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Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939 - 1945

Contents on this page: Losses Neutrality Period | Nortraship's Fleet 1940 | Gunners trained at Camp Norway | Ships in Allied/German Control | Losses 1941 | Losses 1942 | "Gains" 1942/Empire Ships | Losses 1943 | "Gains"1943 | Losses 1944 | "Gains" 1944 | "Gains" 1945 | Liberty Ships purch. post war | Losses 1940-1945 | Total loss of lives | 10 largest Shipping Co.'s | Lifeboat Contents & Survival | Arctic Convoy Stats. Please note that the numbers on this page tend to vary according to source used, so they're meant as an approximate indication only. The first victim of the war was M/S Ronda, which struck a mine on Sept. 13-1939; the last victim was D/S Sneland I, torpedoed on the last day of the war, May 7-1945 at 10:40 pm. Out of the 23 million tons allied merchant ships lost during the war, 10% were Norwegian. Losses - Neutrality Period Sept. 3-1939 – April 8-1940 Total Norwegian ships sunk 55 Total tonnage 120 742 gt Broken up into Cause Ships sunk by U-boats 19 Ships sunk by mines 8 Ships sunk by war ships 1 Ships sunk byaircraft 3 Explosion (mine or torpedo) 16 Disappeared without trace 8 Total loss of life on Norwegian ships: 393 (incl. 16 pasengers) British ships lost 339 000 gt Other 349 000 gt Total allied losses Sept. 3 1939 – April 9-1940: 688 000 gt Nortraship's Fleet as per Apr.-1940 Losses Apr. 9-June 10 Remaining June 10-1940 The numbers in the first column are ships requisitioned by the Norwegian State (see my page Nortraship) in Apr.-1940. Tankers 242 9 233 Whale Factories 12 1 11 Motor Vessels (2500 tdw+) 216 8 208 Motor Vessels (500/2499 tdw) 10 0 10 Steamships (2500 tdw+) 229 4 225 Steamships (500/2499 tdw) 201 18 183 Vessels less than 500 tdw 11 3 8 Whale Catchers 107 0 107 TOTAL 1028 43 985 It appears that the number for "losses" here includes ships lost to Nortraship's control, not necessarily sunk. See also next table. Also included are the 29 ships in Sweden. (June 10-1940 was the date of Norway's surrender) Source: "Nortraships flåte", Vol I, J. R. Hegland. Norwegian ships in Allied and German control as per June 8-1940 A number of Norwegian ships were able to get out of Norway after the German invasion on Apr. 9-1940, thereby coming under Allied control. In the first part of the table below losses on both sides up to June 8-1940 have been subtracted. (June 8 was the date the King arrived England). Type of Ship Allied Control German Control Tankers 233 12 Whale Factories 11 1 Motor Vessels (2500 tdw+) 208 33 Motor Vessels (500/2499 tdw) 10 18 Steamships (2500 tdw+) 225 51 Steamships (500/2499 tdw) 183 124 Also under German control were the smaller coastal ships and the fishing fleet, while 107 whale catchers stayed under Allied control. Source: "Nortraships flåte", Vol I, J. R. Hegland. Gunners trained at Camp Norway 635 men received their gunnery training at Camp Norway, Lunenburg. 26 lost their lives. 171 had their ship sunk from under them either by bombs or torpedoes. 24 of those were torpedoed twice, 5 were torpedoed 3 times. Gunner Henry N. Johansen lost 2 ships by bombs and 2 by torpedoes, and Olaf M. Mathiassen was torpedoed 4 times and survived. (Source: "Tilbakeblikk" - see My Sources) Related external link: Camp Norway The following tables include Nortraship's ships only Losses 1st half 1941 Losses 2nd half 1941 Rescues/Prisoners/Deaths 20 ships sunk by aircraft 4 ships sunk by aircraft The numbers listed to the left, and in this column do not include ships and men lost due to the Japanese operations in December. For some reason my sources list those under the 1942 statistics. 26 by U-boats 18 sunk by U-boats 6 sunk by mines 2 torpedoed and sunk by E-boats 20 captured or sunk by raiders or war ships 1 captured by German Raider 1 sunk by manned torpedo 1 torpedoed by French U-boat 1628 rescued (52%) 753 died (25%) 698 taken prisoners by Germans (23%) 4 lost through collision or other 3 sunk from other causes By the end of 1941 Nortrashp's fleet had been reduced from 1081 to a little over 700 ships. Losses 1942 (incl. Dec. 1941) Rescues/Prisoners/Deaths 116 sunk by U-boats The following numbers are based on 162 ship losses only, no statistics for the rest. Also the numbers may be off by about 150 men, mostly Asian crew (statistics not available). I'll try to make these tables more accurate in the future, depending on whether I can find the right sources. 5453 persons were on board the 162 ships at the time of loss. Here's a breakdown of what happened to them: 3732 were rescued (69%) 1278 were killed (23%) 443 taken prisoners(8%) 15 by aircraft 6 by E-boats 5 by artillery from warships 2 by mines 1 by diver 7 scuttled 1 by American submarine 1 by artillery from shore 5 captured by German cruisers 6 captured by Japanese warship 13 by other causes (weather etc. 2 returned to Sweden 2 sold TOTAL 182 19 ships were added to the fleet in 1942 - listed under "Empire Ships" below. As of Dec. 31-1942 Nortraship had 566 ships. Empire Ships transferred to Norway in 1942 Most of the ‘Empire’-named ships that were transferred to the Norwegian flag were given the prefix ‘Nor’ and some were named for members of the Norwegian Royal Family. Original Name Place / Date Built dwt Renamed Empire Beaver Mersey, April 5 1919 9193 D/S Norhauk Empire Carey Clyde, April 30 1941 4670 D/S Ragnhild Empire Diamond Newport, March 30 1941 11870 M/T Norsol Empire Druid Liverpool, April 25 1941 14755 D/T Norholm Empire Dunlin Hull, Oct 1 1919 9698 D/S Norlom Empire Eagle Hull, April 14 1919 8780 D/S Norjerv Empire Elk Glasgow, March 27 1920 7690 D/S Norvarg Empire Fairbairn from builders at Clyde, April 27 1942 10458 M/S Kronprinsen Empire Field Cardiff, Oct. 15 1942 10300 M/S Prins Harald Empire Grenfell Hull, Sept. 28 1941 10270 M/S Kong Sverre Empire Kittiwake Mersey, May 15 1919 8614 D/S Norfalk Empire Latimer New York, July 28 1941 10340 M/S Kronprinsessen Empire Onyx Barry, March 14 1941 11890 M/T Nortind Empire Pearl Avonmouth, March 26 1941 14755 D/T Norheim Empire Penn from builders at Clyde, April 2 1942 10450 M/S Kong Haakon VII Empire Pict Greenock, May 6 1941 11943 M/T Norland Empire Pilgrim Blyth, July 13 1942 4700 D/S Astrid Empire Ptarmigan Clyde, May 1 1920 9414 D/S Norelg Empire Saxon Tyne, Febr. 24 1942 11966 D/T Norfjell Losses 1943 Rescues/Prisoners/Deaths 44 sunk by U-boats 2453 persons were on board the at the time of loss. Here's a breakdown of what happened to them: 1763 were rescued (ca. 72%) 682 were killed (27%) 8 taken prisoners In 15 of the incidents the whole crew was rescued, in 4 the entire crew died. 5 by aircraft 2 by mines 1 by diver 3 by cruisers 1 by explosion 6 shipwrecked TOTAL 62 9 new ships were added to the fleet: See table below. Ships added to Nortraships Fleet - 1943 Some of the Liberty ships transferred to the Norwegian flag were named for well known Norwegians, like Leiv Eiriksson, Fridtjof Nansen, Ole Bull, Roald Amundsen, Edvard Grieg etc. Others were named for Norwegian patriots who had been shot by the Germans, like Viggo Hansteen (executed in the fall of 1941), Harald Torsvik, Sverre Helmersen (see table for 1944), Carl Oftedal and Lektor Garbo (table for 1945), while some were named for Norwegian towns. Original Name Place / Date Built dwt Renamed John Wright Stanly Wilmington, N. Carolina, Jan. 29 1943 10700 D/S Leiv Eiriksson Francis Nash Jan. 31 1943 10700 D/S Fridtjof Nansen Cape Arago Beaumont, Texas, April 23 1943 7288 M/S General Ruge Cape Barnabas Beaumont, Texas, April 30 1943 7288 M/S General Fleischer Cape North Beaumont, Texas, Oct. 23 1943 7190 M/S Alf Lindeberg Coaster 11* New York 1937 165 M/S Minna George M. Shriver Baltimore, Oct 20 1943 10547 D/S Viggo Hansteen John M. T. Finney Baltimore, May 31 1943 10521 D/S Christian Michelsen Sallie S. Cotton Wilmington, May 14 1943 10700 D/S Ole Bull Thomas F. Bayard Baltimore, May 31 1943 10521 D/S Edvard Grieg William Strong Baltimore, April 24 1943 10521 D/S Roald Amundsen Additionally, 9 of the ships that had been interned in North Africa were added (see Interned Ships), as well as D/S Tromøsund. As of Dec. 31-1943 Nortraship had 522 ships. * The only source that lists this ship as handed over to Nortraship in 1943 is "Nortraships flåte" by J. R. Hegland. Hegland did NOT include Leiv Eiriksson and Fridtjof Nansen in his list (other sources do). Losses 1944 Rescues/Deaths 6 sunk by U-boats 630 persons were on board at the time of loss. Here's a breakdown of what happened to them: 580 were rescued (92 %) 50 were killed 8 %) 1 by explosion in port 2 by mines 3 scuttled (for breakwater) 6 shipwrecked due to weather 1 whaler, Kos IX, transferred to Royal Navy. * See note below TOTAL 19 Note: These numbers are from J. R. Hegland (1977). I have information that Kos IX was hired by Royal Navy in Nov. 1940, not 1944. Lost near Alexandria on May 30-1944, so the whaler was indeed a loss that year. 10 ships were added to Nortraships fleet in 1944, see table below: Ships added to Nortraship's Fleet - 1944 Original Name Place / Date Built dwt Renamed Cape River Beaumont, Texas, Jan. 22 1943 7163 M/S Narvik Celeste M New York, March 15 1940 450 M/S Peter S Robert J Banks Brunswick, Dec. 30 (20?) 1944 10467 D/S Vadsø Chester, March 31 1944 16628 M/T Hegra William Hodson Baltimore, April 22 1944 10568 D/S Sverre Helmersen May 31 1944 16631 T/T Karsten Wang Traiblazer Portland, July 8 1944 16661 T/T Kaptein Worsøe Mobile, Aug. 22 1944 16813 T/T Nordahl Grieg Henry B. Plant(?) Jacksonville, Nov. 6 1944 10445 D/S Harald Torsvik Ash Hollow Alabama, Dec. 30 1945 16756 T/T Kirkenes Additionally, the Norwegian trawler B 26 B Dreggen (Jon Heldal, Bergen) was included, after a successful escape from Norway to Shetland on Oct. 29-1944, so that as of Dec. 31-1944 Nortraship had 514 ships. Ships added to Nortraship's Fleet - 1945 Original Name Place / Date Built dwt Renamed Averysboro? Chester, Jan. 20 1944 16610 T/T Finnmark Alfred L Baxlay Houston, March 7 1945 10559 7247 gt D/S Lektor Garbo George N. Drake Portland, March 28 1945 10678 7176 gt D/S Carl Oftedal Mobile, April 11 1945 16407 10 172 gt T/T Honningsvaag Hammerfest Chester, April 30 1945 16255 10 297 gt T/T Hammerfest Liberty Ships Purchased by Norway Post War Several more Liberty Ships were sold to Norway after the war. They were (in alphabetical order according to original name - the * marks the vessels for which more history can be found at the end of the text for ship by the same name in my alphabetical ships lists): Original Name Became Norwegian: A. Frank Lever *Brott 1947 Finnborg 1951 Andrew Furuseth Essi 1946 Anna H. Branch Arthur Stove 1947 Augustine Heard Herva 1947 Modena 1952 Bartholomew Gosnold Seabreeze 1948 Skjelnes 1956 David F. Barry Oakland 1947 Edvard A. MacDowell Kent County 1947 Edward M. House Blue Master 1947 Frederick C. Hicks *Nidarland 1947 Trya 1950 George L. Curry Runa 1947 George M. Pullman Silvana 1947 George Weems *Myken 1948 George Whitefield *Wilford 1947 Henry Watterson *Spurt 1947 Henry Wells *Britta 1947 Horace Wells *Janna 1947 Jan Pieterszoon Coen Sally Stove 1947 Jerome K. Jones *Vindafjord 1947 John Carroll *Kronviken 1947 Solmar 1960 John Holmes *Nidarholm 1947 Tista 1950 Josiah Earl Gregers Gram 1947 Nathaniel Alexander Solfa 1947 Norse Lady 1950 *Danio 1953 Otis Skinner Valhall 1947 Park Holland Ocean Liberty 1947 Peter Lassen *Bonde 1947 Philip Doddridge *Feggen 1947 Philip Livingston *Nidardal 1947 Tindra 1950 Raymond V. Ingersoll *Sneland I 1947 Silvester Gardiner Jane Stove 1947 Sun Yat-Sen Livia 1947 Thomas W. Gregory Belfri 1949 (purchased 1948) Vernon L. Kellogg Wilfred 1947 Folke Bernadotte 1949 W. B. Ayer *Marit 1947 Webb L. Miller Stugard 1947 William Dunbar Florentine 1947 William E. Dodd Milbank 1947 Source: Liberty Ships in Peacetime, I. G. Steward Nortraship's losses 1940 - 1945 Nortraship losses 1940-1945 1940 (from Apr. 9) 216 1941 106 1942 182 1943 62 1944 19 1945 (till May 8) 9 Total 594 Returned 24 Net loss 570 ships Please note these numbers cover Nortraship's ships ONLY. 77 whalers that were taken out of the register to perform duties elsewhere, and other ships removed from the register for any reason (like the interned ships) are also listed as "loss" to Nortraship. Total Norwegian ships captured or sunk by raiders WW II* 38 217 100 gt Total Norwegian ships sunk by conventional war ships** 6 27 559 gt * See this page ** Bianca, Borgestad, Granli, Lorentz W. Hansen, Polykarp, Sandefjord Loss of Norwegian Lives WW II Total loss of lives Numbers found in the magazine "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 1 for 1972 - source: Statistisk Sentralbyrå (Central Bureau of Statistics) for 1945. 2000 Norwegians were lost in battle on land and at sea, at home and abroad, including 312 pilots. 1799 civilans were killed as a result of war related incidents. 3638 merchant mariners were lost. 2153 people in the underground movement died, out of whom: 366 Norwegian citizens were executed in Norway 162 died in "home front" related activities 92 died while trying to escape to England 130 died in imprisonment in Norway 1400 women and men died in imprisonment in Germany, out of whom 670 Norwegian Jews were liquidated in Germany, mainly in gas chambers. (14 of the deported Jews returned to Norway at the end of the war). Numbers found in Issue No. 3 for 1974, as per Nov.-1950: War related shipwrecks & accidents: 2671 – Accidents: 590 – Illness: 895 – Shipwrecks: 104 – Imprisonment: 24 For a more detailed (and probably more correct) breakdown, please go to a message in my guestbook. The 10 largest Shipping Companies in Norway as per Sept 1-1939 (Ships over 500 gt, not including whale catchers): Company Established Number of ships Total gt Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Oslo/Tønsberg 1861 53 324 000 Westfal-Larsen & Co. A/S, Bergen 1905 34 208 000 Knut Knutsen O.A.S., Haugesund 1897 25 140 000 A.F. Klaveness & Co. A/S, Oslo 1869 22 118 000 Fred. Olsen & Co. A/S, Oslo 1886 53 113 000 Leif Høegh & Co. A/S, Oslo 1927 13 102 000 Den norske Amerikalinje A/S 1910 17 101 000 Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab, Bergen 1851 51 92 000 A/S J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi, Bergen 1898 16 86 000 Fearnley & Eger, Oslo 1869 19 75 000 These 10 companies had in all: 303 ships 1 359 000 gt 35.6% of total motor vessels 19.5% of total steam ships 19.3% of total tankers 83.8% of total liners 24.9% of total 29.7% of total Norw. tonnage In 1940, 39 % of the Norwegian Merchant Fleet were tankers (1.8 mill. gt), 4 % passenger vessels (0.2 mill. gt), 21 % liners (1.0 mill. gt), 32 % tramp ships (1.5 mill gt) and 4 % fishing vessels or seal catchers/whalers (0.2 mill. gt). Source: "Handelsfåten i krig", Book I, Nortraship - Profitt og Patriotisme, by Atle Thowsen. Lifeboat Contents and Survival Rules for contents of lifeboats and rafts as of Sept.-1941: At least 400 gr (14 ozs) per person of each of the following: Chocolate, crackers (termed "biscuits" in British Engl.), milk tablets and Pemmikan. 3 small, rust proof mugs for drinking water, one of which was to be marked every 1/2 oz up to 2 ozs for rationing of drinking water. (The amount of drinking water is not listed) Each lifeboat also had a tool box with the necessary materials and tools for the repair of any damages caused by the torpedoing of the ship. The lifeboats had to have a yellow or pink flag, so as to be as visible as possible from aircraft or rescue ships. The tarpaulin was to be painted yellow or pink. The sail was to be dyed red, or alternatively a large, red piece of fabric was to be fastened to the sail. Rafts were to be supplied with a strong piece of fabric, about 6 x 9 feet, in yellow or pale pink, to be unfolded horizontally to get the attention of passing aircraft, and thick enough to provide protection for the men in bad weather. All in all, the standard equipment in a lifeboat was lacking to say the least. For instance, the suffering endured by an injured sailor because of the lack of decent painkillers could easily have been avoided. As more and more ships were sunk, reports from survivors started coming in to Nortraship with suggestions for what was urgently needed to improve the situation in lifeboats and rafts, and thereby the sailors' chances of survival. The Vaco Suit Up until the turn of the year 1940/1941 lifebelts were made of cork, but were replaced by better belts, which also had a whistle attached as well as a little red light that would make a sailor in the water more visible as he was bobbing up and down. Worn on top of the so called Vaco suit, the prognosis for survival after a ship had gone down became much better. I believe Norway was the only nation to issue these suits to her sailors. It resembled rubber coveralls attached to a pair of rubber boots, with elastic around the neck and a yellow hood which left only the face showing. Worn with the new lifevests this suit saved many a Norwegian sailor, as it kept them fairly warm and dry, as well as floating vertically in the water, due to the fact that the boots had lead in the bottom of them. It was, of course rather awkward to work in; the simple lifevest was preferred for that, but in the most dangerous areas the sailors would have the suit "standing" ready nearby, with the suit itself folded over the boots, so that they could quickly and easily step into them and pull the suit up and over their body. The Vaco suit was designed in 1939 by Carl Dybberg (1888-1957) from Bergen, inspired by the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Most of the passengers had not drowned, but frozen to death, and Dybberg felt it ought to be possible to come up with a waterproof suit that would prevent such a fate. About 30 000 suits were eventually made and became obligatory equipment on all of Nortraship's ships. Related external link: More on the Vaco suit - Including pictures. Some facts on Arctic Convoys Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on Russia, started on June 22-1941, resulting in a new convoy route in Aug. that year. The very words "Murmansk Run" continue to have a shuddering ring to them, and those runs were of course horrendous, mostly because of the small or no chance of survival if something should happen, but if we look at the numbers with regard to losses of ships they were surprisingly low. The following info is from Birger Dannevig's "Skip og menn"; note that the total number of losses differs from that found in "Convoys to Russia" (I'm not sure how accurate this is): Out of the 111 allied ships that sailed from Aug. 21-1941 till March 1-1942, only one was lost. Eastgoing convoys from March 20 till Dec. 22-1942 consisted of 209 ships, 52 were lost. From 1943 till the end of the war 493 ships left point of origin, 5 were sunk. From the time that Russia entered the war till the German capitulation there had been 42 eastbound convoys, 33 of them lost no ships. Westbound convoys of 717 ships lost 27 (same period). Some ships sailing alone were also sunk. The price the Allied had to pay for aiding Russia via the Arctic Ocean was 90 merchant ships and 829 men. No Norwegian ships were lost. D/T Norfjell (later Nordfonn of Stavanger) and D/S Idefjord were damaged by U-boat, but repairable. Note: The total number of ships lost in these convoys varies according to source; the number 103 is found in "Convoys to Russia" by Bob Ruegg/Arnold Hague, 1992. They are listed by name on my page Ships in Arctic Convoys. Sources for this page (all listed on my Books page): Information on ships added, ships lost and lifeboat requirements was found in "Nortraship's Flåte, Jon R. Hegland - 1977. Additional details on Empire ships from Barbara Mumford, a visitor to my website. Details on the Vaco suit from "Handelsflåten i krig", book 3, "Sjømann - Lang vakt", Guri Hjeltnes - 1995. Murmansk numbers and all other from "Skip og Menn", Birger Dannevig - 1968. Aa–Al An–Ar As–Av Ba    Be    Bi–Bl Bo Br–Bu C    D    E F G Ha    He    Hi–Hy Hø I J    K    L M N O    PQ    R Sa–Sc Se–Sj Sk–Sn    So    Sp–St Su–Sø Ta–Te Th–Ti    To    Tr–Tø U V W    Ø    Norwegian Merchant Fleet Main Page   Home | Guestbook