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M/S Torrens To Torrens on the "Ships starting with T" page. Manager: Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg 820 cu. ft. of refrigerated cargo space. Launched at Kockums Mekaniska Verkstads A/B, Malmö (Yard No. 209) on Apr. 5-1939, completed May 31. Captain: Thor Bruu. Since I get so many questions from relatives of crew members of all nationalities, I can mention that Max L. O'Starr (probably an American) served on this ship from June-1943 until Sept. 1944, having made 4 round trips to the South Pacific (Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, New Hebrides and Hawaii). He then briefly joined a Liberty Ship, but rejoined Torrens in May-1945, went with her to Panama and France, then paid off in July-1945. Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives: I've received this picture from Hans Jacob Herholdt, who runs this website, and whose grandfather, Jacob Henrik Sørensen, served as steward on Torrens all through the war (shown at x on the photo). He has the following questions regarding this picture:
As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Torrens was in New York when Norway was invaded by the Germans on Apr. 9-1940, having arrived there from Manila on Apr. 6. All her 1940 voyages are shown on that page, as are her early 1941 voyages, while the rest of her 1941 and some 1942 voyages are listed on Page 2 (unfortunately, this document is cropped a bit close, but it should be possible to get an idea of the departure dates). It looks like she spent quite some time in Los Angeles, where she had arrived from Balboa on Dec. 4-1941, leaving again for Brisbane on Febr. 7-1942. She served as troopship between 1942 and 1946 (U.S.A.T. 25), operating on behalf of the United States War Shipping Administration by Barber Steamship Lines and the American West African Line, able to carry up to 1702 passengers (others say over 2000 troops), fitted out at Betlehem Steel in San Francisco, complete with a "hospital" and operating room. She was heavily armed; at first she had American gunners, but later also Norwegian ones. She became known as "The Ship of Good Cheer". Her first voyage as troopship took place in the summer of 1942 from San Francisco to Brisbane - again, see the end of Page 2 of the archive docs, where we learn that she had arrived San Francisco on May 7-1942, leaving again for Brisbane on June 22, with arrival Brisbane on July 15. In fact, she's listed in Convoy PW 2095 for this voyage, ref. external link to this convoy at the end of this page. In the first 6 months of 1943 she made 3 voyages between San Francisco and Noumea, New Guinea; see Page 3. Convoy information for some of her subsequent voyages can be obtained by following the instructions provided at the external link already mentioned. (Unfortunately, all of her 1944 voyages are missing from the archive document - she had made another voyage from San Francisco to Noumea in Oct.-1943, leaving Noumea again for New Zealand on Nov. 11, and that's the last voyage listed, until Jan.-1945). The Americans had landed at Leyte Gulf on the Philippines on Oct. 19-1944. From day one Japanese aircraft attacked the landing forces and the accompanying convoys in the gulf. The first Kamikaze suicide attack occurred on Oct. 21, with the Australian cruiser Australia its victim. (Also, see what General Fleischer endured at Leyte). Torrens left San Francisco on Oct. 20-1944, arriving Milne Bay, New Guinea Nov. 11, then continued to Hollandia on the 17th, where she waited for orders for 10 days. On Nov. 29, she joined a convoy of 40 ships bound for the Philippines. She had 1600 soldiers and equipment on board. The convoy was attacked several times en route, a couple of Liberty ships were hit during the first attack on Dec. 5 and many were killed*. An aircraft was shot down by Torrens thereby saving another Liberty ship. The attacks lasted from early morning until dark, the gunners sleeping near their guns when they were off duty.
The convoy arrived Leyte in the morning of Dec. 6, suffering air raids several times that day. The airport was bombed, and parachute troops set some ammunition and petrol stores on fire. Torrens was there until the 9th, then moved 30 n. miles further north to land all the troops she had on board (this may have been one of the bridgeheads, Dulag or Tacloban?), where they stayed until Dec. 19 attempting to unload their cargo, an operation which was made very difficult due to the continuous air attacks, day and night. Finally, they departed for Leyte to wait for a convoy, and again escaped being hit by attacking Japanese aircraft that evening. She left Leyte on Dec. 22 for Hollandia, a peaceful voyage. At Biak they took on board about 1000 Seabees of the 55th Battalion and some pilots who were going home on vacation, then at Lae, New Guinea 300 wounded came on board, before the ship departed for San Francisco on Jan. 5-1945. According to Page 3 of the archive documents, Torrens arrived San Francisco on Jan. 21. Once there, the captain handed over some money to the Consulate, to be given to the Norwegian Destroyer Foundation. This money had been collected among the American soldiers on board on Dec. 6, as a gift to the gunners "in appreciation of their excellent performance shooting down the Jap dive bomber yesterday"; $ 370 from the 33rd Special Naval Construction Battalion (Lt. Commander J. P. Piepgrass Jr.), and $ 170 from the 5th Special Naval Construction Battalion (Lt. Commander F. L. Holland). One of the officers added "this is indeed not an attempt to compensate them for service in the line of duty but rather a token to express our admiration of their cool action and accurate marksmanship under fire. Congratulations and good wishes to you and your crew". Captain Bruu became well known for establishing a fund for the children of seamen who had been killed in the war, collecting considerable amounts of money for the purpose. "Captain Bruu's Children's Fund" existed for many years after the war, until such time as those children were adults and no longer in need of financial support. Gunners on Torrens at the time were: Erling Torvanger, Kristoffer Nausdal, Nils K. Fjærå, A. L. Kristoffersen, Jan. G. Ovidt, Gunnar H. Gulliksen, Holger O. Johansen, Reidulf B. Flaatten, Ingolf A. B. Larsen, Berge A. Andersen, Johan Vidnes, Kristian Tollefsen, Hans Eriksen, Harald Haugvik, Ingolv Lid, Ole A. Tobiassen, Thorvald Tobiassen, Erling L. Solstad, Svein B. Lindøe, Gunnar Gunnarsen Lia, and Fritz Ingebriktsen. Gunnery Officer was Edvard Fylkesnes. There's now another big gap in the voyage information for Torrens, from arrival San Francisco on Jan. 21-1945, as mentioned, to the first voyage listed on Page 4, which has her leaving New York for Naples on July 23-1945. The document also lists some early 1946 voyages. Torrens transported about 58 000 American troops to various areas of the Pacific, distributed on 20 voyages from the west coast of the US. On each voyage she had about 4000 tons of cargo, mainly war materials and equipment for the troops. To obtain convoy information for some her voyages, please follow the instructions provided at the external link below, then compare the results with the details found on the various archive documents.
Sold on June 3-1966 to Dimitra Cia. Nav. S.A. (Michail A. Karageorgis, and latterly E.T. Kolintzas, manager), Greece and renamed Georgios M. Sold to H. Si Chiao El Le Kou, Peking for scrapping. Delivered at Hsinkang to Chinese shipbreakers on Apr. 13-1970. Related external links: The Australian War Memorial also has a picture of this ship. It can be found by running a search through their collection search page. Back to Torrens on the "Ships starting with T" page. Wilh. Wilhelmsen later had two other ships by this name. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Wilh. Wilhelmsen's fleet list, "Tilbakeblikk" and misc. (ref. My sources).
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