M/S Tijuca - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/S Tijuca
Updated Apr. 1-2009

To Tijuca on the "Ships starting with T" page.

Received from Sverre Johansen, Norway (postcard collection).

Manager: Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg
Tonnage: 5498 gt, 3082 net, 8662 tdwt.
Dimensions: 418.0' x 54.5' x 27.5'.
Machinery: 2 x 6 cyl. 4 scsa oil engines totalling 4000 ihp by Burmeister & Wain's Maskin- og Skibsbyggeri A/S, Copenhagen, driving twin screws. Service speed 12 knots.

Launched on Sept. 2 1925 by Chantier et Ateliers de St. Nazaire (Penhoët) S.A., Grand Quevilly, Rouen (Yard No. E 5), completed March 2-1926. 1926-1936: 57,952 cu. ft. of refrigerated cargo space. 7 passengers.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4

Misc. Convoy Voyages:

(More convoy information will be added).

As will be seen when going to Page 1 above, it looks like Tijuca got out of Norway just before the Germans invaded (Apr. 9-1940).

In Nov.-1940, she's listed among the ships in Convoy HX 86 from Halifax, bound for Belfast with a cargo of steel and general, arriving Belfast Nov. 25. Several Norwegian ships took part in this convoy - follow the link for their names.

Wilh. Wilhelmsen's fleet list states Tijuca struck a mine in the Bristol Channel on Jan. 12-1941 when outward bound from Avonmouth for Trinidad, but was able to proceed to Barry. According to Page 1 of the archive documents, she had left Avonmouth on Jan. 9. "Nortraships flåte" says she was on her way to Barry when this occurred and was damaged enough that she had to be towed in afterwards. Barry and the ports in the Bristol Channel had been closed earlier that day while the area was being swept.

She did not leave Barry again until May 19-1941, arriving Milford Haven the next day, and from there she joined Convoy OB 326, which originated in Liverpool on May 22-1941, dispersed May 29, Tijuca arriving Galveston June 12 (see external link at the end of this page).

In the spring of 1942, she's listed in station 62 of Convoy SL 106/SLF 106, which departed Freetown on Apr. 9-1942. Her destination is given as Belfast, and she had a cargo of general, wool and cotton. The fast section of this convoy, the SLF section, in which Tijuca sailed, was detached on Apr. 22, and arrived Liverpool on the 29th, while the slow section arrived on May 2. The Norwegian Rio Branco also took part (slow section). The following month, we find her in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 103, originating in Liverpool on June 12. She was bound for New York, where she arrived June 26, according to Page 2. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys.

Her subsequent voyages are listed on the archive document mentioned above - convoy information for some of these can be obtained by following the instructions provided at the external link at the end of this page.

Christmas that year was spent in Convoy HX 219, which left New York on Dec. 13-1942 and arrived Liverpool on the 29th. Tijuca was bound for Hull with general cargo, including pig iron, wheat and mail, and had station 23 of the convoy. In his notes, the Commodore names her captain as F. Fredriksen, and says he fired a snowflake, thereby endangering the safety of the entire convoy. Tijuca arrived Hull, via Loch Ewe and Methil, on Jan. 5-1943.

Skipping now to May-1944, when she made a voyage from Bone to Port Said, having joined Convoy KMS 50, which left Gibraltar on May 15 and arrived Port Said May 25; Tijuca had started out from Bone on May 18 - see Page 3. This convoy will also be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, please see the section naming ships in all KMS convoys.

As can be seen on Page 4, she appears to have spent quite a long time in Swansea, from July 25-1945 until Dec. 23 that year.

Please note that only a selection of her convoy voyages are mentioned here; more will be added. Again, to find convoy info for some of her voyages made in between those already noted here, please follow the instructions provided at the external link below, then compare the results with the details found on the various archive documents.

POST WAR:

Sold on Apr. 8-1952 to Olaf Pedersen's Rederi A/S (Olaf Pedersen, manager), Oslo and renamed Sunny Prince. Sold in 1958 to The People's Republic of China and renamed Hoping Ssu Shi Pa. Deleted from Lloyd's Register 1976-77 in the absence of up to date information about her continued existence.

Related external link:
SL convoys - As can be seen, Tijuca is listed in Convoy SL 106/SLF 106. Note also that by going to this section of the same site (based on Arnold Hague's database), and clicking on "Ship Search" on the left hand side, using "Tijuca" as keyword, some convoys that are not mentioned in my text will come up. Here is OB 326, mentioned in the above narrative.