D/T Acasta
Updated July 8-2008

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


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

Further to the above Voyage Record – 1940-1945:

(For info on her voyages in between those discussed here, please see the Voyage Record).

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

She was scheduled for Convoy HX 91 in Nov.-1940 (Bermuda section), but did not sail. She was also cancelled from Convoy HX 92, as well as from the slow Convoy SC 16, but eventually got away with Convoy SC 17, which left Halifax on Dec. 23-1940.

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 left Liverpool on Febr. 13 and dispersed on the 17th. Acasta detached from the convoy in order to proceed to her destination Trinidad, where she arrived on March 7. She was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 28 the following month, but instead joined the next convoy, SC 29. The A 1 form for this convoy gives her destination as Clyde, while the Advance Sailing Telegram says she was bound for Reykjavik. She returned across the ocean at the end of May (see Voyage Record), later joining Convoy SC 37, which departed Sydney, C.B. on July 12-1941. Her destination was Hvalfjord - this convoy is not available on my own site, but I've linked directly to it within the table above.

She was scheduled for the slow Sydney C.B.-U.K. Convoy SC 58 at the beginning of Dec.-1941, but instead joined the next convoy, SC 59, which left Sydney, C.B. on Dec. 10 and arrived Liverpool on the 27th. Acasta, however, was bound for Londonderry, where she arrived on Dec. 26.

In Apr.-1942 she's listed in Convoy OS 24, voyaging from Liverpool to Trinidad in ballast in station 34 of the convoy. Again, see the external links provided (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. 12-1942 and arrived New York on Sept. 30. She now shows up, with final destination Trinidad, in the New York-Guantanamo Convoy NG 312 in Oct., 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 (the latter arrived New York Nov. 17-1942) - the external site already mentioned has further dates and more info on all these convoys. She's also listed in the slow eastbound North Atlantic Convoy SC 112, departing New York on Dec. 4-1942, arriving Liverpool on the 25th (not available on my own site). According to her Voyage Record she was again bound for Londonderry, where she arrived on Dec. 23.

Acasta was in 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. 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).

In May-1943 Acasta is listed as sailing in Convoy SC 131 from Halifax to the U.K., returning with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ONS 10*, which left Liverpool on June 8 and arrived Halifax on the 27th. Acasta's destination is given as New York on that occasion. She headed back to the U.K. the following month in the slow Convoy SC 136, which arrived Liverpool on July 23. Just a few days later she appears in the westbound Convoy ONS 14*, departing Liverpool on July 26, arriving Halifax on Aug. 9, and towards the end of that month she joined Convoy SC 140 from Halifax. The following month she's listed as bound for Sydney, C.B. in the westbound Convoy ONS 19*, which left Liverpool on Sept. 26 and arrived Halifax on Oct. 14. At the end of Dec. that year we find her Convoy SC 150, which left Halifax on Dec. 30-1943 and arrived Liverpool on Jan. 14-1944. Acasta's destination on that occasion is given as Belfast Dock and Londonderry - follow the links for more information on these convoys.

For information on her 1944 voyages, please see the Voyage Record above.

In Jan.-1945 she sailed in Convoy OS 107/KMS 81, on a voyage from Milford to Freetown in ballast in station 53 of the convoy, which departed 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.

* The ON and ONS 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, and the page naming ships in all ONS convoys. As will be seen, several Norwegian ships sailed in all of them. The MKS and KMS convoys will also be added; for now, the ships sailing in them are named in the section listing ships in all MKS convoys, and the section for ships in all KMS 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 - As will be seen, 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).