Owner: R. W. Jordan's "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", gives owner as D/S A/S Forto during the war.
Manager: Leif Erichsen, Bergen
Tonnage: 1593 gt

Built at Laxevaags Maskin- & Jernskibsbyggeri, Bergen (126) as Kaparika for D/S A/S Kap (Carl Wildhagen & Co), Sandefjord. 1501/832 rt, 2400 tdw, triple exp. engine. Sold in May 1927 to Agdesidens Rederi A/S (Arnt J. Mørland), Arendal, renamed Kvernaas. Sold in Febr-1929 to D/S A/S Erica (Leif Erichsen), Bergen and renamed Erica.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10 | Page 11 | Page 12 | Page 13 | Page 14 | Page 15

Voyage Record From Jan.-1940 to May-1945:

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each (please note that some listings are incomplete).

Errors may exist, and several voyages are missing (see archive docs).

Erica is listed in Convoy HN 8 from Norway to the U.K. in Jan.-1940. Early in March, we find her in the U.K.-Norway Convoy ON 17A, and later that month (just a couple of weeks before Norway was invaded), she joined Convoy HN 21 from Norway, bound for Manchester with a cargo of pulp. Please follow the links for more info - several Norwegian ships took part.

In Aug.-1940 she's listed, together with Grey County, Inga 1, Jamaica, Nova, Sandar and Varangberg, in Convoy OB 197, which originated in Liverpool on Aug. 13 (Erica joined from Clyde) and dispersed on the 16th. Erica's destination is given as Sydney, C.B. She returned to the U.K. the following month with the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 5, cargo of lumber for Preston, where she arrived on Oct. 4, having left Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 18. In Nov.-1940, she joined Convoy OB 240, departing Liverpool on Nov. 8, dispersed on the 13th. This time, Berto, Eastern Star, Evviva, Granfoss, Iron Baron, Regin, Stargard and Trolla had been in company. No destination is given for Erica, but according to Page 1 of the documents received from the National Archives of Norway, she arrived St. John's, N.F. on Nov. 30. She headed back to the U.K. again on Dec. 15 in the slow Convoy SC 16 from Halifax, cargo of timber for King's Lynn.

In May-1941 we find her, with lumber for Portishead, in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 32, later joining Convoy OB 340 at the end of the following month, together with Corvus, Gezina, Ingerfire and Sandanger. OB 340 originated in Liverpool on June 27 (Erica joined from Milford Haven) and dispersed on July 13. Again, no destination is given for Erica, but when going to Page 2 of the archive documents, we see that she arrived Sydney, C.B. on July 15. According to Arnold Hague, she later went back to the U.K. with Convoy SC 43, which left Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 5-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 20th. This convoy is not yet available among the SC convoys included in my own convoys section (will be added), but I've linked directly to Hague's listing at the end of this page, and as will be seen, the Norwegian Astrell, Atle Jarl, Bernhard, Bjørkhaug, Bonde, Fjord, Fjordheim, Galatea, Ingerfem, Solstad, Torfinn Jarl and Vigsnes are also listed.

In Oct.-1941, she was briefly in Convoy OG 76. This was a Gibraltar bound convoy, but Erica was only bound for Holyhead, where she arrived on Oct. 27, having left Milford Haven the day before. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named on the page listing ships in all OG convoys - Blink (returned), Hildur I, Lago and Lisbeth are also included.

Skipping now to June-1943, when I have her in Convoy RU 76 from Reykjavik to the U.K., together with Nandi, Heien and Lyra, and in Sept.-1943 she sailed in Convoy RU 91, bound for Liverpool with herring meal.