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Norwegian Merchant Fleet | Master Ship Index
Messages Page 15 - Starting Jan.-2015
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------------------------------------------------- From: Ingvald Tangen M/T O.A. KNUTSEN Dear Mrs. Lawson, This afternoon I was watching the program "Tore på Sporet" on NRK( Norwegian TV as you probably know. The program was shown on TV on the 26th of this month, and was regarding Olaus Gamst Johannesen (Olaus Johannesen on your page) who died after O.A.Knutsen was torpedoed and sunk off Bahamas. On this program, two of Olaus Johannesen's grand daughters was brought down to Bahamas where the place where Olaus Johannesen most probably was buried was found. Being a seaman myself I do enjoy your pages. And in relation to the O.A.Knutsen it was interesting to see an uncle of my classmate from navigation school, and later colleague, on the crewlist from when she was sunk. Best regards, and a Happy New year to you. Ingvald Tangen Read about O.A. Knudsen on this page ------------------------------------------------- Dec. 26 From: Brenda Harris SMV Noesaniwi My mother last received word from her brother David Griffiths from the above ship in a ship to shore letter(?) dated 1/11/1943. In the letter he said he would be going back to the States. Nothing was hard from him after that. I believe the sip was captured. If anyone has any information on my uncle, Dave, or the fate of the ship, I would be grateful if they could forward it to me at my email address ------------------------------------------------- From: Jim Kenny SS Astra Hi, Astra is discussed on this page. ------------------------------------------------- Nov. 10 From: Rob Brittlebank Arctic Convoys 1944 What a pleasure to find this site after months of trying to get any information on the arctic convoys out of the Imperial War Museum! My late father was a deck officer on the ss Samgara in Convoy JW59, returning in Convoy RA60. I have his personal log which includes the navigational details of the voyage, and this site has helped me to put that into context - thank you! I have a query about the coding for the 'Cargo' details for Convoy RA60; please can you tell me what '803 standards D.B.B' mean? (Here's my page about Convoy JW 59 and here's RA 60) ------------------------------------------------- From: Maria June Brant County. Hi," good news I have found my father at long last,his name was Ferdinand Eugene Olson, from Bergen, he died in the dingy, the ship was torpedoed, poor dad had 100% burns.The ship was the BRANT COUNTY. I have been involved with a project Manchester war museum called mixing it, it lasts for 1yr its about Norwegians and others. it will help in a small way to make my memorial to my dad and all merchant naval Allie's . Here's Brant County ------------------------------------------------- Oct. 6th From: Christine Parlow Ekman Einar Karlsen I am seaching for pictures and information of my ancestors, both born i Norway: Einar Karlsen born 11 September 1890 and Halvard Halvorsen born 2 March 1922. Everything is interesting :) ------------------------------------------------- Oct. 3 From: Dennis Rolf Nice Site! I ran accidentally across your site while looking for WWII info (USA). Excellent site construction and information! Ha en fin dag! ------------------------------------------------- Sept. 29 From: Jan Nielsen M/S Elin K Greetings.
------------------------------------------------- Sept. 16 From: Jens Inge Egeland Norwegian medals Hey, great page, thank you for your dads service, i am locating veterans to recommend for the Norwegian Memorialmedal, is your dad still alive? Best regards Jens. ------------------------------------------------- From: Lesley Newton M/S Santos I am trying to piece together the fascinating family history of an elderly lady from our church who told me her brother, Ranulf de Roos Norman, was the Radio Operator on a Norwegian ship that was lost during WW2, called 'Santos'. Until I found your website I mistakenly assumed this was the Santos attacked by a U boat on 24 Feb 1940, though now realise Ranulf was only 15 then! The story she told me was that her brother knew there were 2 young boys who were stowaways on the ship, who had got on board in Liverpool. When the ship was hit he told them to stay with him in the radio operator's cabin, but they panicked and ran off. He never saw them again. Ranulf's sister put a poppy cross at our church war memorial in their memory, every Remembrance Sunday until she became too old to do so, since her brother was very upset by the loss of the two boys. Interestingly your site names two young boys who went down with the ship: an Engine Boy and a Mess Boy. Here is my page about Santos ------------------------------------------------- Sept. 12 From: Thomas Weis Missing Norwegean Vessel Hello Siri, VP5901 BUSSARD (ex NOBEL, ex BUSEN 2, ex TYFON, ex BJØRNØY) 295 BRT, 38,40m x 6,55m x 3,96m see: With best regards (There are several ships that are not included on this website, I have concentrated on Nortraship's fleet) ------------------------------------------------- Sept. 11 From: Kevin Dawe Typo correction... EMPIRE TURNSTONE 022 Br 5,828 18 SUNK BY U-521 AFTER STRAGGLING. It should read U-621. (Kapitänleutnant Schünemann, Horst) I really appreciate your efforts here! Kevin Kevin is referring to A. Hague's info about ships in Convoy ON 136 on this page. ------------------------------------------------- August 26 From: Abbas Al Zadjali D/S Dah Puh Allow me first to thank you for your great effort in creating this most informative and useful site. I am from Muscat, Sultanate of Oman and wish to publish an article based on your findings regarding the sinking of Dah Puh and wonder if it is possible to have a picture of the ship itself before or after the tragic incident, or a picture of a similar ship for publishing. Awaiting your kind reply Here is Dah Puh (I don't have a picture). ------------------------------------------------- August 7 From: Amy QP13 I was very pleased to see your webpage. I have been working on my family's genealogy and discovered my Maternal Great Uncle James Smith was a Merchant Mariner. He was the Head Steward aboard the SS Massmar. He perished along with all others aboard on July 5th, 1942. This was a truly wonderful man. According to my mother after their father had died, this man came home to take care of his newly widowed younger sister and her eight children. My mother was the youngest at just four years of age. Uncle James made sure that his little sister, nieces and nephews were taken care of before leaving.That would be the last time they would see him. Even in death he continued to look after my Grandmother "his little sister" and her children. She along with another sister were made beneficiaries of his life insurance policy. I am so proud of this man for the service that he has given his country. You can read about Convoy QP 13 on this page. ------------------------------------------------- August 7 From: Marc Celie DS SVEIN JARL Good Afternoon, I recently came in to possession of a framed picture of DS SVEIN JARL depicting the vessel I have managed however to take some pictures which give a fair rendition. If you should be interested to have these, give me an e mail address in order to forward them. ------------------------------------------------- August 4 From: William Green A Convoy question Hello again; I will be creating a website to explain "the importance of the cities of Halifax & Sydney NS during the first 27 months of the War" when over 220 convoys left for Britain which "proved absolutely fundamental to Britain's ability to survive as an independent country" as described by PM David Cameron on Sept 22, 2011. I hope one of your readers can explain the difference between "tanker B" and "tanker W" ------------------------------------------------- July 27 From: Aud Christiansen Thermopylae I was in contact with you some years ago, and today I found an interesting entry in your guestbook, March 15 2010 (?) from Ron Murray. My dad was Gunnar Roll-Larssen, 2nd engineer when the ship was sunk in January 1942. Mr Murray had found his uncle's story about that fatal day, and I would be very interested in obtaining a copy. Would it be possible for you to give me Mr Murray's contact details? Hopefully I can get in touch with him, even though it has been 5 years since his guestbook entry. Thank you! Address has been forwarded ------------------------------------------------- From: Kailey Ole Jacob - 2nd Mate My great grandfather is Johan Jacobsen, 2nd mate on Ole Jacob. He ended up in San Diego, California after the capture. He waited there for the duration of the war, separated from my great grandmother and young grandfather who remained in occupied Norway. They were reunited in San diego after the war; my grandpa was about 8 years old by then. They lived there for the remainder of their lives. His documents say that he arrived in San Diego on foot by way of Mexico. I'm not sure how he got there but I know it was after he left Japan. Thank you for the information on the ship and capture. My information on the capture of Ole Jacob can be found on this page ------------------------------------------------- July 10 From: Casper Kaars Sijpesteijn Fred Olsen, Bomma and Baden Dear Sirs, I came across your site by sheer coincidence. I am very impressed by the site and it brings lots of memories of these old and beautiful ships. I noted that you have an open ended question on the utilization of these two ships in their post war times. These ships were trading between Amsterdam and Kristiansund and took on passengers as well. Here is Bomma and here is Baden ------------------------------------------------- From: Brian Ives SS Skagerak I believe there are 2-3 graves at St Mary's church Shotley Suffolk England with unknown Danish sailors buried by the CWGC in the Church cemetery bottom corner. At the very bottom of my page about the Norwegian Skagerak, there's some information about the Danish Skagerak. ------------------------------------------------- June 14 From: Maryann Hurt Charles Thompson on the Rosenius Hi There is an old message on here: "June 6-2002 From: R. Larkin mariners hi and thanks first would you have a list of mariners names for a ship Rosenius out of Norway 1880 I am looking for a Charles Thompson who sailed on her my grand father. I tried to reply to this message several times, but my mail came back as undeliverable". I'm interested in this, as my great-grandfather was Charles Thompson and he had a daughter who married an Arthur Larkin. I see that you tried to respond. Did you have any information? (I've forwarded a contact address to this poster). ------------------------------------------------- June 13 From: George Bingham Oslo fjord Hello my hobby was diving when I was able, I have some small items that I found on the wreck i.e. an egg cup and very unusual to find one but I found three clay pots that cream was stored in them a fish knife and another two clay pots could try and put photos of them on here if you thought it appropriate. It was nice to read the history of the ship. Here i Oslofjord. ------------------------------------------------- I was wondering if anyway had any knowledge on the Vibran ship, made I believe 1935 and was sank by Germans in 1942, the reason I ask is because my Grandad (Arne Hopsdal) had sailed this ship several times during his Norwegian naval career (fortunately not when it was sank and all aboard perished) If you know anyone who could shed any light on the artist I'd be very grateful. Many thanks, Lisa I'm unable to help with this. ------------------------------------------------- May 25 From: Kelly Everitt General Ruge sailor In an Oct. 29, 2001 post by Gerry Strong in this forum, s/he mentions Einar Forsman had given him/her photos, etc from his time on the General Ruge during WWII as a signal man. I am Einar's granddaughter. I see that the site the info was to be used on was saveourtales.com which now appears to not exist. Does anyone know where this info went or if Gerry is available to contact? Feel free to contact me personally or on list. Thank you. I've passed on Gerry's address. ------------------------------------------------- From: Leanne Crabb Crew list on the Alfred Olsen Hi, Here's my page about Alfred Olsen. ------------------------------------------------- May 13 From: Mike Smith D/S Sigurd Jarl Dear Sir, In June 1864 Arthur Smith Woodward and his wife travelled on the D/S Sigurd Jarl to the north of Norway for their honeymoon. He was a very important British palaeontologist who was knighted after retiring from the Natural History Museum in 1924. Following a successful celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth last year we are writing a proceedings that will include some of Lady Smith Woodward's memories, including their honeymoon. I would like to include one of the images which are from postcards credited to Bjørn Milde, specifically the lefthand image with the fjords in the background. I need to contact Bjorn to obtain his permission. Can you help? Yours sincerely Mike Smith Address has been forwarded. ------------------------------------------------- May 6 From: Linda Sorrell née Murray Alexander Muurray I have just found out that my dad Alexander Murray was on the boat that split in two during the second word war I was wondering if he received any medals for this time I'm guessing Linda is referring to Vardefjell? I have no way of knowing whether he received medals, I would have imagined his family would have known whether he did or not. ------------------------------------------------- May 6 From: Krayzmsn Inora Sailor Dij Repin Killoran 1927-1929 I published an article about Windjammer Killoran, about with losses Swimming ------------------------------------------------- May 4 From: Kelli Louie Bjorn Pedersen, Norwegian Airforce, POW Hello, My mom is turning 93 this year and we are trying to find out information for her. Bjorn Pedersen was mom's fiancé. He was involved in the Norwegian underground when Russia attacked Finland before WW2 and involved in the Norwegian underground during the war. He got his wings in Toronto and he was sent to England. I've suggested the National Archives of Norway, but they would need his birthdate. ------------------------------------------------- Apr. 30 From: David "Deke" Kennison Thank You For Your Work Sir: Regards, David "Deke" Kennison ------------------------------------------------- March 24 From: Peter Bergerson Locating an Uncle in the Atlantic Thanks so much for this great warsailors site. It is the only one I know of which allowed me to see exactly what one of my RCN uncles (Scottish Drybrough side) aboard a Corvette was up to when escorting convoys between N. America and UK. It was also satisfying to see the Nordic sources of the site, given my Norwegian-side ancestry (Bergersen/Hornnes/Halvorsen/Madsen et al.) largely from the Skjeberg area. ------------------------------------------------- March 21 From: John Churchill FERNHILL Oslo I was looking over the name of the ship my parents traveled to China on in about 1949. (Another Fernhill was built in 1948). ------------------------------------------------- March 15 From: Eduardo Grandio Whale Catcher KosIII / Süd VI Wreck. I want to thank you for the usefull info gathered from your site. It helped me in the process of identification of a Canarian wreck as the Süd VI (ex Kos III), norvegian (Kosmos) whale catcher sold to german Deutsche Ölmühlen Rohstoffe GmbH. The ship wrecked, April 1938, off the Baja de Gando reef (Island of Gran Canaria, where I live and dive) Lots of info at: ------------------------------------------------- From: Dawn Meredith HMS Avon and Tonsberg Tarifa I am writing a book about a local Vet Jim Haynes, (Edward James Haynes) who was a british sailor onboard HMS Avon when it picked up survivors from the torpedoed Tonsberg Tarifa near Aden. We're anxious to get our facts straight. At 90, Jim's memory is a little dodgy! I am pretty fluent in Norsk, so messages in Norwegian are fine. If you know anything or have contacts, we'd love to hear from you. time is running out for these guys. Not many of them left. I want to preserve what they did. Here's my information on Tarifa (I can supply Dawn's E-mail address; my contact address it at the bottom of this page). ------------------------------------------------- From: Mike Bean D/S Makefjell My Grand Father, Haakon Meitzner, told me that his brother, Erwin Meitzner, was the Captain of a Norwegian I found information on your site in which the D/S Makefjell came in contact with a German submarine in 1940, off the coast of Ireland. The Captain's name was Oywind Meitzner. I think this is my great uncle and I would like to know if and where I could find more information on this incident? Here's Måkefjell ------------------------------------------------- Feb. 12 From: Joanna Ray nee Londal Further research My Dad has been researching his Dad's whereabouts during WWII and we are now trying to track down where the injured Norwegian sailors where located in Scotland. We know Grandad's boat was sunk and he was picked up and brought to Arbroath and from there we believe he was then sent to Oban to recover. Does anyone know the exact name of the house/home/manor/hospital that the sailors were taken to for recovery? I can't locate any of this information and we have a chance to visit Scotland this summer and would love to take my Dad there.... Many thanks, in advance for any information. ------------------------------------------------- From: Ulf Pedersen m/t Gard My father Kristian Pedersen was captein on this skip from building 1938 to 1945. together hanging 5 years( the war ) plus 2 years direct after that. Here's my page about Gard ------------------------------------------------- Febr. 10 From: Malcolm Calvert Captain Calvert Captain Calvert was the father in law of Captain G.R.W.Holdsworth of 'Master Standfast' who died on 10/11/43. He was on the 'Ball Bearing Run 'and the only man to die in this action. (See also the message re. Captain Calvert a little further down pon this page). ------------------------------------------------- From: Greg Fromyhr MT Teddy/MT Ole Jacob Hi Siri, The site is still going well, excellent. I notice this comment against MT Teddy, " However, I've received an E-mail from Scott Parry, the grandson of Able Seaman Kaare Nilsen (see crew list above) stating that he too heard this tale growing up." Is there any way I could contact Scott as I think I have mentioned before the story of the "fabricated measles" in Kobe I had heard from my late father Thoralf Frømyhr way back in the late 1950s and 60s. With these comments now from three different sources from direct descendants of merchant mariners from Teddy/Ole Jacob who have never had contact with each other there seems to be some truth or a good story made up in 1940 and passed down (which is unlikely). The note referred to above can be found in my text for Teddy ------------------------------------------------- Febr. 2 From: Roar Venås Leif Venås Hello Siri. What a fantastic job you have done. You have been able to create so much war historie and put it in a wounderful frame. A few weeks ago I send you a little store about my father Leif Venås. Who were in Nortraship whole war, and in 25. april 1942 got the war medalj for his tribute to save the ship MT STIKLESTAD. Hope that this story are something you can be interested in. Greetings from Roar Venås Stiklestad is discussed on this page ------------------------------------------------- From: Malcolm Calvert Lloyds Medal My grandfather, Captain J.W. Calvert awarded the Lloyds Silver medal for meritorious services by the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Federation 14th. January 1943. Here's the account on B. P. Newton's escape from Sweden, with crew list. ------------------------------------------------- Jan. 13 From: Colleen Borgholm/ Henrich Wesenberg Since I wrote to you we have actually uncovered more photos in the homestead we are restoring. Amongst the photos are several photos of crew and the ship including the guns etc. Do you have any interest in posting these photos?? See my page about Borgholm (pics will be added). ------------------------------------------------- Jan. 13 From: Erik Brun American Army A number of former merchant sailors ended up in the Norwegian American 99th Infantry Battalion (Seperate). 99ThBattalion.org. ------------------------------------------------- |
