M/T Bramora - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/T Bramora
Updated May 1-2011

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

Received from, and painted by, Jan Goedhart, Holland.

Source: Bjørn Pedersen's collection.
Another picture is available on this external page (click in it to enlarge).

Owner: A/S Bramora
Manager: Ludv. G. Braathen, Oslo
Tonnage: 6361 gt, 9560 tdwt.
Call Sign: LCTE.

Built by Eriksbergs Mekaniske Verkstads A/B, Gothenburg, Sweden in 1928. I've been told, via E-mail from Jan Goedhart, Holland (who in turn received the information from the Swedish Maritime Museum) that she had the name Markland when built (Skibs-A/S Markland, Bergen), and was renamed Bramora when purchased by A/S Bramora (Ludv. G. Braathen), Oslo at the end of 1936. See also the external page that I've linked to above. (This earlier name is not mentioned by R.W. Jordan's "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939).

Captain: Magnus Haaheim

Related item on this website:
Guestbook message - From a relative of one of Bramora's casualties, Kenneth Brown.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3

Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.

Voyage Record
From June-1941 to Sept.-1943:

(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 several voyages are missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1941	June 8	Melbourne	Palembang	June 25	Independent	A. Hague says: Previously Persian Gulf/D.E.Indies/Australasia Earlier voyages, Page 1
	June 28	Palembang	Singapore	June 30	Independent	Notional sailing date
	July 1	Singapore	Melbourne	July 19	Independent	–
	July 25	Melbourne	Palembang	Aug. 12	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Palembang	Singapore	Aug. 15	Independent	Notional sailing date
	Aug. 16	Singapore	Adelaide	Sept. 2	Independent	–
	Sept. 7	Port Lincoln	Palembang	Sept. 22	Independent	Page 1 gives departure Adelaide Sept. 5.
	Sept. 23	Palembang	Singapore	Sept. 25	Independent	Notional sailing date
	Sept. 29	Singapore	Melbourne	Oct. 17	Independent	–
	Oct. 24	Melbourne	Palembang	Nov. 9	Independent	–
	Nov. 10	Palembang	Singapore	Nov. 12	Independent	Notional sailing date
	Nov. 13	Singapore	Adelaide	Dec. 1	Independent	–
	Dec. 3	Adelaide	Port Pirie	Dec. 4	Independent	–
	Dec. 5	Port Pirie	Abadan	Jan. 5-1942	Independent	–
1942	Jan. 7	Abadan	Bahrein	Jan. 9	Independent	–
	Jan. 10	Bahrein	Melbourne	Febr. 13	Independent	–
	Apr. 5	Melbourne	Abadan	May 6	Independent	–
	May 8	Abadan	Aden	May 18	Independent	–
	May 19	Aden	Port Sudan	May 22	Independent	–
	May 23	Port Sudan	Suez	May 27	Independent	–
	May 30	Suez	Abadan	June 13	Independent	–
	June 15	Abadan	Aden	June 25	Independent	–
	June 26	Aden	Port Sudan	June 29	Independent	–
	July 1	Port Sudan	Suez	July 5	Independent	To Port Said July 16 (Page 2).
	July 21	Port Said	Haifa	July 22	Independent	–
	Aug. 2	Haifa	Beirut	Aug. 3	Independent	–
	Aug. 6	Beirut	Haifa	–	Independent	Page 2 gives arrival Aug. 7
	Aug. 11	Haifa	Beirut	Aug. 11	Independent	–
	Aug. 15	Beirut	Haifa	Aug. 16	Independent	–
	Aug. 23	Haifa	Port Said	Aug. 24	Independent	To Suez Aug. 25 (Page 2).
	Sept. 2	Suez	Abadan	Sept. 18	Independent	–
	Sept. 20	Abadan	Lourenço Marques	Oct. 17	Independent	–
	Oct. 27	Lourenço Marques	Bahrein	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 20*	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	*Page 2 gives departure Nov. 18
	Nov. 22	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	Nov. 29	PB 13	Convoy available at PB 13 (external link)
1943	Febr. 3	Bombay	Bandar Abbas	–	BP 67A	A. Hague says: May have been BP 67B. Convoys available at BP 67A and BP 67B (external links)
	Febr. 8	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Febr. 10	Independent	Notional sailing date (stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2).
	March 1	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	March 9	Bandar Abbas	Aden	March 15	PA 28	Convoy available at PA 28 (external link)
	March 16	Aden	Suez	March 22	Independent	–
	March 27	Suez	Aden	Apr. 2	Independent	–
	Apr. 2	Aden	Bandar Abbas	Apr. 8	AP 27	Convoy available at AP 27 (external link)
	Apr. 8	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Apr. 10	Independent	(Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2).
	Apr. 13	Abadan	Durban	May 13	Independent	–
	May 19	Durban	–	–	DN 40	Dispersed May 21. Convoy available at DN 40 (external link)
	May 21	Dispersed from DN 40	Beira	May 27	Independent	–
	May 31	Beira	Durban	June 7	Independent	Notional sailing date
	Aug. 6	Durban	–	–	DN 55	Dispersed Aug. 9. Convoy available at DN 55 (external link)
	Aug. 9	Dispersed from DN 55	Bahrein	Aug. 30	Independent	–
	Sept. 3	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Sept. 6	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PA 52	Detached Sept. 8. Convoy available at PA 52 (external link)
	Sept. 8	Detached from PA 52	–	–	Independent	Sunk - See "Final Fate" below (also, Page 3).

Notes:

According to Page 1 of the archive documents, Bramora was in Melbourne when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. Her 1941 voyages also start on this document, while Page 2 shows her 1942 voyages and 1943 voyages. It'll be noticed that she had some long stays in Melbourne. She had arrived there from Bahrein on Sept. 20-1940; departure is given as Febr. 20-1941, when she proceeded to Palembang. She also spent quite a long time in Melbourne in 1942, having arrived on Febr. 13, departing again for Abadan on Apr. 5. At the end of that year, she spent a long time in Bombay, where she had arrived Nov. 29-1942. She did not leave until Febr. 3-1943. Also, she spent 2 months in Durban in the summer of 1943 - the reason for these long stays is unknown.

For info, the following Norwegian ships are also listed in the above mentioned Convoys:
In Convoy PB 13 - Havkong.
In Convoy BP 67A - Europe.
In Convoy BP 67B - Belpareil and Bust.
In Convoy PA 28 - Ima, Peik and Storaas.
In Convoy DN 40 - Tricolor.

For more information on them, please see the alphabet index at the end of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Final Fate - 1943:

Bramora disappeared in Sept.-1943, when on a voyage from Bandar Abbas with oil for Melbourne, having left Bandar Abbas on Sept. 6 - see Page 3. According to A. Hague, she had joined Convoy PA 52, but had been detached on Sept. 8.

She's believed to have been torpedoed southwest of the Chagos islands on Sept. 14, 06 10N 67 37E, by the same Japanese submarine that had attacked Alcides in July that year, namely I-10 (Tonozuka) - follow the link for details. Another war crime is suspected in this case (most of the men from Alcides had been shot).

D/S Storviken was the next Norwegian victim of I-10. See also Anna Knudsen.

Crew List - No Survivors:

Casualties
† Captain Magnus Haaheim	† 1st Mate James Jørgensen*	† 2nd Mate Julius Sollie	† 3rd Mate Tjøstolv Espeland	† Radio Operator Harry Mortensen	† Carpenter Hans Hansen
† Boatswain Eugen Skogen	† Able Seaman Andreas Larsen	† Able Seaman Harald Høsteland	† Able Seaman Randulf Asbjørnsen	† Able Seaman Robert Gordon* (British)	† Ordinary Seaman Thor Andersen
† Ordinary Seaman Erling Jørgensen	† Ordinary Seaman John Heffernan* (Australian)	† Ordinary Seaman David Lloyd Ross* (British)	† Deck Boy Albert John Summerheyes* (British)	† 1st Engineer Berent Krzywinski	† 2nd Engineer Lars Lunde
† 3rd Engineer Tønnes Vigre	† Assistant Sigfred Olsen	† Electrician Hans Nilsen	† Mechanic Bjarne Lien	† Pump Man Åge Petersen (Danish)	† Oiler Kenneth Brown* (South African)
† Oiler Edward Williams* (British)	† Oiler George White* (British)	† Steward Ludvig Ludvigsen	† Cook Einar Jansson	† 2nd Cook Reidar Johannessen	† Boy Wee Fong Han* (Chinese)
† Boy Sung Ting Pek (Chinese)	† Boy Pang Cheng (Chinese)	† Gunner Frank Jacobsen	† Gunner Olav Larsen Dreivik	† Gunner Egil Trones	† Gunner Otto Offenberg
† Gunner Harold Blanchford* (British)	† Gunner Alberto d'Annunzio* (British)	† Gunner Ronald Toyer* (British)	† Gunner George Wright* (British)