D/S Ara
Updated Dec. 4-2012

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


From Bjørn Pedersen's collection.

Voyage Record From March-1940 to Nov.-1944:

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

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on them.

Erros may exist (this could also mean that she may not have sailed in all the convoys mentioned here), and several voyages are missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	March 27	Norwegian waters	Methil	March 30	HN 22	Missing movements, Page 1
	May 23	Tyne	Southend	May 25	FS 178	Compare w/Page 1 Convoy available at FS 178 (external link) Missing movements, Page 1
	July 14	Southend	Southampton	July 15	CW 5	Convoy available at CW 5 (external link) See also Balder
	July 20	St. Helens Roads	Southend	July 22	CE 6	Compare w/Page 1. Convoy available at CE 6 (external link)
	July 22	Southend	Tyne	July 24	FN 229	Convoy available at FN 229 (external link) To Seaham July 27 (Page 1).
	Aug. 3	Sunderland	Southend	Aug. 5	FS 241	Did not sail, reason not known
	Aug. 4	Sunderland	Southend	Aug. 6	FS 242	Again, see also Page 1. Convoy available at FS 242 (external link)
	Aug. 11	Southend	Seaham	Aug. 13	FN 249	Convoy available at FN 249 (external link) Missing movements, Page 1.
	Sept. 2	Southend	Tyne	Sept. 4	FN 270	Convoy available at FN 270 (external link) On to Methil Sept. 4 (Page 1).
	Sept. 6	Methil	–	–	OA 210	Dispersed Sept. 10 (Page 1 gives arrival Greenock, same day) Convoy available at OA 210 (external link) Missing movements: Page 1 & Page 2
	Nov. 12	Methil	Southend	Nov. 14	FS 334	Convoy available at FS 334 (external link) See also Page 2
	Nov. 24	Southend	Tyne	Nov. 26	FN 342	Convoy available at FN 342 (external link) Missing movements, Page 2
	Dec. 6	Southend	Tyne*	Dec. 8	FN 352	*Arrived Blyth (Page 2). Convoy available at FN 352 (external link)
	Dec. 14	Blyth	Southend	Dec. 16	FS 361	Again, see also Page 2. Convoy available at FS 361 (external link)
	Dec. 25	Blyth	Southend	Dec. 28	FS 371	Had arrived Blyth Dec. 23 (Page 2). Convoy available at FS 371 (external link)
1941	July 9	Clyde	Methil	July 13	WN 151	Earlier 1941 movements: Page 2 & Page 3 Convoy available at WN 151 (external link) Missing movements: Page 3 above & Page 4
	Aug. 28	Southend	Aberdeen	Aug. 30	EC 66	Convoy available at EC 66 (external link) Missing movements, Page 4
	Sept. 18	Oban	Methil	Sept. 21	WN 182	Convoy available at WN 182 (external link) Missing movements: Page 4 & Page 5
	Dec. 18	Methil	Lyness	Dec. 21	EN 21	Convoy available at EN 21 (external link)
??*	Dec. 20	Oban	Methil	Dec. 23	WN 221	Convoy available at WN 221 (external link) *Voyage does not fit in (see also Page 5)
1942	Jan. 1	Stromness	Dundee	Jan. 2	WN 225	Convoy available at WN 225 (external link) Missing movements, Page 5
	Febr. 16	Methil	–	–	EN 47	Detached Febr. 19 (Page 5 gives arrival Liverpool, Febr. 20). Convoy available at EN 47 (external link) Missing movements, Page 5
*	March 7	Oban	Methil	March 10	WN 255	*Compare w/Page 5. Convoy available at WN 255 (external link) Missing movements: Page 5 & Page 6
	Apr. 22	Loch Ewe	Methil	Apr. 24	WN 273	Convoy available at WN 273 (external link)
Further 1942 voyages are shown on Page 6, Page 7, Page 8 and Page 9. The latter document also has some 1943 voyages, while the rest are listed on Page 10, Page 11 and Page 12.
1944	June 14	Solent	Seine Bay	June 15	ETC 9	Earlier 1944 movements: Page 12, Page 13 & Page 14 Convoy available at ETC 9 (external link) This voyage not noted, Page 14
	July 6	Seine Bay	Southend	July 7	FTM 29	From Southampton, July 6 (Page 14). Convoy available at FTM 29 (external link) On to Hartlepool, July 8, left Sept. 6 (Page 14)
	Sept. 9	Southend	Southampton	Sept. 10	ETC 93	Convoy available at ETC 93 (external link)
	Sept. 12	Southampton	Southend	Sept. 12	FTC 6A	Convoy available at FTC 6A (external link) On to Seaham, Sept. 14 (Page 14).
	Sept. 19	Southend	Portsmouth	Sept. 20	ETC 103	Convoy available at ETC 103 (external link) Missing movements: Page 14 above & Page 15
	Nov. 2	Southend	St. Helens Roads	Nov. 3	TMC 24	Arrived Portsmouth, Nov. 4 (Page 15). Convoy available at TMC 24 (external link)
	Nov. 7	St. Helens Roads	Southend	Nov. 8	MTC 29	Convoy available at MTC 29 (external link) On to Hartlepool Nov. 9 (Page 15)
	Nov. 15	Southend	St. Helens Roads	Nov. 16	TMC 37	Convoy available at TMC 37 (external link)
	Nov. 18	St. Helens Roads	Southend	Nov. 19	MTC 40	Convoy available at MTC 40 (external link) Subsequent movements: Page 15, Page 16, Page 17, Page 18 & Page 19

Some 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.

With a cargo of fresh fish and mails for Newcastle, Ara is listed as sailing in Convoy HN 22 from Norway to the U.K. at the end of March-1940, thereby ending up in allied service throughout the war. Follow the link for more details; several Norwegian ships took part. Judging from the information found on Page 1 of the archive documents, the intention had been to return to Bergen, but of course, she did not (Norway was invaded Apr. 9). It'll also be noticed that she spent quite a long time at Shields (Tyne) that spring.

In Sept.-1940 she shows up, with no voyage information, in Convoy OA 210, which left Methil on Sept. 6 and dispersed on the 10th. From Page 1, we learn that she arrived Greenock that same day. The Norwegian Tautra is also included - ref. external link provided within the Voyage Record (incomplete listing).

It'll be noticed, when going to the various archive documents, that she occasionally had long stays in port.

According to the Stavern Memorial (link at the end of this page), there was an accident on board on Jan 4-1943 in which Seaman Lars E. Toranger died when working on a lifeboat. Ara was on her way from Southend to Methil Roads and Leith on that date (see Page 9).

As can be seen on Page 19, Ara got to go home to a free Bergen already in July-1945, making several more voyages home before that year was over. In fact, it looks like Christmas of 1945 was celebrated while in Norway. The document also shows a few of her 1946 voyages.

POST WAR:

Sold in July-1948 to A. F. Bjørnstads Rederi A/S, Tvedestrand, renamed Bjørnvik. Laid up in Antwerp in the fall of 1949. Sold in Aug.-1950 to Skips-AS Motor (E. Salvesen), Kragerø, renamed Rim (this was a forced sale). Sold in Febr.-1951 to D/S A/S Vivi & D/S A/S Asta (Clemeth Dann), Oslo, renamed Sjofna. Sold in Oct.-1953 to Everest Cia. Mar. SA, Panama, renamed Panagis. Renamed Lucia in 1955. Possibly involved in a collision in 1957? Broken up in Greece in the winter of 1958.

Related external link:
Stavern Memorial commemoration - Lars E. Toranger, mentioned above, is commemorated.

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