Owner: A/S Ganger Rolf
Manager: Fred. Olsen & Co., Oslo
Tonnage: 3778 gt, 6900 tdwt.
Call Sign: LDGT.

Delivered in Dec.- 1928 from Akers mek. Verksted, Oslo (432), 365.5' x 51.8' x 21.9', two 6 cyl. 2T single DM (Aker) 2300 bhp.

(This picture looks like it was taken at her launching).

Voyage Record From Apr.-1940 to -Apr.-1941:

(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 some voyages are missing.

Compare Arnold Hague's information with these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
(includes voyages missing from A. Hague's records)
Page 1 | Page 2

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Apr. 19	Montevideo	Freetown	May 5	Independent	–
	May 9	Freetown	Weymouth Bay	May 24	SL 31	Convoy available at SL/MKS convoys (external link)
	June 1	Weymouth Bay	Southend	June 2	Independent	–
	June 2	Southend	Hull	June 3	FN 186	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	June 18	Humber	–	–	FN 198	Detached June 19.
	June 19	Detached from FN 198	Clyde	June 22	Independent	–
	June 27	Clyde	–	–	OB 175	For Montreal. Dispersed June 30. Convoy available at OB convoys (external link) See also narrative below
	June 30	Dispersed from OB 175	Halifax	July 10	Independent	–
	July 10	Halifax	Botwood	July 13	Independent	–
	July 17	Botwood	Hampton Roads	July 23	Independent	–
	July 23	Hampton Roads	Cristobal	July 31	Independent	–
	Aug. 1	Balboa	Los Angeles	Aug. 12	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Los Angeles	Tacoma	Aug. 18	Independent	–
	Aug. 22	Tacoma	Vancouver	Aug. 23	Independent	–
	Sept. 5	Vancouver	New Westminster	Sept. 6	Independent	–
	Sept. 6	New Westminster	Bellingham	Sept. 6	Independent	–
	Sept. 7	Bellingham	Seattle	Sept. 8	Independent	Notional sailing date
	Sept. 12	Seattle	Los Angeles	Sept. 18	Independent	–
	Sept. 20	Los Angeles	Balboa	Oct. 2	Independent	–
	Oct. 3	Cristobal	Halifax	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 16	Halifax	Liverpool	Nov. 2	HX 81	–
	Nov. 18	Liverpool	–	–	OB 245	Dispersed in 56 35N 17 38W, Nov. 22. Convoy available at OB convoys (external link)
	Nov. 22	Dispersed from OB 245	Hampton Roads	Dec. 6	Independent	–
	Dec. 10	Hampton Roads	Cristobal	Dec. 17	Independent	–
	Dec. 18	Balboa	Vancouver	Jan. 1-1941	Independent	–
1941	Jan. 24	Vancouver	New Westminster	Jan. 25	Independent	–
	Jan. 29	New Westminster	Seattle	Jan. 30	Independent	–
	Febr. 3	Tacoma	Los Angeles	Febr. 9	Independent	–
	Febr. 11	Los Angeles	Balboa	Febr. 22	Independent	–
	Febr. 23	Cristobal	Bermuda	–	Independent	–
	March 30	Bermuda	Halifax	Apr. 3	Independent	–
	Apr. 6	Halifax	Belfast	Apr. 22	HX 119A	–
	Apr. 23	Belfast	Liverpool	–	Independent	Bombed in Liverpool, sank. See "Final Fate" below

Further to the above:

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

As can be seen from the above information, Arnold Hague has included Bra-Kar, together with the Norwegian Bonneville, in Convoy SL 31, departing Freetown on May 9-1940. The following month we find her in Convoy OB 175, which originated in Liverpool on June 27-1940 and dispersed on the 30th, Bra-Kar arriving Halifax independently on July 10. This convoy also included the Norwegian Belita, Egda, Norma, Solstad, Sveve and Vestland. Bra-Kar, in station 82, had a general cargo, and her destination is given as Montreal. I don't see any arrival date for Montreal in the record, however. Note that Bra-Kar is said to have been one of the ships that transported Norway's gold to the U.S. that summer - perhaps this was the voyage on which she carried the gold? This would explain the "general cargo"; it would be unusual otherwise for a ship to carry a gargo on a westbound voyage (see Bomma for more details on the gold transports).

Later that summer and fall she made some voyages on the west coast of the U.S. and Canada, and also made a couple of voyages to Cristobal. She was scheduled to return to the U.K. in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 80 on Oct. 12-1940, but instead joined the next convoy on Oct. 16, HX 81, which arrived Liverpool on Nov. 2, cargo of lead, lumber and canned goods, station 62. She headed back to the U.S. again later that month, having joined Convoy OB 245, which left Liverpool on Nov. 18-1940 and dispersed on the 22nd, Bra-Kar arriving Hampton Roads independently on Dec. 6. Snar and Teneriffa are also listed in this convoy.

She was scheduled for Convoy HX 113 at the beginning of March-1941 (Bermuda portion), bound for Liverpool with a general cargo as well as airplanes, but did not sail. She was also cancelled from the next convoy, HX 114, but shows up again in station 84 of Convoy HX 119A, with departure Halifax on Apr. 6; destination is now given as Belfast. This turned out to be her last Trans-Atlantic convoy voyage, as will be seen below.

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

Final Fate - 1941:

Bra-Kar headed to Liverpool after having been to Belfast, and experienced the air attacks on Canada Dock on May 3-1941 (cargo of metal and canned goods). A bomb detonated on the quay 40 meters away, blowing her hatches away. Incendiary bombs caused several fires on her decks, but were extinguished before they could do serious damage. On land, flames from a burning warehouse were spreading quickly and the wind blew them towards Bra-Kar. Soon her gangway was on fire as were both the starboard lifeboats and the raft. 20 minutes after the first incendiary bombs had been dropped, several others were dropped, some falling in Bra-Kar's No. 4 and No. 5 hatches, resulting in a hole of half a meter in diameter in her No. 4 hatch.

The crew were ordered to head to the air raid shelters. About half of them got off safely, while the remaining men chose to lower the port boat, but when more bombs fell around them, 1 detonated in the after hold, blowing the men off their feet. Under constant bombardment they finally managed to get the boat on the water and away from the ship in the early morning hours of May 4. By May 7 she was still burning and eventually settled on the bottom - later declared a total loss.