D/S Far
Updated Aug. 3-2011

To Far on the "Ships starting with F" page.

Pre war picture, when named Ravnefjell, taken at Camden NJ in Aug.-1937 - received from Phil Cohen.

Far in Boston, U.S.A., 1938.
Received from the daughter of 1st Mate Reimert Pedersen
Here's her posting to my Ship Forum, she's interested in obtaining more information. This external page has information on some of the ships he served on.

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

Voyage Record From Febr.-1941 to June-1945:

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each (where the "Convoy" column is left blank, it means that convoy is not known).

Errors may exist, and several voyages are missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1941	Febr. 8	New York City	Hampton Roads	Febr. 9	Independent	A. Hague says: Previously traded N & S America. Earlier voyages, Page 1
	Febr. 11	Hampton Roads	St. Thomas	–	Independent	Page 1 gives arrival Febr. 17
	Febr. 17	St. Thomas	Pernambuco	March 3	Independent	–
	March 3	Pernambuco	Capetown	March 23	Independent	–
	March 27	Capetown	Port Elizabeth	March 30	Independent	–
	Apr. 1	Port Elizabeth	Durban	Apr. 4	Independent	–
	Apr. 10	Durban	Aden	Apr. 26	Independent	–
	Apr. 27	Aden	Suez	May 3	Independent	Missing movements, Page 2
	May 17	Port Said	Alexandria	May 18	Independent	–
	May 31*	Alexandria	Port Said	June 1	Independent	*Page 2 gives departure May 21 (left Port Said June 2)
	June 3	Suez	Aden	June 9	Independent	–
	June 13	Aden	Mombasa	–	Independent	–
	June 26	Mombasa	Durban	July 7	Independent	–
	July 11	Durban	Pernambuco	Aug. 3	Independent	–
	Aug. 5	Pernambuco	St. Thomas	Aug. 17	Independent	–
	Aug. 18	St. Thomas	Boston	Aug. 27	Independent	–
	Aug. 28	Boston	New York City	Aug. 30	Independent	–
	Oct. 28	New York City	Newcastle, N.B.	Nov. 2	Independent	–
	Nov. 8	Newcastle, N.B.	Sydney, C.B.	Nov. 10	Independent	–
	Nov. 16	Sydney, C.B.	Liverpool	Dec. 5	SC 55	See also narrative below. Missing voyages, Page 2
	Dec. 16	Liverpool	Holyhead	Dec. 16	Independent	–
	Dec. 17	Holyhead	Swansea	Dec. 18	BB 112	Convoy available at BB convoys (external link)
	Dec. 24	Swansea	Milford Haven	Dec. 25	Independent	–
	Dec. 26	Milford Haven	–	–	ON 51	For San Domingo. Dispersed Jan. 11. Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
1942	Jan. 11	Dispersesd from ON 51	Hampton Roads	Jan. 20	Independent	–
	Jan. 25	Hampton Roads	Macoris	Febr. 4	Independent	–
	Febr. 11	Macoris	Tampa	Febr. 17	Independent	–
	March 7	Tampa	Charleston, SC	March 11	Independent	–
	March 12	Charleston, SC	Halifax	–	Independent	–
	March 24	Halifax	Loch Ewe	Apr. 10	SC 76	–
	Apr. 13	Loch Ewe	Methil	Apr. 14	WN 269	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	Apr. 15	Methil	Ipswich	Apr. 17	FS 777	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link) See also Page 3
	Apr. 23	Harwich	Tyne	Apr. 25	FN 690	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	June 26	Tyne	Methil	June 27	FN 744	Convoy available at link above
	June 27	Methil	Loch Ewe	June 29	EN 103	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	June 30	Loch Ewe	Boston*	July 18	ON 108	For Sydney C.B. Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	*Convoy ON 108 did arrive Boston on July 18, but Far arrived Halifax July 15 - see Page 3.
	July 18	Halifax	Compton	July 21	HS 31	Convoy available at HS convoys (external link)
	July 31	Compton	Sydney, C.B.	Aug. 2	Independent	–
	Aug. 5	Sydney, C.B.	Loch Ewe	Aug. 19	SC 95	–
	Aug. 19	Loch Ewe	Methil	Aug. 21	WN 325	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	Aug. 22	Methil	Southend	Aug. 24	FS 888	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link) Again, see also Page 3
	Aug. 31	Southend	Methil	Sept. 2	FN 801	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 2	Methil	Loch Ewe	Sept. 4	EN 132	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 5	Loch Ewe	Halifax	Sept. 21	ON 128	For St. John, N.B.
	Sept. 30	Halifax	St. John, N.B.	Oct. 2	HF 4	Convoy available at HF convoys (external link)
	Oct. 8	St. John, N.B.	Halifax	Oct. 9	FH 5	Convoy available at FH convoys (external link)
	Oct. 15	Halifax	Belfast Lough	Nov. 1	SC 105	Convoy will be added. See ships in SC convoys
	Nov. 4	Belfast Lough	Holyhead	Nov. 5	Independent	–
	Nov. 5	Holyhead	Bristol	Nov. 6	HM 58	Convoy available at HM 58 (external link)
	Nov. 15	Bristol	Swansea	Nov. 16	Independent	–
	Nov. 21	Swansea	Milford Haven	Nov. 21	Independent	–
	Nov. 22	Milford Haven	New York City	Dec. 13	ON 148	Via Belfast Lough (Page 3). For Boston. Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Dec. 15	New York City	Boston	Dec. 17	Independent	–
	Dec. 30	Boston	New York City	Dec. 31	Independent	–
1943	Jan. 7	New York City	Gitmo	Jan. 14	NG 335	Convoy available at NG convoys (external link)
	Jan. 14	Gitmo	Trinidad	Jan. 20	GAT 37	Convoy available at GAT convoys (external link)
	Jan. 30	Trinidad	Paramaribo	Febr. 2	Independent	–
	Febr. 7	Paramaribo	Trinidad	Febr. 9	Independent	–
	Febr. 18	Trinidad	Paramaribo	Febr. 21	Independent	–
	Febr. 24	Paramaribo	Trinidad	March* 26	Independent	*Should be Febr. 26 (Page 4)
	March 4	Trinidad	Paramaribo	March 7	Independent	–
	March 9	Paramaribo	Trinidad	March 4*	Independent	*Should be March 12
	March 16	Trinidad	Demerara	March 18	Independent	–
	March 31	Demerara	Trinidad	Apr. 1	Independent	–
	Apr. 9	Trinidad	Gitmo	Apr. 14	TAG 53	Convoy available at TAG convoys (external link)
	Apr. 15	Gitmo	Mobile	Apr. 21	–	–
	May 24	Key West	Matanzas	May 24	Independent	–
	May 27	Matanzas	Pilottown	May 27	Independent	Via Key West (left Key West May 27 - Page 4).
	June 6	S W passage	Key West	June 8	HK 190	S W passage to Key West. Convoy available at HK convoys (external link)
	June 8	Key West	Puerto Padre	June 10	KG 638	Convoy available at KG convoys (external link) Left Puerto Padre June 14 (Page 4).
	June 18	Gitmo	New York City	June 24	GN 66	Convoy available at GN convoys (external link)
	Aug. 2	New York City	Boston	–	Independent	–
	Aug. 5	Boston	Halifax	Aug. 7	BX 67	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	Aug. 10	Halifax	Nelson, N.B.	Aug. 12	HS 101	Convoy available at HS convoys (external link)
	Aug. 24	Chatham, N.B.	Sydney, C.B.	–	Independent	–
	Aug. 25	Sydney, C.B.	Louisburg	Aug. 25	SH 99	Convoy available at SH convoys (external link)
	Aug. 26	Louisburg	Halifax	Aug. 27	SH 99	Link above
	Sept. 3	Halifax	Loch Ewe	Sept. 16	SC 141	–
	Sept. 17	Loch Ewe	Methil	Sept. 19	WN 481	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 19	Methil	Hartlepool	Sept. 21	FS 1225	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 22	Hartlepool	Blyth	Oct. 22	–	–
	Oct. 26	Blyth	Methil	Oct. 27	FN 1161	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	Oct. 27	Methil	Oban	Oct. 30	EN 299	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 5	Liverpool*	–	–	OS 58/KMS 32	For Sicily. *From Oban (Page 4) Convoy split Nov. 18. Available at OS 58/KMS 32 (external link)
	Nov. 18	Convoy split	Passed Gibraltar	Nov. 19	KMS 32	For Augusta. Convoy will be added. See ships in KMS convoys
	Nov. 19	Passed Gibraltar	Catania	Nov. 25	KMS 32	For Augusta. See link above
	Dec. 14	Catania	Augusta	Dec. 14	Independent	–
	Dec. 17	Augusta	Brindisi	Dec. 19	AH 13	Convoy available at AH convoys (external link)
1944	Jan. 2	Brindisi	Augusta	Jan. 4	HA 15A	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link) See also Page 4
	Jan. 5	Augusta	Bizerta	Jan. 8	MKS 36	Augusta to Bizerta
	Jan. 12	Bizerta	Algiers	Jan. 14	GUS 27	Bizerta to Algiers. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Jan. 30	Algiers	Augusta	Febr. 3	KMS 39	Algiers to Augusta. Convoy will be added. See ships in KMS convoys
	Febr. 9	Augusta	Bari	Febr. 11	AH 23A	Convoy available at AH convoys (external link)
	Febr. 18	Bari	Augusta	Febr. 20	HA 25	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link)
	Febr. 22*	Augusta	Bizerta	Febr. 22	–	*Page 5 gives departure Febr. 20
	Febr. 26	Bizerta	Bone	Febr. 27	MKS 41	Bizerta to Bone. Convoy will be added. See ships in MKS convoys
	March 9	Bone	Augusta	March 12	KMS 43	Bone to Augusta. Convoy will be added. See ships in KMS convoys
	March 12	Augusta	Barletta	March 15	–	–
	March 25	Barletta	Brindisi	March 25	–	–
	March 29	Brindisi	Augusta	March 31	HA 33	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link)
	March 31	Augusta	Bone	Apr. 3	GUS 35	Augusta to Bone. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 12	Bone	Augusta	Apr. 15	UGS 37	Bone to Augusta. Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 17	Augusta	Torre Annunzio	Apr. 18	VN 34	Convoy available at VN convoys (external link) See also Page 5
	Apr. 23	Torre Annunziata	Naples	–	–	–
	Apr. 28	Naples	Augusta	Apr. 29	NV 35	Convoy available at NV convoys (external link) This stop at Naples not mentioned, Page 5
	Apr. 29	Augusta	Algiers	May 3	GUS 38	Augusta to Algiers. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	May 17	Algiers	Augusta	May 21	KMS 50	Algiers to Augusta. Convoy will be added. See ships in KMS convoys
	May 22	Augusta	Naples	May 23	VN 41	Convoy available at VN convoys (external link)
	June 9	Naples	Reggio	June 10	NV 44	Convoy available at NV convoys (external link)
	June 16	Reggio	Augusta	June 17	–	–
	June 19	Augusta	Malta	June 20	–	–
	June 27	Malta	Augusta	–	–	–
	June 30*	Augusta	Brindisi	July 2	AH 52	Convoy available at AH convoys (external link) *Page 5 gives departure June 28
	July 9	Brindisi	Barletta	July 9	–	Missing voyages? (Page 5).
	July 28	Barletta	Ancona	July 29	Escorted	–
	Aug. 7	Ancona	Bari	Aug. 11	Escorted	Left Bari Aug. 17 (Page 5).
	Aug. 18*	Naples	Piombino	Aug. 29	–	–
	*Departure date should probably be Aug. 28, and voyage belongs further down in the record - inserted there, see also Page 5
	Aug. 20	Brindisi	Augusta	Aug. 23	Escorted	–
	Aug. 25	Augusta	Naples	Aug. 27	–	–
*	Aug. 28	Naples	Piombino	Aug. 29	–	–
	*Voyage taken from above and departure date changed.
	Sept. 3	Piombino	Naples	Sept. 4	Escorted	–
	Sept. 15	Naples	Oran	Sept. 21	–	–
	Oct. 12	Oran	Bizerta	Oct. 15	KMS 65	Oran to Bizerta. Convoy will be added. See ships in KMS convoys
	Oct. 18	Bizerta	Cagliari	Oct. 19	TC 42	Convoy available at TC convoys (external link)
	Oct. 27	Cagliari	Naples	Nov. 23	–	Voyage data unknown.
	Dec. 20	Naples	Augusta	Dec. 21	Independent	–
	Dec. 26	Augusta	Brindisi	Dec. 28	Independent	–
	Dec. 30	Brindisi	Ancona	Jan. 3-1945	Escorted	–
1945	Jan. 16	Ancona	Malta	Jan. 20	HA 1/2	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link)
	Jan. 23	Malta	Sfax	–	Independent	–
	Jan. 31	Sfax	Augusta	Febr. 1	Independent	–
	Febr. 1	Augusta	Crotone	Febr. 2	Independent	–
	Febr. 27	Crotone	Augusta	Febr. 28	Independent	–
	March 1	Augusta	Crotone	March 2	Independent	A. Hague says: Via Naples
?	March 2	Crotone	Naples	–	Independent	Compare w/Page 6
	March 16	Naples	Augusta	March 17	Independent	–
	March 18	Augusta	Brindisi	March 19	Independent	–
	March 21	Brindisi	Ancona	March 23	AH 22/2	Convoy available at AH convoys (external link)
	March 29	Ancona	Bari	March 30	HA 24/2	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link)
	Apr. 9	Barletta	Ancona	Apr. 10	AH 28/2	Convoy available at AH convoys (external link)
	Apr. 15	Ancona	Barletta	Apr. 16	HA 29A	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link)
	Apr. 23	Barletta	Piraeus	Apr. 29	Independent	See also Page 6
	May 15	Piraeus	Bari	May 18	Independent	–
	May 19	Bari	Taranto	May 20	Independent	–
	May 24	Taranto	Bari	May 25	Independent	–
	June 1	Bari	Ancona	June 2	Independent	–
	June 4	Ancona	Venice	June 5	AV 3	Convoy available at AV 3 (external link)
	June 10	Venice	Ancona*	June 11	VA 4A	Convoy available at VA 4A (external link) *Compare w/Page 6 Further voyages, Page 7

Misc. Convoy Voyages:

For information on voyages made prior to and in between those discussed here, please go to the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the convoy links provided for more details on them; several Norwegian ships took part.

Her 1940 voyages are shown on Page 1 of the archive documents. This document also has a few 1941 voyages, which continue on Page 2.

Far was scheduled for the slow Sydney, C.B.-U.K. Convoy SC 54 on Nov. 10-1941 but instead joined SC 55 on Nov. 16, pulp wood for Manchester, where she arrived on Dec. 7. Later that month, she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 51*, which originated in Liverpool on Dec. 27 and dispersed Jan. 11. Far joined from Milford Haven and arrived Hampton Roads on Jan. 20-1942, proceeding to Macoris a few days later (Page 2). Beth, Carrier (returned), Fjordheim, Ingerfire and Sirehei are also listed.

She headed back to the U.K. again on March 24-1942 with Convoy SC 76 from Halifax, cargo of phosphates for Ipswich, with arrival there, via Loch Ewe and Methil Roads, on Apr. 17. It'll be noticed, when going to Page 3, that she subsequently spent a lot of time at Tyne, where she had arrived from Harwich on Apr. 25. Departure is given as June 26 - the reason for this long stay is not known. We now find her in the westbound Convoy ON 108*, together with Don, Inger Lise, Senta, Star, Grado, Iron Baron, Lido, Ramø, Selbo and Sneland I. ON 108 originated in Liverpool on June 30; Far sailed from Loch Ewe that day and arrived Halifax on July 15. On Aug. 5, she joined the Sydney, C.B. portion of the slow Convoy SC 95, cargo of lumber for London. The following month, she's listed in station 32 of the westbound Convoy ON 128, Far arriving Halifax on Sept. 21. The Commodore's narrative is also available for this convoy.

According to Arnold Hague, she returned to the U.K. with the Halifax portion of Convoy SC 105 on Oct. 15 (convoy originated in New York on Oct. 11). This convoy is not yet available among the SC convoys included on my website, but will be added - see ships in all SC convoys. The Norwegian Bonde, Don, Herma, Kirsten B (to St. John's, N.F.), Norelg, Polarland (also to St. John's, N.F.) and Ramø are also named. Far had a cargo of grain and lumber, and sailed in station 102. She later joined the westbound Convoy ON 148*, which originated in Liverpool on Nov. 23 and arrived New York Dec. 13. She was again in the company of other Norwegian ships, namely Don, Inger Lise, Ramø and Solsten (Ramø returned to port, Herma joined from Iceland later, while Ada joined from Halifax). Far, in station 11 of the convoy, was bound for Boston, where she arrived on Dec. 17. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 3 and Page 4, with convoy info for some of them in the Voyage Record above.

Skipping now to Sept. 3-1943, when she's listed in station 55 of the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 141, cargo of lumber for West Hartlepool. In Nov.-1943, she shows up, with Hjalmar Wessel, Ledaal, Ragnhild and Roald Amundsen, in Convoy OS 58/KMS 32 (see external link provided in the table above), voyaging from Oban to Sicily with coal in station 23. This convoy started out in Liverpool on Nov. 5 and split up on the 18th, with the KMS portion* heading to Gibraltar, while the OS convoy continued to Freetown. Far arrived Catania on Nov. 25, having sailed from Oban on the 6th.

In Jan.-1944, she made a voyage from Augusta (Jan. 5) to Bizerta (Jan 8) with Convoy MKS 36, and later that month she's listed as bound for Augusta in Convoy KMS 39*. She had left Algiers on Jan. 30 and arrived her destination on Febr. 3. Grena, Ingertre, Loke, Selvik, Slemmestad and Star are also listed. On Febr. 26, she left Bizerta for Bone, joining Convoy MKS 41*, and arrived Bone the next day, leaving Bone again on March 9, joining Convoy KMS 43*, arriving Augusta on the 12th. Both these convoys also had other Norwegian ships, namely Frontenac, Høegh Hood, Kaia Knudsen, Norvarg and Star in MKS 41 (convoy departed Port Said Febr. 19, arrived Gibraltar March 2), and Astra, Atle Jarl, Boreas, Liss and Star in KMS 43 (convoy sailed from Gibraltar March 6, to Port Said March 16). Far's voyages in this period are shown on Page 5; convoy info for some of her subsequent voyages is available in the Voyage Record above. In May that year, she made a voyage from Algiers to Augusta with Convoy KMS 50* (she left Algiers May 17 and arrived Augusta May 21). Boreas, Cetus, Liss, Polarsol, Snar, Thorshavn and Tijuca are also named (convoy left Gibraltar May 15 and arrived Port Said May 25).

Far was loading ammunition at Barletta, Italy some time in May(?)-1944 (did this take place in July? - again, see Page 5 above) when an explosion occurred in one of the cases of ammunition, but the crew, lead by the captain, the 1st and 3rd mates as well as a British lieutenant Terry were able to extinguish the resulting fire before further explosions occurred, thereby saving not only the ship, but the city from destruction (I also found this incident described on this external page). 2 other ships with the same kind of cargo were right behind Far, so the situation was quite dramatic for a while. The ruined cargo was then unloaded and new ammunition taken on board, before she continued to Ancona, which was in ruins at the time. After having unloaded there for 2 days she moved further out, and shortly afterwards a diver found a magnetic mine in the spot were Far had been discharging her cargo.

In Oct.-1944, she's listed as sailing in Convoy KMS 65*, voyaging from Oran (Oct. 12) to Bizerta (Oct. 15) - again, see Page 5. Facto is also included (convoy departed Gibraltar Oct. 11 and arrived Port Said Oct. 21).

According to an article I have found, Far was at Bari in the fall of 1944(?) unloading (loading?) ammunition. A Liberty ship was next to her unloading bombs. Far missed the convoy she was scheduled to leave with, but the captain decided to try to catch up with it instead of waiting for the next convoy. About 4 n. miles out she was shaken by an enormous explosion occurring in Bari harbour; those who were below decks thought they had had an explosion on board. It turned out the Liberty ship had exploded, with the loss of her 80 crew as well as several hundred other lives, and again Far had narrowly avoided disaster. I'm a little suspicious here and wonder if the dates and events have become somewhat confused, so that what happend at Bari during the aircraft attack at the beginning of Dec.-1943, when the Liberty ship S/S John Harvey blew up (see my text for Bollsta), has been mixed up with the events of the spring of 1945 when the ammunition ship S/S Charles Henderson exploded during the unloading of cargo (D/S Knoll was set on fire at that time, follow the link for more). I don't know enough about the Liberty ships to confirm whether a separate incident did occur at Bari in the fall of 1944, as stated in this article, but I believe this incident has to do with Charles Henderson, because Far was indeed in Bari around this time.

She continued in the supply service in the Mediterranean until Nov.-1945. As will be seen when going to Page 6, she got to go home to Norway the following month, in fact, it looks as though Christmas may have been celebrated at home that year(?) - see also Page 7.

POST WAR:

Ran aground off Flekkefjord on Jan. 8-1950, and broke up during a storm, when on a voyage from the Tyne to Copenhagen. No casualties.

Back to Far on the "Ships starting with F" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, article in "Krigsseileren", Issue No. 2 for 1988, written by Søren Brandsnes, and misc. (ref. My sources).