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M/T Buesten To Buesten on the "Ships starting with B" page.
See also this external site for another picture, as well as some more technical details on the ship. More pictures are available on this external page (click in them to enlarge). Owner: Tønsbergs Rederi-A/S Built by Barclay Curle & Co., Glasgow (616) in 1927. Captain: Otto Arnfred Farstad. Related items on this website: Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives: Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.
(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.
Buesten is listed in Convoy OG 17* in Febr.-1940. As mentioned in the table above, this was a combination of Convoy OB 85 and OA 85, which formed OG 17 at sea on Febr. 6. I'm not sure whether Buesten had started out from the U.K. alone, or whether she had been part of the OA convoy or the OB convoy. Her destination was Constanza, where she arrived independently, but date is not given. She headed back to the U.K. with Convoy HGF 22 from Gibraltar on March 9, arriving Liverpool on March 18. At the end of that month she shows up, together with the Norwegian Belinda, in Convoy OB 119, departing Liverpool on March 29. Her destination is given as Constanza again, station 52, but it looks like she headed to Milford Haven, later joining the next convoy from there a few days later, OB 120. This convoy also joined up with an OA convoy of the same number, forming the Gibraltar bound Convoy OG 24* on Apr. 3. Her destination is still given as Constanza, but a French visitor to my website has told me that she was seized off Algiers by French patrol boats on Apr. 10 (the day after the German invasion of Norway), and ordered to Oran, where she arrived on Apr. 11. Later released. According to Page 1, she proceeded to Malta on Apr. 12. (The external website that I've linked to within the table above has more on the OB and OA convoys; as will be seen, the Norwegian Augvald is also included in OB 120). The following month we find her in station 44 of Convoy HG 29, which left Gibraltar on May 7 and arrived Liverpool on the 17th. Buesten, however, was bound for Swansea and according to the Commodore's notes, she left the convoy for her destination on May 15 (see my page about HG 29). The Norwegian Katy and Finnanger are also listed. At the end of that month she shows up in Convoy OB 158, originating in Liverpool on May 30. This convoy joined up with Convoy OA 158 on June 2, forming the Gibraltar bound convoy OG 32F*, which arrived there on June 7, but Buesten (in station 56) was bound for Aruba, where she arrived independently on June 20 (Page 1), having detached from the convoy on June 5. The Norwegian Abraham Lincoln, Kosmos II and Thorshavn are also named.
From Aruba, she headed to Bermuda already on June 21, then went back to the U.K. again in Convoy HX 54, which originated in Halifax on June 29, but Buesten joined with the Bermuda section on July 3, having left Bermuda on June 28. Her destination is given as Foynes, where she arrived July 18. (The Norwegian Janna was also intended for this convoy, but could not find it and was torpedoed and sunk on July 11 - follow the link for details). She now made a voyage to Kingston, Jamaica, again see Page 1 - according to A. Hauge, this voyage was made independently. From Kingston, she proceeded to Galveston, then on to Bermuda in order to join the Bermuda portion of Convoy HX 69 on Aug. 27. She had a cargo of benzine, and arrived Greenock on Sept. 11. Together with Abraham Lincoln and Harpefjell, she subsequently joined Convoy OB 219, originating in Liverpool on Sept. 25, dispersed on the 30th; Buesten's destination is given as New Orleans on that occasion and she arrived there on Oct. 19 (having sailed from Clyde Sept. 25). She was scheduled to return to the U.K. with the Bermuda portion of Convoy HX 85 on Oct. 28 (having previously made an independent voyage from Baton Rouge to Bermuda), but did not sail. There's a note in my document for this convoy indicating that she was to sail in the next convoy, HX 86. The Bermuda convoy, BHX 86, left on Nov. 3, but returned on Nov. 5, however, Buesten failed to return when the convoy was ordered to do so. From the archive document, we learn that she arrived Oban on Nov. 21, so it looks like she made this voyage independently. From Oban, she proceeded to Leith on Nov. 22, with arrival Dec. 8 (via Methil Roads and Grangemouth), remaining there for several weeks (Page 1 and Page 2).
At the end of Jan.-1941 we find her in Convoy OB 279, which originated in Liverpool on Jan. 28 and dispersed Febr. 2 (link in Voyage Record), Buesten arriving Galveston independently on Febr. 25 - she had started out from Loch Ewe on Jan. 30 - see Page 2. A. Hague has also included Beduin, Kristianiafjord, Madrono, Norefjord, President de Vogue and Solsten in this convoy. (Braganza and Sandar were scheduled, but did not sail). From Galveston, Buesten proceeded to Baytown a few days later, with arrival there on Febr. 28. More information on all the other Norwegian ships named here can be found via the alphabet index at the end of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index.
In Baytown, Texas Buesten had loaded a cargo of kerosene in the forward tanks, benzine in the aft tanks on March 1-1941, about 7200 tons in all. The next day she proceeded to Bermuda, then on to Halifax, where she arrived on March 15 - again, see Page 2. She subsequently joined Convoy HX 115, which departed Halifax for the U.K. on March 17. She stopped briefly at Belfast Lough on Apr. 2, joining Convoy BB 3 the next day, and arrived Plymouth on Apr. 7. According to a report re. an aircraft attack on Convoy BB 3, which has been added to my page about HX 115, she had detached from the BB convoy on Apr. 5. In the evening of April 9 she's said to have been in a coastal convoy from Dartmouth for Southampton when the convoy was attacked by German He 111 aircraft (see also D/S Bjørnvik), but A. Hague states she was on an independent voyage at the time, having left Plymouth that same day. Note that Page 2 says she had sailed from Plymouth to Dartmouth on the 9th, leaving Dartmouth again the same day. Buesten defended herself with her 4 machine guns, and the aircraft attacking her with gun fire as well as bombs had no hits. She was attacked several times and when 5 naut. miles off Berry Head a bomb eventually hit in the after deck, immediately setting her on fire (51 21 07N 03 24 11W). 19 Norwegians, 1 Danish, 1 Maltese and 7 British died on the after deck which was quickly engulfed in flames.
In spite of the flames starting to reach the boat deck, 7 managed to get the motorboat amidships launched and away from the ship and the burning sea around it. They were picked up by the escort an hour later and taken to Dartmouth the next morning. The steward and the 2nd mate were injured, but not seriously. Captain Farstad, who survived this attack, was killed just a week later during an air attack on London on Apr. 16. He's buried in London (Norwegian Cemetery). The maritime hearings were held in London on Apr. 19-1941 with the 1st mate, the 2nd mate, the 3rd mate and the ordinary seaman appearing. As mentioned, the captain had lost his life 3 days before. (The wreck was shelled and sunk the next day, according to "Nortraships flåte").
Related external link: Back to Buesten on the "Ships starting with B" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I (Norwegian Maritime Museum), and misc. others for cross checking info. - ref My sources.
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