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

M/S Anna Odland
Updated Dec. 1-2012

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

Source: Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

The Australian War Memorial has another picture of this ship, taken in Fremantle on Dec. 16-1941 (external links). As will be seen when going to Page 2 of the archive documents, she had arrived there from Adelaide that same day.
See also this external page (click in the picture to enlarge).

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.

Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.

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.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Apr. 16	Vladivostok	Hong Kong	Apr. 26	Independent	A. Hague says: Previously traded in the Pacific (see also the narrative below)
	May 15	Hong Kong	Calcutta	May 27	Independent	Via Singapore (see Page 1)
	June 4	Calcutta	Colombo	June 10	Independent	–
	June 17	Colombo	Bombay	June 21	Independent	–
	June 23	Bombay	Suez	July 12	BN 1	Convoy available at BN 1 (external link) Left Suez for Safaga July 30 (Page 1)
	Aug. 18	Suez	–	–	BS 3	(Had arrived Suez Aug. 9 - Page 1). For Bombay Dispersed Aug. 26 Convoy available at 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	Convoy available at BN 13 (external link)
	Jan. 24*	Port Said	Alexandria	Jan. 25	Independent	*Page 1 gives departure (and arrival) Jan. 26
?	Jan. 26	Alexandria	Port Said	Jan. 26	Independent	Compare w/Page 1
	March 11	Suez	Port Sudan	March 13*	BS 19	*Page 1 gives arrival March 15. Convoy available at BS 19 (external link)
	March 21	Port Sudan	–	–	BS 20	For Capetown Dispersed March 26. Convoy available at 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	On to Port Said Sept. 14 (Page 2).
	Sept. 17	Port Said	Haifa	Sept. 18	Independent	–
	Sept. 28	Haifa	Port Said	Sept. 29	Independent	Left Port Said Sept. 30 (Page 2).
	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	Via Aden (arrived Port Said, Febr. 1 - Page 2).
	Febr. 2	Port Said	Alexandria	Febr. 3	Independent	–
	Febr. 9	Alexandria	Port Said	Febr. 10	Independent	Left Port Said same day (Page 2).
	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	Page 2 gives arrival May 10, arrived Port Said May 11.
	May 12	Port Said	Alexandria	May 13	Independent	–
	May 25	Alexandria	Port Said	May 26	Independent	–
	May 29*	Suez	Massawa	June 5	Independent	*Page 2 gives departure June 2
	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	Convoy available at PG 8 (external link)
	Sept. 1	Gitmo	Key West	Sept. 5	GK 700	Convoy available at GK 700 (external link)
	Sept. 5	Key West	New York City	Sept. 17	Independent	A. Hague says: Long passage - using intermediate ports?
	Sept. 17	New York City	Belfast	Oct. 1	HX 208	–
	Oct. 2	Belfast Lough	Swansea	Oct. 3	BB 226	Convoy available at BB 226 (external link)
	Oct. 21	Swansea	Milford Haven	Oct. 22	Independent	See also Page 3
	Oct. 23	Milford Haven	New York City	Nov. 10	ON 141	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	For Cristobal Convoy available at NG 328 (external link)
	Dec. 18	Gitmo	Cristobal	Dec. 21	GZ 16	Convoy available at 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	On to Port Said Apr. 6 (Page 3).
	Apr. 7	Port Said	Haifa	Apr. 8	Independent	–
	Apr. 18	Haifa	Port Said	Apr. 19	Independent	Left Port Said Apr. 22 (Page 3).
	Apr. 23	Suez	Aden	Apr. 28	Independent	–
	Apr. 29	Aden	Durban	May 14	Independent	–
	May 17	Durban	Capetown	May 21	DC 26	Convoy available at DC 26 (external link)
	May 22	Capetown	–	–	CN 21	Dispersed May 24. Convoy available at CN 21 (external link)
	May 24	Dispersed from CN 21	Takoradi	June 2	Independent	–
	June 3	Takoradi	Freetown	June 8	TS 43	Convoy available at TS 43 (external link)
	June 13	Freetown	–	–	SL 131	Rendezvoused with MKS 15, June 24. Convoy available at SL 131 (external link)
	June 24	SL 131 and MKS 15 joined up	Loch Ewe	July 4	–	Convoy available at SL 131/MKS 15 (external link)
	July 5	Loch Ewe	Methil	July 6	WN 450	Convoy available at WN 450 (external link)
	July 7	Methil	Middlesbrough	July 8	FS 1161	Convoy available at FS 1161 (external link)
	July 20	Middlesbrough	Methil	July 21	FN 1077	Convoy available at FN 1077 (external link)
	July 22	Methil	Loch Ewe	July 24	EN 259	Convoy available at 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	Convoy available at 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	Had arrived Suez Oct. 8 (Page 4).
	Oct. 18	Aden	–	–	AB 17	Convoy available at 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	Convoy available at JC 29 (external link)
	Dec. 23	Vizag	Calcutta	Dec. 25	Independent	–
1944	Jan. 27	Calcutta	Colombo	Febr. 3	CJ 14	Convoy available at CJ 14 (external link)
	Febr. 20	Colombo	Bombay	Febr. 25	MB 66	Convoy available at MB 66 (external link)
	Febr. 26	Bombay	Aden	March 5	BA 63	Convoy available at BA 63 (external link)
	March 5	Aden	Suez	March 11	Independent	Left Suez same day (Page 4).
	March 23	Port Said	Alexandria	March 24	Independent	–
	March 26	Alexandria	New York City	Apr. 22	GUS 35	Convoy available at GUS 35 (external link)
	July 1	New York City	Hampton Roads	–	Independent	–
	July 4	Hampton Roads	Port Said	July 29	UGS 47	Convoy available at UGS 47 (external link) To Suez same day (Page 4)
	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	Page 4 gives arrival Oct. 7
	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	Left Casablanca same day (Page 5).
	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	Convoy available at HF 165 (external link)
	March 27	Digby	St. John, N.B.	–	Independent	Page 5 gives arrival same day
	Apr. 4	St. John, N.B.	New York City	Apr. 5	Independent	–
	Apr. 7	New York City	–	–	UGS 85	Convoy available at 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	Convoy available at GUS 90 (external link)
	June 14	New York City	Augusta	June 28	Independent	–
	July 2	Augusta	Bari	July 3	Independent	Subsequent voyages: Page 5 & Page 6

Misc. Voyages:

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the convoy links provided for further details; the Commodore's notes are also available for some of them and several Norwegian ships took part.

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 had 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 voyages in this period are shown on Page 1. Her 1941 voyages also start on this document and continue on Page 2, which also has some 1942 voyages, while the rest are listed on Page 3. Convoy information for some of them can be found in the Voyage Record above. (It'll be noticed that she had occasional long stays in port).

Skipping now to Sept. 17-1942, when I have her in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 208 - see also the Commodore's report. Anna Odland was bound for Swansea with ore and wheat, arriving her destination on Oct. 3. She returned to the U.S. later that month 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 (returned), Pan Aruba, Reinholt, Salamis, Samuel Bakke (Commodore Vessel), Skiensfjord, Trondheim and Ørnefjell are also listed. Anna Odland later arrived Portland on Nov. 14. Again, see Page 3 for informatin on her subsequnt voyages, with convoy details in the Voyage Record.

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, in which Anna Odland took part, had departed Freetown on June 13, joined up with MKS 15 on June 24, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on July 4; Anna Odland stopped at Loch Ewe that day, continuing to Methil and Middlesbrough the next day (Page 3 and Page 4). She later joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 194*, bound for New York, station 26. This convoy, which originated in Liverpool on July 24 and arrived New York Aug. 7, also included Belinda, Brimanger, Dagrun, Fernmoor, G. C. Brøvig, Germa, Heimvard, Kaia Knudsen, Lista, Morgenen, Noreg, Norheim and Skandinavia, while Acanthus, Potentilla and Rose were among the escorts for a while (see ON convoy escorts).

From the U.S., Anna Odland now headed to Algiers, where she arrived on Sept. 15 (Convoy UGS 16, departing Hampton Roads Aug. 27), later travelling from there to Port Said in Convoy KMS 26*. Other Norwegian ships in UGS 16 were Egerø, G. C. Brøvig (returned), Gudrun (?), Heimvard, Strinda and (possibly) Anna Knudsen, while Atle Jarl, Frithjof Nansen and Gudrun are listed in this particular portion of KMS 26, which sailed from Gibraltar on Sept. 18 and arrived Port Said on the 29th. Anna Odland had left Algiers on Sept. 20.

Her subsequent voyages are listed on Page 4, which also has most of her 1944 voyages; as will be seen, she had a long stay in Calcutta, with another long stay in New York in the spring of 1944. Occasional other long stays are also shown (convoy details in Voyage Record). The rest of her 1944 voyages can be found on Page 5, which also has her 1945 voyages.

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 - Anna Odland, carrying a cargo of maize, arrived Avonmouth Febr. 12 (Page 5). 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 7. She had again been in the company of other Norwegian ships, namely Anna Knudsen, Morgenen, Reinholt and Strinda.

From Page 5 we learn that she got to go home to Norway in Sept.-1945, and it looks like she got to stay there for over a month. The document indicates that she went home again at the beginning of 1946, but arrival is not given (or her destination was altered?). See also Page 6.

* The ON convoys 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. The KMS and MKS convoys will also be added as time allows; for now, see ships in all KMS convoys and ships in all 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.