apr. 2-1940 and arrived Aden on Apr. 13, 4 days after the German invasion of Norway - it looks like her original destination was Oslo, Norway, but she was diverted to London. From Aden, she sailed to Suez, Malta and Gibraltar the following month, and on May 20, I have her in Convoy HGF 31 from Gibraltar, bound for London with general cargo, arriving there on May 29. According to Arnold Hague, she later joined Convoy FN 224 in order to sail to Methil (Selvik is also listed in this convoy), and from there she proceeded in Convoy OA 187, which departed Methil on July 20 and dispersed on the 25th, Tai Yang arriving New York on Aug. 1 (the Norwegian Asgerd and Selvik are also listed in OA 187 - ref. link provided in the Voyage Record).

It now looks like she remained in New York for a long time - departure is given as Febr. 9-1941, when she proceeded to Philadelphia. I'm not sure whether she had remained in New York that long, or whether her voyages in the interim are just missing. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 1. See also Page 2 - this document also shows some big gaps, from Apr. 11-1942, when she arrived Port Said, to Aug. 5 that same year, when she's said to have departed Port Said for Suez, and again from Nov. 1-1942, when she arrived Sydney from Melbourne, to July 14-1943, when she departed Sydney for Newcastle, N.S.W. A. Hague indicates she had some engine problems.

In Oct.-1943, she's listed in Convoy MB 52, departing Colombo on Oct. 25, arriving Bombay Oct. 30, and the following month, we find her in Convoy BM 74, which left Bombay on Nov. 11 and arrived Colombo on the 16th; Tai Yang, however, proceeded to Melbourne, where she arrived on Dec. 2.

Tai Yang otherwise usually sailed independently.

Her 1944 voyages start on Page 2 above (as can be seen, she spent a long time in Fremantle at the beginning of that year), while the rest of her voyages (to Febr.-1946) are shown on Page 3, and again, there are some long gaps, from Oct. 27-1944, when she arrived Sydney from Bombay, to Apr. 4-1945, when she left Sydney for Melbourne. She also appears to have spent a long time in Sydney from July-1945 to Nov.-1945.

POST WAR:

From 1952 she had two 5 cyl. 2 scsa oil engines totalling 8000 ihp by Howaldtswerke A.G., Hamburg, driving the twin screws. Service speed 15 knots, 8 passengers. Sold on Febr. 22-1962 to Cia. Nav. Mousse S.A. (Achilles Frangistas, manager), Lebanon and renamed Mousse. Sold in 1969 to Mousse Shipping Co. Ltd., Cyprus. Sold to Chinese shipbreakers in 1970. Delivered at Shanghai on March 16-1970 for demolition.

Related external link:
Stavern Memorial commemoration - 3rd Engineer Ole Kvalnesvik is listed as having died at sea on Aug. 19-1942 because of illness. According to Page 2 of the archive documents, Tai Yang was en route from Suez to Aden on that date.

(Tai Yang is Chinese for "the sun").

Back to Tai Yang on the "Ships starting with T" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Wilh. Wilhelmsen fleet list.