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M/S Thalatta To Thalatta on the "Ships starting with T" page. Manager: Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg Launched on May 7-1922 by Burmeister & Wain's Maskin- og Skibsbyggeri A/S, Copenhagen (Yard No. 321). Completed July 29. Captain: Ole Hoff Lersbryggen. Related item on this website: Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
As will be seen when going to Page 1 above, Thalatta was en route from Tokuyama to Townsville when Norway was invaded by the Germans on Apr. 9-1940. The first external website that I've linked to at the end of this page, has Thalatta in station 43 of Convoy SL 38, which left Freetown on July 1-1940 and arrived Liverpool on the 20th. Her destination is given as Belfast; according to the archive document mentioned above, she arrived Avonmouth July 22/23. The Norwegian Dagrun is also included. The following month, we find Thalatta, again with other Norwegian ships, in Convoy OB 203, which originated in Liverpool on Aug. 24 and dispersed on the 28th, Thalatta arriving Baltimore Sept. 8 (she had started out from Milford Haven on Aug. 24). From Baltimore, she now headed to Durban, Fremantle and Sydney, Australia. She was scheduled for the Bermuda portion of Convoy HX 111 on Febr. 21-1941, but instead joined the Bermuda portion of HX 114 on March 9, bound for London with wood, steel and sugar. The Norwegian Hidlefjord was sunk, and Kaia Knudsen was damaged at the end of their voyages with this convoy. Follow the links for more details. In May that same year, she's listed as bound for Montreal in Convoy OB 320, originating in Liverpool on May 8-1941, dispersed May 14, Thalatta arriving her destination on May 24, according to Page 1; she had started out from Loch Ewe on May 10 (convoy is available via external link below). She was scheduled for the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 60 on Dec. 16-1941, but instead joined the next convoy on Dec. 21, SC 61, cargo of sugar and copper for Clyde, where she arrived Jan. 7-1942. She's one of several Norwegian ships listed in Convoy OS 22, which departed Liverpool on March 13-1942 and arrived Freetown Apr. 1. Thalatta, however, was bound for Capetown, and arrived there on Apr. 16 (having started out from Clyde on March 13). Again, see the first external link below for more convoy information. See also Page 2. Fearing that Japan's strong fleet would make a move on Madagaskar, thereby posing a threat to the transports to the Middle East, the troop transports to India, the southern shipping routes to Australia, and the oil supplies from The Persian Gulf, the Allies decided to attack the Vichy French controlled air base at Diego Suarez in the north of Madagaskar (Operation Ironclad). In the course of Apr.-1942 war ships, troop transports and supply ships arrived Durban, which was to be the base for the operation. M/S Thalatta was one of these supply ships. She took on board equipment for an infantry brigade; landing barges and 120 Commando soldiers, and the convoy arrived its destination on May 5-1942 (see Convoy Y - external link). Follow the links provided below for more information on this operation. In Sept.-1942, Thalatta rescued the survivors from the Panamanian Tambour which had been torpedoed the day before, Sept. 26. ("Nortraships flåte" places this incident a year later, in Sept.-1943, but Rohwer agrees with 1942 - ref. external link below). She landed them in Trinidad on Sept. 28. She was scheduled for the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 214 on Nov. 3-1942, but did not sail. Arnold Hague has instead included her in Convoy SC 109, which left New York on Nov. 9-1942 and arrived Liverpool on the 30th. This convoy is not yet available among the SC convoys included in my own Convoys section, but I've linked directly to Hague's listing at the end of this page. Again, see also Page 2 of the archive documents. On Jan. 23-1943, she can be found in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 162, along with a number of other Norwegian ships, as will be seen when following the link. Thalatta's destination is given as Table Bay, and she had station 45 of the convoy. According to the archive document mentioned above, she arrived Walvis Bay on March 1, continuing to Capetown about a week later, with arrival March 13. Convoy information for this, and some of her subsequent voyages (again, see Page 2 as well as Page 3), can be obtained by following the instructions provided at the external link below. The same website has her in Convoy SL 135 / MKS 22, bound for Loch Ewe, cargo of copper. SL 135 had departed Freetown on Aug. 14-1943, joined up with MKS 22 from Gibraltar on the 26th, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on Sept. 6. Thalatta is listed in the SL portion, and arrived Loch Ewe on Sept. 5 - follow the link for more details on this convoy. As will be seen when going back to Page 3 of the archive documents, she subsequently spent quite a long time in North Shields, where she had arrived on Sept. 28-1943. Her next departure date is given as May 27-1944, "for trials", returning to North Shields that same day. A week later, we find her in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 239, originating in Liverpool on June 3-1944, arriving New York June 22 - Thalatta had joined from Loch Ewe. (Convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys). According to Arnold Hague, she also sailed in Convoy MKS 68, which left Gibraltar on Nov. 25-1944, joined up with Convoy SL 177 from Freetown on Nov. 26, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on Dec. 5; Thalatta anchored in the Downs Dec. 4. (MKS 68 will also be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, please see the section listing ships in all MKS convoys). On Jan. 17-1945, I have her in station 95 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 279, which arrived New York on Febr. 5. Her subsequent voyages are listed on Page 4 and Page 5 of the archvie documents. As will be seen, she went home to Norway in Nov.-1945, and again in the spring of 1946. Please note that only a selected few of her convoy voyages are mentioned here. Again, to find convoy information for some of the voyages made in between those already noted above, please follow the instructions provided at the external link below, then compare the results with the details found on the various archive documents.
Went aground on July 5-1948 off Suvadiva Atoll (Maldive Islands) on a voyage from Shanghai to Oslo with passengers and general cargo. Reported later that month to have been (unofficially) renamed Aqua Queen (meaning Water Queen). Refloated on Oct. 26 and arrived at Colombo on Nov. 9, where she was found to be beyond economical repair, and on Apr. 20-1949 she was declared a constructive total loss. Sold on July 31-1949 by insurance underwriters to A. Ebrahim & Co., Bombay for scrapping. Demolition began in Nov.-1949 at Darukhana, Bombay. Related external links: Operation Ironclad - Lists the units taking part. Back to Thalatta on the "Ships starting with T" page. Wilh. Wilhelmsen later had 2 more ships by this name. Germany also had a ship by this name - became British Empire Tegaya in 1945. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Wilh. Wilhelmsen fleet list, and misc. (ref. My sources).
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