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M/S Bomma To Bomma on the "Ships starting with B" page. Owner: A/S Ganger Rolf
Built Oslo in 1938. Captain: Henry Lois Johannessen.
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. Errors may exist, and as can be seen, the record is incomplete. Compare Arnold Hague's records with these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Bomma was southbound with general cargo and was off Romsdal, Norway when 2 German aircraf flew in low on Apr. 9-1940 (German invasion of Norway). The captain dropped anchor and the crew took refuge in the woods. She later anchored up in Langfjord and was camouflaged. In May-1940 she joined the allied troops when they pulled out from the area, took on board 12 refugees and arrived safely at Lerwick on May 4. That summer Bomma transported 40 million kroner worth of Norway's gold from the U.K. to Baltimore. Several other Norwegian ships also made voyages to the U.S. with Norway's gold on board. Bomma was briefly in Convoy OA 162, which left Southend on June 5-1940 and dispersed 2 days later. The Norwegian Harpefjell and Tiradentes are also listed in this convoy. Bomma's destination is given as Hampton Roads - ref. external links provided in the Voyage Record. Note that according to Page 1 of the documents received from the National Archives of Norway, she arrived Baltimore on June 28, via Falmouth June 11-June 15. This must have been the voyage on which she transported the Norwegian gold - see narrative below.
"In order to save the gold of the Bank of Norway (Norges Bank), 3000 gold-bullions, a weight of 49 tons – a value of NOK (Norwegian Kroner) 240 millions- was loaded onto 25 lorries in Oslo in the early hours of the 9th. April 1940. The gold was packed in 818 big boxes, 685 small boxes and 39 barrels, all marked “NB”. Officer-in-Chief was Fredrik Haslund, and with him he had 30 soldiers as guards, but only one, the famous poet Nordahl Grieg, knew what was inside the boxes. The bank-staff and the lorry-drivers were all armed with revolvers. In Lillehammer the gold was transferred to a special train, and sent north through the Gudbrandsdal Valley. In Otta the train was “camouflaged” with false litra numbers to cover up its real destination, and from Dombås the train was directed down to Åndalsnes on the Rauma line, where it arrived on the 20th April. British troops were landed in Åndalsnes, and the small town was under heavy bombardment from German planes. 1/3 of the gold cargo was loaded onto the British cruiser Galathea, the rest was supposed to be loaded on two other ships for security reasons. Meanwhile, to secure the train and its cargo, the train was backed up the valley to Romsdalshorn station, until 25th April, while shipping transport was prepared. As the Germans were reported to advance fast up the Gudbrandsdal Valley, the rest of the gold was loaded on trucks again and taken further to Molde. The Germans were eager to capture the gold, and all railway-personnel in Gudbrandsdal Valley was questioned, but the camouflage worked and the Germans never found out which route the gold-train had taken. From Molde some of the gold was put onboard the British cruiser Glasgow, (if I'm not mistaken the King and the Crown Prince were also on board at the time and landed in Tromsø) and in the end of April shipped to England. The rest was loaded onto fishing vessels and other small vessels, and brought safely to Tromsø, a long journey in dangerous waters, as German planes were everywhere. Among others, the fishing vessels Alfhild and Staulvåg together with the small passenger Snorre, took part in this transport. From Tromsø the gold was shipped to England in the late days of May on the British cruiser Enterprise which arrived in Plymouth the 29th May, and from there taken to London on a special train with heavy escort of soldiers and police. In the night of the 15th June the Norwegian freighter Bomma left England with the first cargo of gold for USA. The gold was loaded in barrels on deck, each barrel tied firmly to several other empty barrels, so the whole unit would stay afloat if the ship would be sunk. Another 13 transports followed. In addition to Bomma, the following Norwegian ships took part in this transport: Bra-Kar, Ida Bakke, Norma, and San Andres. The gold was safely deposited in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bank of Canada. The gold and its long journey to safety became some kind of national symbol, and its real value could no longer be measured in money. The British Government was in the autumn 1940 in a desperate situation concerning the currency situation, and pressure was put upon the Norwegian Government to hand over the gold, but the Norwegian gold was already brought further across the Atlantic to Canada and USA during June and July 1940, on British and Norwegian merchant ships. Of the five Norwegian ships who brought the gold across the Atlantic, only Bra-Kar was lost during the war; it was set ablaze and damaged beyond repair during an air raid in Liverpool 1941". Again, Bomma's war voyages are listed on the documents received from the National Archives of Norway - follow the links provided further up on this page. As can be seen when going to Page 10, she made several voyages to Norway in the course of 1945.
Sold in 1966 to Ansea, Oslo. Related external links: Stavern Memorial commemoration - This man, Jens Lauritz Jensen died on June 8-1942, exact cause is not given. Lillesand Sjømannsforening's website (Lillesand Seamen's Association) has another picture of this ship, along with pictures of several other Norwegian ships. Back to Bomma on the "Ships starting with B" page. Other ships named Bomma: The company had previously had another ship by this name, built 1920, purchased in 1923, sold in 1938 - see D/S Molla. A 3rd Bomma was built in Trondheim in 1970, sold in 1980 to Hafship, Reykjavik and renamed Sela. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Fred. Olsen & Co. fleet list, and misc. - ref My sources.
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