D/S Biscaya - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

D/S Biscaya
Updated July 25-2008

To Biscaya on the "Ships starting with B" page.

Picture received from Sverre Johansen, Norway.

Manager: Fearnley & Eger, Oslo
Tonnage: 1323 gt

Built in Tønsberg in 1939

Captain: Olaf Brennvik.

Voyage Record
From Febr.-1942 to July-1945:

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

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. Or go to this external page, click on "Ship Search", then type "Biscaya" in the search field. Direct links to each convoy will come up. Please be aware that some of these convoys may be incomplete - compare A. Hague's numbers to TDS numbers (TDS = number of ships according to Trade Division Signal).

Errors may exist, and several voyages are missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1942	Febr. 21	Ivigtut	St. John's, N.F.	Febr. 27	Independent	–
	March 1	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	March 4	CL 3	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	March 7	Halifax	Philadelphia	March 12	–	–
	Apr. 18	Philadelphia	New York City	Apr. 18	Independent	–
	Apr. 29	New York City	Argentia	May 12	–	–
	May 14	Argentia	Ivigtut	May 20	Independent	–
	June 13	Ivigtut	Boston	–	Independent	–
	June 25	Boston	New York City	June 26	Independent	–
	July 9	Boston	Halifax	July 11	BX 28	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	July 12	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	July 15	HJ 8	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	July 20	St. John's, N.F.	Sydney, C.B.	July 22	CL 47	Convoy available via link above
	July 23	Sydney, C.B.	Halifax	July 24	SH 26	Convoy available at SH convoys (external link)
	July 26	Halifax	Liverpool N.S.	July 28	XB 31	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	Aug. 2	Liverpool N.S.	Boston	Aug. 4	XB 32	See XB 32 at above link
	Aug. 4	Boston	New York City	Aug. 5	Independent	–
	Aug. 10	New York City	Cape Cod Bay	–	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Cape Cod Bay	Halifax	Aug. 16	BX 33	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	Aug. 18	Halifax	Sydney, C.B.	Aug. 20	HS 42	Convoy available at HS convoys (external link)
	Aug. 25	Sydney, C.B.	Greenland	Sept. 8	SG 6S	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Sept. 17	Ivigtut	Sydney, C.B.	Sept. 24	GS 8	Convoy available via link above
	Sept. 27	Sydney, C.B.	Halifax	Sept. 29	SH 47	Convoy available at SH convoys (external link)
	Oct. 1	Halifax	New York City	Oct. 4	ON 131	Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Nov. 19	New York City	St. John's, N.F.	Nov. 24	HX 216	For St. John's, N.F.
	Dec. 1	St. John's, N.F.	Greenland	–	SG 14	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Dec. 21	Kungnait Bay	St. John's, N.F.	Dec. 27	GS 16	Convoy available via link above
	Dec. 29	St. John's, N.F.	–	–	ON 155	Straggled
1943	Jan. 3	Straggled from ON 155	New York City	Jan. 6	Independent	–
	Jan. 22	New York City	St. John's, N.F.	Jan. 28	HX 224	For St. John's, N.F.
	Jan. 29	St. John's, N.F.	Greenland	Febr. 4	SG 19	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	March 18	Greenland	St. John's, N.F.	March 23	GS 21	Convoy available via link above
	March 30	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	Apr. 3	JH 45	Convoy available via link above
	Apr. 4	Halifax	Boston	Apr. 7	XB 42	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	May 26	Boston	Halifax	May 28	BX 54	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	May 29	Halifax	Sydney, C.B.	May 31	HS 88	Convoy available at HS convoys (external link)
	June 1	Sydney, C.B.	Humbermouth	June 3	SH 84	Convoy available at SH convoys (external link)
	June 11	Humbermouth	Sydney, C.B.	June 12	BSC 47	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	June 12	Sydney, C.B.	Halifax	June 13	SH 86	Convoy available at SH convoys (external link)
	June 15	Halifax	Cape Cod Canal	June 17	XB 58	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	June 17	Cape Cod Canal	New York City	June 18	Independent	–
	June 19	New York City	Hampton Roads	June 20	Independent	–
	July 3	Hampton Roads	Wilmington	July 5	–	–
	July 18	Wilmington	New York City	July 20	–	–
	July 30	New York City	Loch Ewe?*	Aug. 12	HX 250	For Iceland See Page 4*
	Aug. 26	Reykjavik	Loch Ewe	Aug. 30	RU 87	–
	Sept. 2	Loch Ewe	St. John's, N.F.	Sept. 13	ON 200	Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Sept. 19	St. John's, N.F.	Sydney, C.B.	Sept. 22	WB 55	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Sept. 24	Sydney, C.B.	Halifax	Sept. 26	SH 104	Convoy available at SH convoys (external link)
	Sept. 29	Halifax	Cape Cod Canal	Oct. 1	XB 76	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	Oct. 1	Cape Cod Canal	New York City	Oct. 2	Independent	–
	Oct. 28	New York City	Havana	Nov. 4	NK 574	Onward to Havana from Key West. Convoy available at NK convoys (external link)
	Nov. 7	Havana	Tana, Cuba	Nov. 9	Independent	–
	Nov. 12	Tanamo	Tybee Roads	Nov. 16	–	–
	Nov. 27	Tybee Roads	Caibarien	Nov. 30	–	–
	Dec. 2	Caibarien	Tybee Roads	Dec. 5	–	–
	Dec. 9	Tybee Roads	Cayo Frances	Dec. 12	–	–
	Dec. 12	Cayo Frances	Caibarien	Dec. 12	–	–
	Dec. 13	Caibarien	Savannah	Dec. 16	–	–
	Dec. 22	Savannah	Caibarien	Dec. 25	–	–
	Dec. 26	Caibarien	New Orleans	Dec. 30	–	Possibly via Key West & KH Convoy.
1944	Jan. 12	S W Passage	Key West	Jan. 14	HK 179	Convoy available at HK convoys (external link)
	Jan. 15	Key West	Gitmo	Jan. 18	KG 682	Convoy available at KG convoys (external link)
	Jan. 24	Gitmo	Cristobal	Jan. 28	GZ 57	Convoy available at GZ convoys (external link)
	Febr. 8	Cristobal	Gitmo	Febr. 12	ZG 58	Convoy available at ZG convoys (external link)
	Febr. 14	Gitmo	Key West	Febr. 17	GK 788	Convoy available at GK convoys (external link)
	Febr. 17	Key West	Pilottown	Febr. 19	KH 491	Convoy available at KH convoys (external link)
	Febr. 26	New Orleans	Havana	Febr. 28	–	–
	March 2	Havana	Caibarien	March 3	–	–
	March 4	Caibarien	Tybee Roads	March 7	–	–
	March 10	Tybee Roads	Caibarien	March 13	Independent	–
	March 15	Caibarien	New Orleans	March 19	–	–
	March 26	Pilottown	Key West	March 29	HK 209	Convoy available at HK convoys (external link)
	March 29	Key West	Gitmo	Apr. 1	KG 697	Convoy available at KG convoys (external link)
	Apr. 2	Gitmo	San Juan, P.R.	Apr. 6	GAT 127	Convoy available at GAT convoys (external link)
	Apr. 11	San Juan, P.R.	Gitmo	Apr. 14	–	–
	Apr. 14	Gitmo	Key West	Apr. 17	GK 800	Convoy available at GK convoys (external link)
	Apr. 17	Key West	Pilottown	Apr. 19	KH 515	Convoy available at KH convoys (external link)
	May 1	Pilottown	Key West	May 4	HK 223	Convoy available at HK convoys (external link)
	May 4	Key West	San Juan, P.R.	May 8	_	Possibly in KG 704. Convoy available at KG convoys (external link)
	May 18	San Juan, P.R.	Gitmo	May 20	–	–
	May 24	Gitmo	Key West	May 27	GK 808	Convoy available at GK convoys (external link)
	May 27	Key West	Pilottown	May 29	KH 531	Convoy available at KH convoys (external link)
	June 9	New Orleans	Havana	June 11	Independent	–
	June 17	Havana	Caibarien	June 18	Independent	–
	June 20	Caibarien	Key West	June 21	–	–
	June 22	Key West	New York City	June 27	KN 321	Onward to Boston, arr. June 28. Convoy available at KN convoys (external link)
	July 3	Boston	Windsor, N.S.	July 5	Independent	–
	July 6	Windsor, N.S.	New York City	July 9	Independent	–
	July 14	New York City	Boston	July 15	Independent	–
	July 26	Argentia	Greenland	Aug. 1	SG 46	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Sept. 9	Greenland	St. John's, N.F.	Sept. 13	GS 53	Convoy available via link above
	Sept. 14	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	Sept. 16	JHF 32	Convoy available via link above
	Sept. 18	Halifax	Boston	Sept. 19	XB 126	Possibly this convoy. Available at XB convoys (external link)
	Sept. 20	Boston	New York City	Sept. 22	Independent	–
	Sept. 22	New York City	Philadelphia	Sept. 23	Independent	–
	Sept. 28	Cape Henry	St. John, N.B.	Oct. 2	Independent	–
	Oct. 4	St. John, N.B.	Walton	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 6	Walton	New York City	Oct. 9	Independent	–
	Oct. 15	New York City	Havana	Oct. 22	Independent	–
	Oct. 29	Havana	Mobile	Nov. 1	Independent	–
	Nov. 9	Mobile	Puerto Barrios	Nov. 13	Independent	–
	Nov. 14	Puerto Barrios	Mobile	Nov. 18	Independent	–
	Nov. 20	Mobile	Puerto Cortes	Nov. 24	Independent	–
	Nov. 25	Puerto Cortes	Mobile	Nov. 29	Independent	–
	Dec. 2	Mobile	Puerto Cortes	–	Independent	–
	Dec. 7	Puerto Cortes	Mobile	Dec. 11	Independent	–
	Dec. 12	Mobile	Tela	Dec. 16	Independent	–
	Dec. 17	Tela	Mobile	Dec. 21	Independent	–
	Dec. 22	Mobile	Puerto Barrios	Dec. 27	Independent	–
	Dec. 29	Puerto Barrios	Mobile	Jan. 2-1945	Independent	–
1945	Jan. 6	Mobile	Tela	–	Independent	–
	Jan. 11	Tela	Mobile	Jan. 15	Independent	–
	Jan. 16	Mobile	Puerto Barrios	Jan. 20	Independent	–
	Jan. 21	Puerto Barrios	Mobile	Jan. 25	Independent	–
	Jan. 26	Mobile	Tela	Jan. 31	Independent	–
	Jan. 31	Tela	Mobile	Febr. 4	Independent	–
	Febr. 10	Mobile	Caibarien	Febr. 13	Independent	–
	Febr. 15	Caibarien	Philadelphia	Febr. 20	Independent	–
	March 4	Philadelphia	New York City	March 5	Independent	–
	March 9	New York City	St. John's, N.F.	March 16	HX 343	Returned. See HX 343 (external link)
	March 19	St. John's, N.F.	Belfast Lough	March 31	SC 170	See SC 170 (external link)
	Apr. 2	Belfast Lough	Preston	Apr. 4	Independent	–
	Apr. 11	Preston	Liverpool	Apr. 11	Independent	–
	June 16	Liverpool	Methil	June 19	Independent	See also Page 6
	June 20	Methil	Oslo, Norway	–	Independent	–
	July 6	Oslo	Copenhagen	July 7	Independent	–
	July 7	Copenhagen	Kotka	–	Independent	–
	July 16	Kotka	Copenhagen	July 20	Independent	–
	July 20	Copenhagen	Kristiansand, Norway	–	Independent	–
	July 22	Kristiansand	Methil	July 24	Independent	See Page 6 above and Page 7 for further voyages

Further to the above:

(Please note that only a few of her voyages are mentioned here - for voyages in between those noted below, please go back to the Voyage Record).

The Swedish steamship Gustaf Adolf had been torpedoed and sunk by U-34 (Rollman) on Oct. 20-1939; the following was received from Jan-Olof, Sweden:
"D/S Biscaya was stopped (two shots from the deck gun) by the German submarine which had sunk the Swedish steamer Gustaf Adolf and was ordered to take aboard the crew from the Swedish vessel. The sub had taken the lifeboats in tow initially. The crew were landed at Moss, Norway by the Biscaya". (See also the external link at the end of this page).

On March 6-1940, Biscaya is said to have received damages to 2 plates following a collision with a warship when leaving Gibraltar for Nice - no further info is available.

In July-1942 she's mentioned in connection with the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 198, together with the Norwegian Belinda, Havmøy and Sevilla. Note, however, that she was not en route to the U.K. at the time, she was not even part of this convoy. In fact, she's listed in Convoy HJ 8, which left Halifax for St. John's on the same date as HX 198. My information for this convoy is based on a diary, and it's possible that the person who saw Biscaya leave port at the same time as the other ships assumed that she was also intended for this convoy.

In Oct.-1942 she's listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 131*, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 18 and arrived New York on Oct. 4. Biscaya, however, was not present from the U.K., but joined the convoy from Halifax. Other Norwegian ships listed in this convoy are Abraham Lincoln, Brasil, Ferncourt, Helgøy, Høegh Scout, Katy, Thorshøvdi and Vardefjell. The following month she's mentioned in Convoy HX 215; final destination is given as Greenland, but it looks like she did not sail, or returned to port, because she shows up again in the next convoy, HX 216, destination St. John's. As can be seen in the Voyage Record, she subsequently joined a convoy from there to Greenland at the beginning of Dec., returning to St. John's later that month. A few days after arrival St. John's she joined the westbound Convoy ON 155, which had originated in Liverpool on Dec.-19-1942. According to the Commodore's notes for ON 155, she joined at 08:00 on Dec. 31. Biscaya arrived New York independently on Jan. 6-1943, having straggled from the convoy on the 3rd.

Biscaya is also mentioned in connection with Convoy HX 223, but either did not join or returned to port, because she shows up again in Convoy HX 224, departing New York on Jan. 22-1943, her destination is again given as Greenland, and she left the convoy for St. John's on Jan. 27, in order to join Convoy SG 19 for Greenland. She later had a narrow escape when U-223 (Wächter) attacked this convoy about 150 miles west of Cape Farewell, Greenland (59 22N 48 42W) with five single shots at 04:52 hours on Feb 3-1943. Two of them hit the Dorchester and sank her with the loss of 673 lives. The other torpedoes missed Biscaya and the Norwegian D/S Lutz (Lutz and Dorchester had also been in HX 224 from New York, and left the convoy for St. John's on Jan. 27 together with Biscaya and Alcedo).

Robert Cressman, "The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II" (see link to "Hyperwar" below) has an entry for Febr. 3-1943 where he says Convoy SG 19, bound for Greenland, was escorted by Coast Guard cutters Tampa (WPG-48), Escanaba (WPG-77), and Comanche (WPG-76), adding that Dorchester was chartered by the War Department. Casualties are listed as 675 men, including 15 of the 24 Armed Guard sailors. He adds "four Army chaplains, representing four different faiths, bravely give up their lifebelts to soldiers who have none; all four perish with the ship". He also says that Biscaya was damaged in this attack.

Please refer to the Voyage Record again for details on Biscaya's subsequent voyages.

At the end of July-1943 she made a voyage from New York to Reykjavik with Convoy HX 250, later travelling from there to Loch Ewe in Convoy RU 87 (final destination is given as New York here), before heading back across the Atlantic in the westbound Convoy ON 200*, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 2 and arrived New York on the 18th; according to Arnold Hague, her destination was St. John's, N.F. She was again in the company of a number of Norwegian ships, namely Bralanta, Buenos Aires, Emma Bakke, Fagerfjell, Haakon Hauan, Herbrand, Ivaran, Laurits Swenson, Norden, Norheim, O. B. Sørensen, and Reinholt, as well as the Panamanian Norbris, which had Norwegian managers and is, therefore, included under the N's on this website. As can be seen in her Voyage Record, she did travel to New York later on, where she took on board a general cargo for Havana, Cuba, arriving Havana on Nov. 4.

The following year she very nearly collided with a convoy, a voyage which could easily have been her last, considering her cargo of bombs in all her holds as well as 400 tons mustard gas in 20 liters containers. She was on charter to the American Army and in service between the various bases in the Caribbean and New Orleans at this time, and had departed San Juan on May 18-1944 for New Orleans, travelling alone (her cargo being far too dangerous for her to be in a convoy). Radio Operator/Mate Ola Johansen (formerly of M/S Heimvard and D/S Hardanger) was on night duty, and upon seeing the frantic light signals in morse code ahead in the dark "Convoy ahead, get out of the way" he managed to order the necessary maneuvers to steer clear of the convoy before it was too late.

In March-1945 she's listed in the eastbound North Atlantic Convoy HX 343, departing New York on March 9, but returned to port (St. John's), later joining the slow Convoy SC 170 from there a few days later. None of these convoys are available in my own Convoys section, but I've linked directly to them within the Voyage Record. Other Norwegian ships in the HX convoy were Brimanger, Katy, Noreg, Skaraas, Skotaas, and Tai Shan, while Askepot, Brønnøy, Brush, Chr. Th. Boe, Frontenac, Geisha, Romulus, Tercero and Titanian are listed in the SC convoy, which had originated in Halifax on March 17 and arrived Liverpool on the 31st.

In the summer of 1945 she finally got to go home to Norway.

* The ON convoys mentioned here will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in them are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys.

For more information on all the other Norwegian ships named on this page, please see the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

POST WAR:

Sold in 1955 to Finska-Nordamerika Line, Helsinki, and renamed Tammerfors. Sold in 1958 to Finska Fiskeri A/B (manager A/B R Nordstrom & Co O/Y, Lovisa, Finland) and renamed Maria. Sold in 1964 to Maria Compania Naviera de Vapores SA, Panama (Greek flag). Sold in 1968 to Brodospas, and on May 17 sailed from Piraeus in tow for Split, Yugoslavia, to be broken up.

Related external links:
The attack on Gustaf Adolf

List of Greenland Convoys - Here's the the main page. SG 19 is included. As can be seen, there's also a Biscaya listed for Convoy SG 6 to Greenland in Sept.-1942. It looks like she has been included in the wrong place here, see the dates and external links provided within the Voyage Record. (According to A. Hague, she was in the convoy that had left Sydney, C.B. on Aug. 25-1942 and arrived Greenland on Sept. 8).

Hyperwar - Linked directly to Robert Cressman's book, entries for 1943.

Astrup Fearnley - the Fearnley company today.

Back to Biscaya on the "Ships starting with B" page.

Another Biscaya (external link), lost in 1896. There was also a German ship named Biscaya, owned by John T. Essberger. Captured in the North Atlantic in Oct.-1939 by Northern Patrol vessels and sailed for the Ministry of War Transport from 1940 as Empire Unity ("The World's Merchant Fleets 1939").

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Krigsseileren" No. 3 and No. 4 for 1985, E-mail from Tony Cooper, England and misc. - ref My sources.