M/S Anna Odland - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/S Anna Odland
Updated July 10-2008

To Anna Odland on the "Ships starting with A" page.

Source: Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

Manager: Jacob Odland S. S., Haugesund
Tonnage: 4998 gt

Launched Aug. 10 and delivered Oct. 4-1939 from Bremer Vulkan Schiffbau & Maschinenfabrik, Vegesack-Bremen as Anna Odland to D/S A/S Produce, Haugesund. 430.5' x 55.7' x 25.0', 5 cyl. 2 tdv Bremer Vulkan-MAN, 3400 bhp, 13 knots. Conctracted by D/S A/S Produce in Dec.-1937.

Captain: Sven Larsen (all through the war - he was born in Nov.-1895 and died in Dec.-1989). If you read Norwegian, Lillesand Sjømannsforening has more about him on this page (external link).

Anna Odland sailed 298 825 miles all total all over the world including the Middle East, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.A., transporting troops, weapons, vehicles, war materials and all manner of general cargo.

She made 3 voyages between the U. S. and USSR with grain in 1939-1940. According to "Sjøfolk i krig" by Leif M. Bjørkelund she proceeded from Bremen via Kiel to Haugesund, Norway upon delivery in Oct.-1939, and once her crew was complete she continued to the U.S. on the 14th. She had been ready to depart on Friday the 13th but Captain Larsen waited until the clock had passed midnight before heading out, suspecting the crew would object to sailing on such an unlucky day.

En route to the U.S. she was stopped by a British destroyer, but after the usual inspection of her papers she was allowed to proceed to New York, where she was ordered south through the Panama Canal to Portland, Oregon to pick up a cargo of coal for Vladivostok, where she arrived on March 30-1940, having endured a horrendous storm on the Pacific crossing. She was still there when the news of the German invasion of Norway was received on Apr. 9. When the Russians heard that Anna Odland had an American crew member, they were all locked up for extensive questioning from early in the morning till late that afternoon, the only 2 allowed out being the 2nd engineer and the 2nd mate. But she was eventually freed and her cargo unloaded. Off Hakodate she was stopped by British forces and taken to Hong Kong, where she ended up staying for almost 3 weeks, until May 15, while awaiting further orders. Her subsequent voyages were as follows.

Voyage Record
From Apr.-1940 to July-1945:

(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database).

For more information on the convoys mentioned in this table, please follow the links provided. As will be seen, other Norwegian ships also sailed in some of them. See also my text further down on this page.
	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Apr. 16	Vladivostok	Hong Kong	Apr. 26	Independent	Previously traded in the Pacific
	May 15	Hong Kong	Calcutta	May 27	Independent	–
	June 4	Calcutta	Colombo	June 10	Independent	–
	June 17	Colombo	Bombay	June 21	Independent	–
	June 23	Bombay	Suez	July 12	BN 1	See BN 1 (external link)
	Aug. 18	Suez	–	–	BS 3	Bound for Bombay Dispersed Aug. 26 See BS 3 (external link)
	Aug. 26	Dispersed from BS 3	Bombay	Aug. 31	Independent	–
	Sept. 3	Bombay	Colombo	Sept. 6	Independent	–
	Sept. 9	Colombo	Vizag	Sept. 12	Independent	–
	Sept. 17	Vizag	Capetown	Oct. 7	Independent	–
	Oct. 10	Capetown	Trinidad	Oct. 29	Independent	–
	Oct. 31	Trinidad	Baltimore	Nov. 7	Independent	–
	Nov. 23	Baltimore	Halifax	Nov. 28	Independent	–
	Dec. 7	Halifax	Capetown	Dec. 29	Independent	–
	Dec. 29	Capetown	Aden	Jan. 15-1941	Independent	–
1941	Jan. 17	Aden	Suez	Jan. 24	BN 13	See BN 13 (external link)
	Jan. 24	Port Said	Alexandria	Jan. 25	Independent	–
	Jan. 26	Alexandria	Port Said	Jan. 26	Independent	–
	March 11	Suez	Port Sudan	March 13	BS 19	See BS 19 (external link)
	March 21	Port Sudan	–	–	BS 20	Bound for Capetown Dispersed March 26. See BS 20 (external link)
	March 26	Dispersed from BS 20	Capetown	Apr. 13	Independent	–
	Apr. 14	Capetown	New York City	May 13	Independent	–
	May 16	New York City	Philadelphia	May 16	Independent	–
	May 23	Philadelphia	Galveston	May 29	Independent	–
	June 3	Galveston	Cristobal	June 9	Independent	–
	June 11	Balboa	Auckland	July 6	Independent	–
	July 8	Auckland	New Plymouth	July 10	Independent	–
	July 12	New Plymouth	Wanganui	July 13	Independent	–
	July 16	Wanganui	Sydney, N.S.W.	July 20	Independent	–
	July 26	Sydney, N.S.W.	Melbourne	July 28	Independent	–
	July 31	Melbourne	Colombo	Aug. 18	Independent	–
	Aug. 19	Colombo	Aden	Aug. 28	Independent	–
	Aug. 28	Aden	Port Sudan	Aug. 31	Independent	–
	Sept. 8	Port Sudan	Suez	Sept. 11	Independent	–
	Sept. 17	Port Said	Haifa	Sept. 18	Independent	–
	Sept. 28	Haifa	Port Said	Sept. 29	Independent	–
	Oct. 1	Suez	Colombo	Oct. 13	Independent	–
	Oct. 13	Colombo	Calcutta	Oct. 18	Independent	–
	Oct. 27	Calcutta	Fremantle	Nov. 8	Independent	–
	Nov. 8	Fremantle	Adelaide	Nov. 13	Independent	–
	Nov. 19	Adelaide	Sydney, N.S.W.	Nov. 22	Independent	–
	Nov. 27	Sydney, N.S.W.	Newcastle, N.S.W.	Nov. 27	Independent	–
	Nov. 29	Newcastle, N.S.W.	Melbourne	Dec. 2	Independent	–
	Dec. 6	Melbourne	Adelaide	Dec. 8	Independent	–
	Dec. 10	Adelaide	Fremantle	Dec. 16	Independent	–
1942	Jan. 6	Fremantle	Suez	Febr. 1	Independent	–
	Febr. 2	Port Said	Alexandria	Febr. 3	Independent	–
	Febr. 9	Alexandria	Port Said	Febr. 10	Independent	–
	Febr. 15	Suez	Aden	Febr. 20	Independent	–
	March 1	Aden	Fremantle	March 19	Independent	–
	March 21	Fremantle	Adelaide	March 26	Independent	–
	Apr. 1	Adelaide	Bunbury	Apr. 7	Independent	–
	Apr. 15	Bunbury	Aden	May 4	Independent	–
	May 5	Aden	Suez	–	Independent	–
	May 12	Port Said	Alexandria	May 13	Independent	–
	May 25	Alexandria	Port Said	May 26	Independent	–
	May 29	Suez	Massawa	June 5	Independent	–
	June 9	Massawa	Aden	June 11	Independent	–
	June 11	Aden	Fremantle	July 1	Independent	–
	July 2	Fremantle	Adelaide	July 7	Independent	–
	July 9	Adelaide	Port Pirie	July 11	Independent	–
	July 19	Port Pirie	Wallaroo	July 19	Independent	–
	July 20	Wallaroo	Balboa	Aug. 20	Independent	–
	Aug. 25	Cristobal	Gitmo	Aug. 29	PG 8	See PG 8 (external link)
	Sept. 1	Gitmo	Key West	Sept. 5	GK 700	See GK 700 (external link)
	Sept. 5	Key West	New York City	Sept. 17	Independent	Long passage - using intermediate ports?
	Sept. 17	New York City	Belfast	Oct. 1	HX 208	–
	Oct. 2	Belfast Lough	Swansea	Oct. 3	BB 226	See BB 226 (external link)
	Oct. 21	Swansea	Milford Haven	Oct. 22	Independent	–
	Oct. 23	Milford Haven	New York City	Nov. 10	ON 141	Bound for Portland, Maine Convoy will be added, See ships in ON convoys
	Nov. 13	New York City	Portland, Maine	Nov. 14	Independent	–
	Nov. 21	Portland, Maine	New York City	Nov. 22	Independent	–
	Dec. 10	New York City	Gitmo	Dec. 18	NG 328	Bound for Cristobal See NG 328 (external link)
	Dec. 18	Gitmo	Cristobal	Dec. 21	GZ 16	See GZ 16 (external link)
	Dec. 23	Balboa	Durban	Jan. 25-1943	Independent	–
1943	Jan. 26	Durban	Aden	Febr. 10	Independent	–
	Febr. 10	Aden	Port Sudan	Febr. 12	Independent	–
	Febr. 13	Port Sudan	Suez	Febr. 15	Independent	–
	March 1	Suez	Aden	March 6	Independent	–
	March 6	Aden	Mauritius	March 15	Independent	–
	March 21	Mauritius	Aden	March 30	Independent	–
	March 30	Aden	Suez	Apr. 5	Independent	–
	Apr. 7	Port Said	Haifa	Apr. 8	Independent	–
	Apr. 18	Haifa	Port Said	Apr. 19	Independent	–
	Apr. 23	Suez	Aden	Apr. 28	Independent	–
	Apr. 29	Aden	Durban	May 14	Independent	–
	May 17	Durban	Capetown	May 21	DC 26	See DC 26 (external link)
	May 22	Capetown	–	–	CN 21	Dispersed May 24. See CN 21 (external link)
	May 24	Dispersed from CN 21	Takoradi	June 2	Independent	–
	June 3	Takoradi	Freetown	June 8	TS 43	See TS 43 (external link)
	June 13	Freetown	–	–	SL 131	Rendezvoused with MKS 15, June 24. See SL 131 (external link)
	June 24	Convoys SL 131 and MKS 15 joined up	Loch Ewe	July 4	–	See SL 131 / MKS 15 (external link), as well as this external page
	July 5	Loch Ewe	Methil	July 6	WN 450	See WN 450 (external link)
	July 7	Methil	Middlesbrough	July 8	FS 1161	See FS 1161 (external link)
	July 20	Middlesbrough	Methil	July 21	FN 1077	See FN 1077 (external link)
	July 22	Methil	Loch Ewe	July 24	EN 259	See EN 259 (external link)
	July 24	Loch Ewe	New York City	Aug. 7	ON 194	Convoy will be added, See ships in ON convoys
	Aug. 23	New York City	Hampton Roads	Aug. 24	Independent	–
	Aug. 27	Hampton Roads	Algiers	Sept. 15	UGS 16	See UGS 16 (external link)
	Sept. 20	Algiers	Port Said	Sept. 29	KMS 26	Convoy will be added, See ships in KMS convoys
	Oct. 8	Suez	Aden	Oct. 13	Independent	–
	Oct. 18	Aden	–	–	AB 17	See AB 17 (external link)
	Oct. 25	Detached from AB 17	Fremantle	Nov. 9	Independent	–
	Nov. 20	Fremantle	Colombo	Dec. 3	Independent	–
	Dec. 11	Colombo	Vizag	Dec. 18	JC 29	See JC 29 (external link)
	Dec. 23	Vizag	Calcutta	Dec. 25	Independent	–
1944	Jan. 27	Calcutta	Colombo	Febr. 3	CJ 14	See CJ 14 (external link)
	Febr. 20	Colombo	Bombay	Febr. 25	MB 66	See MB 66 (external link)
	Febr. 26	Bombay	Aden	March 5	BA 63	See BA 63 (external link)
	March 5	Aden	Suez	March 11	Independent	–
	March 23	Port Said	Alexandria	March 24	Independent	–
	March 26	Alexandria	New York City	Apr. 22	GUS 35	See GUS 35 (external link)
	July 1	New York City	Hampton Roads	–	Independent	–
	July 4	Hampton Roads	Port Said	July 29	UGS 47	See UGS 47 (external link)
	July 29	Suez	Aden	Aug. 4	Independent	–
	Aug. 4	Aden	Karachi	Aug. 10	Independent	–
	Aug. 16	Karachi	Colombo	Aug. 21	Independent	–
	Sept. 16	Colombo	Melbourne	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 12	Melbourne	Fremantle	Oct. 19	Independent	–
	Oct. 27	Fremantle	Geraldton	Oct. 28	Independent	–
	Nov. 2	Geraldton	Colombo	Nov. 15	Independent	–
	Nov. 16	Colombo	Cochin	Nov. 17	Independent	–
	Nov. 25	Cochin	Capetown	Dec. 13	Independent	–
	Dec. 14	Capetown	Montevideo	Dec. 27	Independent	–
	Dec. 28	Montevideo	Rosario	Dec. 30	Independent	–
1945	Jan. 4	Rosario	Buenos Aires	Jan. 5	Independent	–
	Jan. 11	Buenos Aires	Casablanca	Febr. 4	Independent	–
	Febr. 5	Gibraltar	Avonmouth	Febr. 12	MKS 81	Convoy will be added, See ships in MKS convoys
	Febr. 20	Avonmouth	Barry Island	Febr. 20	Independent	–
	Febr. 22	Barry Island	Halifax	March 6	ON 286	Convoy will be added, See ships in ON convoys
	March 21	Halifax	Digby	March 23	HF 165	See HF 165 (external link)
	March 27	Digby	St. John, N.B.	–	Independent	–
	Apr. 4	St. John, N.B.	New York City	Apr. 5	Independent	–
	Apr. 7	New York City	–	–	UGS 85	See UGS 85 (external link)
	Apr. 23	Passed Gibraltar	Bizerta	Apr. 26	Independent	–
	Apr. 26	Bizerta	Palermo	Apr. 27	Independent	–
	May 12	Palermo	Oran	May 15	Independent	–
	May 17	Oran	New York City	June 2	GUS 90	See GUS 90 (external link)
	June 14	New York City	Augusta	June 28	Independent	–
	July 2	Augusta	Bari	July 3	Independent	–
Further voyages are listed on Page 5 and Page 6, up to and including Apr.-1946.

Further to the above:

In Sept.-1942 I have Anna Odland in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 208, bound for Swansea with ore and wheat - follow the link for more convoy information, including the Commodore's report on the passage. She returned to the U.S. at the end of Oct. with Convoy ON 141*, which originated in Liverpool on Oct. 24, and arrived New York on Nov. 10. Her destination is given as Portland, Maine, cargo of coal, and she had station 122 of the convoy, in which the Norwegian Albert L. Ellsworth, Aun, Fagerfjell, Fernmoor, Fernwood, Gallia, Herbrand, Jenny, Ørnefjell, Pan Aruba, Reinholt, Salamis, Samuel Bakke, Skiensfjord, and Trondheim are also listed.

In June-1943 we find her in Convoy SL 131/MKS 15, cargo of potash and general, also carrying 3 passengers. I've linked directly to this convoy within her Voyage Record above. The Norwegian Dagrun, Hallfried, Karmt and Norheim also took part. The SL convoy had departed Freetown on June 13-1943, joined up with MKS 15 on June 24, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on July 4. The MKS portion is also available on my own site at Convoy MKS 15, but note that Anna Odland sailed in the SL portion. She later joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 194*, bound for New York, station 26. This convoy, which departed Liverpool on July 24 and arrived New York Aug. 7, also had several other Norwegian ships, namely Belinda, Brimanger, Dagrun, Fernmoor, G. C. Brøvig, Germa, Heimvard, Kaia Knudsen, Lista, Morgenen, Noreg, Norheim, and Skandinavia, the Norwegian corvettes Acanthus, Potentilla and Rose being among the escorts.

At the end of that same month (Aug.-1943) Anna Odland headed from the U.S. to Algiers, where she arrived on Sept. 15 (Convoy UGS 16), later travelling from there to Port Said in Convoy KMS 26* the following month. Other Norwegian ships in UGS 16 were Egerø, G. C. Brøvig, Gudrun, Heimvard, Strinda, and (possibly) Anna Knudsen, while Atle Jarl, Frithjof Nansen, and Gudrun are listed in this particular portion of KMS 26.

At the beginning of Febr.-1945 she's listed, together with Norefjord, in Convoy MKS 81* which left Gibraltar on Febr. 5 and arrived Liverpool on the 13th. Later that month we find her in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 286*, which originated in Liverpool on Febr. 21 and arrived New York on March 9. Anna Odland, however, was bound for Halifax on that occasion, arriving there on March 6. She was again in the company of other Norwegian ships, namely Anna Knudsen, Morgenen, Reinholt, and Strinda.

* 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. All the KMS and MKS convoys will also be added; for now, the ships sailing in them are named in the sections listing ships in KMS convoys and ships in MKS convoys.

More information on all the other Norwegian ships named on this page can be found via the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

POST WAR:

Partly in general tramping, partly on charter to Norwegian and foreign operators. Renamed Prosper in the fall of 1960, sold to Solstad Rederi A/S (Johannes Solstad), Skudeneshavn for N. Kr. 2.3 mill. in September-1964 and put into service as Soldrott after docking in Rotterdam. In 1967 she was mostly in trade to the Far East. Sold again in April-1971 to Acropol Shipping Co. Ltd. Piræus/Limassol and renamed Elissavette, delivered in Piræus on June 4. Sold to Sheraton Shipping Co. Ltd., Limassol in 1975, renamed Interamity in 1977. In 1978 she went to Acropol Shipping. Arrived Gadani Beach, Pakistan on September 26-1979 to be broken up.

Related external links:
The Australian War Memorial has another picture of this ship. It can be found by running a search via their collection search page.

Lillesand Sjømannsforening's website (Lillesand Seamen's Association) also has a picture, along with pictures of several other Norwegian ships.