D/T Acasta
Updated Febr. 13-2011

To Acasta on the "Ships starting with A" page.


Picture received from Lillesand Sjømannsforening
Original source: Carl Otto Corneliussen (son of Captain Arne Corneliussen).

Misc. Convoy Voyages:

For information on voyages made in between those discussed here, please see the documents received from the Norwegian Archives and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. It'll be noticed that she occasionally had long stays in port.

Please follow the convoy links provided for more details on them - several Norwegian ships took part.

When Norway was invaded on Apr.-9-1940, Acasta was in New York.

Acasta was scheduled for the Bermuda section of Convoy HX 91 on Nov. 23-1940, but did not sail. According to Page 1 of the archive documents, she left Bermuda for Halifax the next day and was also cancelled from Convoy HX 92 from there on Nov. 29, as well as from the slow Convoy SC 16 on Dec. 15, but finally got away with Convoy SC 17, which left Halifax on Dec. 23-1940. Her destination is given as Clyde, where she arrived Jan. 8-1941, remaining in that area for over a month.

At the external website that I've linked to at the end of this page she's listed as bound for Trinidad in Convoy OB 284, leaving Liverpool on Febr. 9-1941. However, it looks like she did not sail, because I have her in Convoy OB 286, which originated in Liverpool on Febr. 13 and dispersed on the 17th, Acasta arriving Trinidad on March 7 (she had started out from Clyde on Febr. 14). Having spent a couple of weeks in Trinidad, she proceeded to Halifax and was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 28 on Apr. 9, but instead joined the next convoy on Apr. 19, SC 29. Escorts' reports are also available for this convoy. The A 1 form gives her destination as Clyde, while the Advance Sailing Telegram says she was bound for Reykjavik; according to Page 1 of the archive documents, she arrived there on May 4. From Reykjavik, she proceeded to Curacao later that month, returning to Iceland in Convoy SC 37*, which departed Sydney, C.B. on July 12-1941. Her destination is given as Hvalfjord, where she arrived July 24. (A. Hague says she had been involved in a collision on arrival Sydney, C.B. from Curacao on June 29 - I have no further details on this).

The following month, she made a voyage from Reykjavik to Baltimore, with arrival Aug. 24, and unless some voyages are missing from her record, it looks like she remained there for a long time - departure is given as Nov. 26, when she proceeded to New York. She left New York again on Nov. 29 but according to A. Hague, she returned because of crew trouble. She had been scheduled to head back across the Atlantic in the slow Sydney C.B.-U.K. Convoy SC 58 on Dec. 4-1941 (Nidardal was lost, follow the link for details. Montbretia is named among the escorts); going back to Page 1, we see that Acasta did not arrive Sydney, C.B. until Dec. 7, and she subsequently joined Convoy SC 59, which left Sydney, C.B. on Dec. 10 and arrived Liverpool on the 27th. Her destination is given as Londonderry, and A. Hague says she arrived there on Dec. 26 (not mentioned on the archive document).

She later spent a long time in Liverpool, before she on Apr. 2-1942 joined Convoy OS 24, bound for Trinidad in ballast in station 34 of the convoy, arriving her destinaion on Apr. 23. See the external links provided in the table above (a couple of other Norwegian ships also took part). In June that same year, when on a voyage from Trinidad to Freetown, she encountered a lifeboat with some of the survivors from the Norwegian M/T South Africa - follow the link for more details.

At the end of Aug.-1942, we find her in Convoy HG 88 from Gibraltar to the U.K., bound for Clyde in ballast. She subsequently made a voyage to New York in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 130*, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 12 and arrived New York on Sept. 30. About a week later, she's listed, with final destination Trinidad, in the New York-Guantanamo Convoy NG 312 (see also Page 1), and is also included in the Guantanamo-Trinidad Convoy GAT 14 (arrived Trinidad Oct. 20), returning the following month with the Trinidad-Guantanamo Convoy TAG 18, and the Guantanamo-New York Convoy GN 18, which arrived New York Nov. 17 - again, see the links provided within the Voyage Record for further dates and more info on these convoys. Her voyages in this period are shown on Page 2 but unfortunately, sailing dates are missing in the margin of the document. Her last convoy voyage that year was made in the slow eastbound North Atlantic Convoy SC 112*, departing New York on Dec. 4-1942, arriving Liverpool on the 25th. According to the archive document, she was again bound for Londonderry, where she arrived on Dec. 23/24.

Acasta now joined the first westbound North Atlantic convoy of 1943, Convoy ON 158, in which the rescue vessel St. Sunniva was lost on her first and only voyage as rescue ship, not due to U-boat activities, but due to the horrendous weather endured by so many convoys that winter. The rescue vessel was last seen 2 days out of Halifax and was not heard of again. She was believed to have iced up and capsized without warning, a theory supported by the state of another ship from the convoy which arrived Halifax the day before with up to 10 ft thick ice in some parts. Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Iron Baron, Ragnhild, Hallfried and Solitaire. ON 158 had departed Liverpool on Jan. 2-1943 and arrived New York on Jan. 23 (Acasta had joined from Londonderry and served as Escort Oiler). No other ships were lost, but other Norwegian ships went down later on, due to the continuous storms raging in the North Atlantic at the beginning of that year (Kollbjørg being one of them). It now looks like Acasta remained in New York for over 3 months - reason unknown.

In May-1943, she's listed as sailing in Convoy SC 131 from Halifax, again bound for Londonderry where she arrived May 30/31 (having served as Escort Oiler, according to A. Hague). Acanthus, Eglantine, Potentilla and Rose are named among the escorts. Acasta returned with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ONS 10*, which originated in Liverpool on June 8 and arrived Halifax on the 27th. Her destination is given as New York on that occasion, but she arrived Halifax on June 28 (Page 2), heading back to the U.K. on July 8 in the slow Convoy SC 136, which arrived Liverpool on July 23 (Commodore in Titanian). Just a few days later, she appears in the westbound Convoy ONS 14*, departing Liverpool on July 26, arriving Halifax on Aug. 9, and on Aug. 21, we find her in Convoy SC 140 from Halifax. Her destination is given as Invergordon; according to the archive document, she arrived Cromarty (via Loch Ewe) on Sept. 5. Later that month, she's listed in the westbound Convoy ONS 19*, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 26 and arrived Halifax on Oct. 14 (Commodore in Rena), and there's now another long gap in her voyages. At the end of that year she joined Convoy SC 150, which left Halifax on Dec. 30-1943 and arrived Liverpool on Jan. 14-1944. Acasta's destination is given as Belfast Dock and Londonderry.

Her 1944 movements are shown in the Voyage Record above, as well as on Page 2, Page 3 and Page 4 (though as already mentioned, 2 of these scans have been cut off, so that dates are missing in the left margin). As will be seen, she occasionally had further long stays in port.

In Jan.-1945, she's included in Convoy OS 107/KMS 81, on a voyage from Milford to Freetown in ballast in station 53 of the convoy, which started out in Liverpool on Jan. 27 and split up on Jan. 30, the KMS portion arriving Gibraltar on Febr. 5, while the OS convoy, in which Acasta sailed, continued to Freetown. The Norwegian San Andres also took part (Gibraltar portion, KMS 81) - again, see the external links provided in the table above. It'll also be noticed that she had more long stays in port during 1945. Page 5 lists her voyages to Apr.-1946.

* The ON and ONS convoys mentioned here will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys, and on the page for ships in all ONS convoys. As will be seen, they all had several Norwegian ships. Additionally, the entire SC series will be updated and completed (including the already existing convoys - some have already been updated), but for now, see ships in all SC convoys.

POST WAR:

Sold in 1948 to Cia di Nav. San Sirio, Genoa (Italian flag). Scrapped at Dunston-on-Tyne in 1953.

Related external link:
OB convoys - Acasta is mentioned in OB 284.

Back to Acasta on the "Ships starting with A" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Convoy Rescue Ships" by Arnold Hague, E-mail from R. W. Jordan, and misc. (ref. My sources).