M/T Thordis

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WW II:

(More voyages will be added).

After the German invasion of Norway on Apr. 9-1940 it was not uncommon for Norwegian ships to be treated with distrust and suspicion, resulting in quite a few of them being forced into port by British war ships, and even put under armed guard. This also happened to Thordis on Apr. 15 when from Darwin she was escorted to Thursday Island together with M/T Havbør. They were subsequently joined by Anders Jahre and Høegh Giant, before continuing to Brisbane where they arrived on Apr. 19.

Captain was Aanon Peersen, later Johan Theodor Gundersen from 1942 (who had previously served as mate on Thordis for many years, having sailed with the company since 1922). Chief engineer from 1935 until 1943 was Georg M. Larsen. Petter Birkeland also served on this ship for a while (as well as on Thelma and Thorhild)

She was at Haifa on Christmas Eve 1941, along with several other ships, among them the Norwegian M/T Vilja and M/T Athene, when the tanker Phenix suddenly blew up while maneuvering out from the harbour. Most of the ships managed to get clear of the burning and sinking ship (though Vilja had been damaged). Thordis was later sent to Beirut. It's believed that the cause of the explosion might be similar to what had happened at Alexandria on Dec. 19 that same year - see M/T Sagona.

Thordis, bound for Southampton, is listed among the ships in Convoy HX 309 from New York to the U.K. in Sept./Oct.-1944.

Back to Thordis on the "Ships starting with T" page.

Other ships named Thordis: Wilh. Wilhelmsen had a Thordis, built in Sunderland 1899, 3736 gt - lost March 4-1906 near Port Stevens, N. S. W. Another Thordis was built for the company in 1906 at Fevik, 1749 gt, lost July 5-1911, voyage Petropavlovsk-Vladivostok. Tønnevold also previously had a Thordis, built in Oakland, California 1917, she had Norwegian officers and a Chinese crew. Sold (to Oslo) in 1925 and renamed Hampholm. This posting to the Uboat.net forum provides some more details on this ship.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Roger W. Jordan, "Olaf Tønnevold & Sønner 1878-1978" Birger Dannevig - and misc.