D/S Troubadour

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

Misc. Convoy Voyages:

Troubadour crossed the Atlantic 48 times, and also had some voyages to the Mediterranean.

She's listed in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 61 in July/Aug.-1940, bound for Belfast with a cargo of grain and lumber, station 94 (having been cancelled from the previous convoy, HX 60). In Sept./Oct.-1940 she sailed in Convoy HX 75, having joined from Sydney, C.B., and in Nov. that year she was in Convoy HX 89, again joining from Sydney, C.B.

Early in 1941 she joined Convoy OB 271, which left Liverpool on Jan. 8 and dispersed on the 12th, subsequently returning to the U.K. in Convoy HX 111 in Febr./March-1941 (having been cancelled from HX 110). Towards the end of March she joined convoy OB 303 (left Liverpool March 28, dispersed Apr. 3). In May that year we find her in station 93 of Convoy HX 125(A) (having cancelled from the previous convoy, HX 124), and in June she shows up in Convoy OB 331 (left Liverpool June 8, dispersed on the 19th). The external site that I've linked to at the end of this page has more on the OB convoys mentioned here. The same site also has her in Convoy HX 145 in Aug.-1941, joining from Sydney, C.B. As can be seen, she's not mentioned on my own page for this convoy, but my information may be incomplete (only Halifax ships are included). In the middle of Sept. she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 17 and towards the end of the following month she was one of several Norwegian ships in Convoy HX 156 from Halifax to the U.K., returning in Nov. with the westbound Convoy ON 38*, which left Liverpool on Nov. 19 and dispersed on the 30th. Her destination is given as St. John, N.B.

In Jan.-1942 she shows up among the ships in Convoy HX 169, then went back to St. John in Convoy ON 65*, leaving Liverpool on Febr. 8-1942, dispersed on the 19th. Not long thereafter she returned to the U.K. in Convoy HX 179, which departed Halifax on March 9-1942, and subsequently headed back across the Atlantic with the westbound Convoy ON 85*, which left Liverpool on Apr. 10. Her destination is given as Halifax on that occasion. There's also a Troubadour listed as Panamanian in Convoy HX 189 in May, but I believe this must have been the Norwegian Troubadour (the Panamanian ship had sailed in Convoy SC 79, which left Halifax on Apr. 11). The following month we find her in the westbound Convoy ON 103* (left Liverpool June 12), returning to the U.K. in Convoy HX 199 in July.

Troubadour took part in Operation Torch as military transport. At the end of Nov.-1942 she was on a voyage from England in a convoy which, after having passed Gibraltar was attacked twice by German aircraft on Nov. 20 and several ships were hit, but Troubador made it safely to Algiers on Nov. 24. The Norwegian Kong Sverre was credited with hitting one of the planes, which crashed in the sea behind them. Examining all the information available to me, I believe this might have been Convoy KMS 3* (left Liverpool on Nov. 7-1942), in which Prins Harald and the British Grangepark were sunk by U-263 on Nov. 20. Many details in J. R. Hegland's "Nortraships flåte" account of the aircraft attack on Kong Sverre on that day leads me to this tentative conclusion. Among other things, Hegland mentions that 3 ships on the starboard side of the convoy were hit, one ship started to burn (Prins Harald?), the other's after part broke off, while a third received a torpedo in the net defences, where it exploded. Eye witnesses on board Troubadour had a hard time determining whether the torpedoes came from an aircraft or a U-boat, but the details fit in with a footnote in J. Rohwer's book stating "two ships were seen sinking and one burning. One torpedo (from U-263) exploded in the net defences of Ocean Pilgrim." (The British Trentpark was sunk by aircraft while in KMS 3 on Nov. 24). Troubadour returned to the U.K. the following month with Convoy MKS 3X.

At the end of Febr.-1943 she's said to have made a voyage from Algiers to Oran with Convoy MKS 8. The following month we find her mentioned in Convoy MKS 9 - scroll down in the table on my page for that convoy. She now joined the westbound Convoy ON 174*, which left Liverpool on March 20-1943 and arrived New York on Apr. 8. In May-1943 she shows up in Convoy HX 238, which originated in New York on May 7. Troubadour joined this convoy from Halifax on May 10, and was bound for London with general cargo. In the middle of the following month she joined the westbound Convoy ON 189*, leaving Liverpool on June 16, arriving New York on July 1, then headed back to the U.K. later that month in Convoy HX 249, which also originated in New York (July 23-1943), but Troubadour again joined from Halifax, general cargo for Liverpool, station 23. Several Norwegian ships took part, as will be seen by following the links.

The external website below lists Troubadour in Convoy OS 54/KMS 25* in Aug./Sept.-1943, voyaging from Liverpool to Freetown, Durban and Mauritius with general cargo in station 113. The same website has her in Convoy SL 146/MKS 37* in Jan.-1944, together with the Norwegian Boreas, Norfalk and Tiradentes. The Gibraltar portion is also available on my own website at Convoy MKS 37 - note that she's also listed in the Alexandria portion. In March that same year we find her in Convoy OS 72/KMS 46*, on a voyage Oban-Mombasa with general cargo in station 43, then in July-1944 she's listed in station 62 of Convoy MKS 56* (Port Said-Gibraltar), which joined up with SL 165 from Freetown on July 30, continuing as the combined Convoy SL 165/MKS 56, in which Troubadour had station 91 - general cargo. For departure/arrival dates and further information on these convoys, please follow the link provided.

In Sept.-1944 we find her in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 252* (left Liverpool Sept. 7, arrived New York on the 22nd). She was scheduled to return to the U.K. in Convoy HX 312 from New York the following month, but instead joined the next convoy, HX 313; destination is given as Barry Dock, general cargo - Troubadour acted as Commodore vessel on that occasion (Commodore F. H. Taylor R.N.). The following month she made a voyage from Milford to Alexandria in station 22 of Convoy OS 96/KMS 70* (this convoy departed Liverpool on Nov. 23-1944) - again, refer to the external website at the end of this text.

The same site has her in Convoy OS 110/KMS 84*, which left Liverpool on Febr. 11-1945, voyage in ballast Clyde-Valparaiso via Panama, station 73. There's a note saying she continued her voyage in Convoy ON 286* (left Liverpool on Febr. 21-1945), however, this convoy designation may be a misprint, because she's not listed in this convoy but in ON 284*, which left Southend on Febr. 10 and arrived New York on March 1. In Apr.-1945 she's listed in Convoy HX 352, which left New York on Apr. 23 and arrived Liverpool on May 8. This convoy is not available on my own site, but can be found via the external link provided below.

* All the ON convoys mentioned here are available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, please go to these convoys in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. As will be seen, several Norwegian ships sailed in all of them. See also ships in all KMS convoys, as well as ships in all MKS convoys. These will also be added to individual pages in my Convoys section.

POST WAR:

Sold on Jan. 19-1953 to A/S Lab and D/S A/S Danto (H. Tanvald-Pedersen, manager), Porsgrunn and renamed Tangholm. Sold again in 1956 to Kam Kee Navigation Co. Ltd., Hong Kong. Renamed Shun Fat in 1958. Arrived at Hong Kong on Oct. 24-1960 to be scrapped by Shiu Wing Co. Ltd. Demolition commenced on Jan. 25-1961.

Related external link:
OS and OS/KMS Convoys - The site also has a section for the returning SL/MKS convoys. As can be seen Troubadour is listed in Convoy OS 54/KMS 25, SL 146/MKS 37, OS 72/KMS 46, SL 165/MKS 56, OS 96/KMS 70, and OS 110/KMS 84, as are several other Norwegian ships. Note also that by going to this section of the same site and clicking on "Ship Search", using "Troubadour" as keyword, several convoys that are not mentioned in my own text will come up, including some local U.K. and local U.S. convoys. Here are OB 271, OB 303, OB 331, HX 145, and HX 352, all mentioned in my text above.

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

Other ships by this name: There was also a Panamanian Troubadour during the war (some sources give the spelling Troubador, I'm not sure which is correct). This ship had a Norwegian captain, and survived the battle of Convoy PQ 17. Wilh. Wilhelmsen later had another ship by this name, 1954-1971.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Wilh. Wilhelmsen fleet list, and misc. as named within above text - (ref. My sources).