D/S Astra
Updated July 13-2008

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


This is a post war picture of this ship when named Ringen.
Received from George Robinson, the webmaster of Riversea International (external link).
This site gives the tonnage as 2427 gt.

Notes:

* This voyage to Iceland is not included on Page 6 of the documents received from the National Archives of Norway. She did leave Belfast Lough on May 15, and there's a note "For Loch Ewe & Iceland", but the word Iceland is crossed out. Arrival Loch Ewe is given as May 16, and she's said to have left for Dundee the next day, with arrival May 19, as already noted in the above record. Subsequent voyages are also listed on Page 6, as well as on Page 7, up to and including Nov.-1945. As can be seen, she made a voyage to Norway in July-1945, another in Aug.-1945, and again in Sept.-1945 and Nov.-1945.

Further to the above – 1940-1945:

Only some of her voyages are discussed below.

As mentioned, Astra is listed in Convoy OG 14 in Jan.-1940 - this convoy will be added to my Convoys section; in the meantime, see the page listing ships in OG convoys. She had left the U.K. in Convoy OB 70, which originated in Liverpool on Jan. 11 and joined up with Convoy OA 70 on the 14th, the combined convoy then forming the Gibraltar bound OG convoy, which arrived there on Jan. 19. (The external website that I've linked to at the end of this page has more information on the OB convoys). There's also a ship by this name listed in Convoy HG 20 from Gibraltar to the U.K. in Febr.-1940. Nationality is given as Panamanian in the original convoy document, but this was the Norwegian ship.

That spring she appears in Convoy OB 157, which departed Liverpool on May 28-1940 and dispersed on the 31st. As can be seen in the Voyage Record, Arnold Hague has also included her in Convoy HX 53 in June-1940. She's not mentioned on my own page about this convoy, where the information is based on original convoy documents, but perhaps this is because she joined the convoy at sea from St. John's on June 28; she's said to have arrived Preston on July 11. At the end of that month she's listed in Convoy OB 191, departing Liverpool on July 30, dispersed Aug. 2, Astra arriving Yarmouth, N.S. independently on the 13th. On Aug. 25 we find her, with a cargo of pit props for Preston, in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 2, in which the Norwegian Gro and several others were sunk. In Oct. that same year she shows up in Convoy OB 228, which left Liverpool on Oct. 13 and dispersed on the 17th, and from which the Norwegian Dokka and others were sunk. See also the external link to this convoy provided within the above record. The Norwegian Brask, Chr. Knudsen, Gudrun, Noreg, Polyana and Topdalsfjord are also listed, and I believe that the Dutch Bussum, though not included, may also have been in OB 228 - see the link to my own page about OB 228 for an explanation.

Early in Jan.-1941 Astra joined the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 18, bound for Sharpness with a cargo of lumber, arriving her destination on Febr. 9. At the end of March she's listed in Convoy OB 304, originating in Liverpool on March 30 (Astra joined from Milford Haven), dispersed Apr. 4. However, according to her Voyage Record, Astra is said to have arrived Clyde on March 31, and it looks like she subsequently headed to Liverpool, joining Convoy OB 306 a few days later. This convoy left Liverpool on Apr. 3 and dispersed on the 9th, Astra having detached for Reykjavik on Apr. 8, later travelling from there to Halifax, with arrival May 5. She was scheduled to return to the U.K. with Convoy SC 32 later that month, but instead joined the next convoy, SC 33, cargo of lumber for Grimsby. This convoy left Sydney, C.B. on June 1-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 21st; Astra arrived her destination Grimsby on June 25, having stopped at Loch Ewe. In July she's listed as bound for Montreal in Convoy OB 347, which had originated in Liverpool on July 16, dispersed July 31. Again, see the external link in the Voyage Record. She's also listed, with a cargo of pulp and aluminium, in station 113 of the slow Convoy SC 41, departing Sydney, C.B. on Aug. 24-1941. This convoy, which is not available among the SC convoys on my own site, had a large number of Norwegian ships, namely Akabahra, Audun, Balduin, Blink, Carrier, Einvik, Evviva, Fagersten, Fanefjeld, Grado, Gudrun, Heien, Hestmanden, Hildur I, Ledaal, Leka, Lom, Marga, Nesttun, Orania, Reiaas, Siak, and Spes, all listed on this website. More information on them can be found with the help of the alphabet index below (or via the Master Ship Index).

At the end of Oct. that same year Astra, bound for Iceland only, is included in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 29, station 13. This convoy, which originated in Liverpool on Oct. 22-1941 and dispersed on Nov. 5, has not yet been added to my Convoys section, but for now, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. According to "The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II" by Robert J. Cressman, the destroyer Niblack (DD-424) damaged Astra in a collision at Reykjavik, Iceland on Nov 8-1941 (see the 1st external link provided below). This may be the explanation for the big gap in her Voyage Record for this period.

In July-1942 I have her in Convoy RU 30 from Reykjavik, bound for Tyne with stores. In Sept. that same year she was scheduled for Convoy RU 39, carrying vehicles for Glasgow, but instead joined the next convoy, RU 40, on Sept. 14. The Norwegian Eldøy is also listed in this convoy - see the external link provided in the table above. Astra also sailed in other convoys to and from Iceland in the course of 1942 and early 1943.

In the summer of 1943 Astra sailed in Convoy OS 51/KMS 20, voyaging from Oban to Bone in station 22. This convoy left Liverpool on July 4 and split up on the 13th, the Gibraltar portion, KMS 20* (in which Astra and the Norwegian Sneland I took part), arriving there on July 14, while the OS convoy (in which the Norwegian Bosphorus is listed) continued to Freetown, where it arrived on July 23 - again, follow the external link provided in the above record for more convoy details.

In March-1944 she made a voyage from Algiers to Augusta in Convoy KMS 43*. In May she's listed as bound from Augusta to Bone in Convoy MKS 50* and arrived Bone on May 27 (convoy originated in Port Said on May 19, arrived Gibraltar May 31), continuing from Bone to Algiers with Convoy MKS 51* on June 6 (convoy had originated in Port Said on May 30, arrived Gibraltar June 9).

At the end of Jan.-1945 we find her in Convoy MKS 80*, which departed Gibraltar on Jan. 31 and arrived Liverpool on Febr. 7 - Astra arrived Falmouth on the 5th.

* All the MKS and KMS convoys are available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section, with more information on each; for now, the ships sailing in them are named in the sections listing ships in all MKS convoys and ships in all KMS convoys.

POST WAR:

Renamed Ringen in 1946 for Ekerholts Rederi, Oslo. Broken up in Grimstad, Norway in 1960.

Related external links:
HyperWar - Chapter III, 1941 - The collision with Niblack is mentioned under Nov. 8.

Lillesand Sjømannsforening also has a picture of Astra.

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

Other ships by this name: There was also a Danish ship by the name Astra. Also, Haugesund had a small steamer by this name in 1916, originally delivered as Faithful to F. H. Powel & Co., Liverpool in June-1900, 795 gt. Named Thoughtful from 1906, Suffolk Coast from 1909, then Astra from 1911 (Glasgow). Purchased by Jacob Ringen, Haugesund from owners in Porsgrunn in 1916, management taken over by Brummenæs & Torgersen on Jan. 1-1921, sold to UK in 1923. Sailed under the British flag as Elvington, and from 1934 as Kyle Bute of Liverpool until broken up in Troon in 1955.