M/T Fenris
Updated Aug. 4-2011

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

Crew List

The Australian War Memorial has 2 pictures of this ship. One can be found on this page, taken in Sydney, the other is shown on this page, also in Sydney (all links are external).

Torpedoed - 1944:

Fenris had left Port Pirie on Febr. 4-1944 (Page 2). In the evening of Febr. 21, she was torpedoed amidships by U-168 (Pich), in position 08 32S 65 35E, and damaged but able to reach Bombay. According to "Nortraships flåte" the radio was damaged, but repairable so that a message could be sent. It was received by Bombay Radio which forwarded it to the high command of the British forces. It appears she was sailing as a fleet oiler, and that she was not supposed to be in that area in the first place. New orders had been sent to her a few days earlier, but obviously not received. 90' of her port side hull had been ripped away by the explosion. After she had been torpedoed she was at first ordered to Addu Atoll, but when she notified authorities that she was able to do 11 knots she continued to Bombay for repairs (comparing this to the archive document, we see that she stopped at Colombo on March 7, leaving again for Bombay on the 15th but returned to Colombo the following day. The next departure date is shown on Page 3, which says she left Colombo on Apr. 8 and arrived Bombay Apr. 13, remaining there for about 5 months - see also the Voyage Record above. (Japanese and German subs torpedoed 29 ships in the Indian Ocean in the course of the first 3 months of 1944).

Related external link:
U-168

Some later Voyages:

In the spring of 1945, A. Hague has included her in Convoy HX 347, departing New York on March 29. (Fenris had previously arrived the U.S. from Augusta at the end of Nov.-1944 - again, see Page 3 of the archive documents and Voyage Record above - it'll be noticed, that she had spent quite a long time in Baltimore). The Norwegian Brasil, Buenos Aires, Dalfonn, Lektor Garbo, Marit II, Roald Amundsen, Sophocles (Commodore Vessel), Sverre Helmersen and Thorsholm are also listed, as is the Panamanian Norlys, which had Norwegian managers and is included under the N's of this website. Fenris had station 44 of the convoy, and carried USN fuel as well as air craft, serving as escort oiler. She subsequently returned to the U.S. with Convoy ON 298, which left Southend on Apr. 21 and arrived New York on May 7. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, please scroll down to ON 298 on this page. Dalfonn, Marit II, Morgenen, Reinholt (Commodore Vessel) and Thorsholm also took part, as did Norlys. Fenris, which had joined from Clyde, arrived Hampton Roads on May 9, proceeding to New York 2 days later. According to A. Hague, she now headed back to the U.K. again on May 13 in Convoy HX 356, together with Dalfonn, Emma Bakke, Lista (Vice Commodore Ship), Sørvard, and the Panamanian Norvinn. Fenris, in station 53, again served as escort oiler. The 2 HX convoys mentioned here are not yet available among the HX convoys listed on my website, but will be added - see ships in all HX convoys.

Further voyages are shown on Page 3 and Page 4 of the archive documents.

Crew List (at time of attack) - No casualties:
* See this Guestbook message, as well as this one and this message. Here's a more recent message.
**According to this Guestbook message, Deck Boy Ronald Glen Harnden and his friend Ron Sutton were also on board, having signed on just 3 weeks before.
*A list of Olav Grøsle's ships can be found on this external page.

Captain August Clifton	1st Mate Johannes Melkevik	2nd Mate Sverre Johansen	3rd Mate Lars Kleppe	Radio Operator Aage Bjørvik	Carpenter Olav Grøsle*
Boatswain Aage Egeland	Able Seaman Monrad Dypevåg	Able Seaman Erling Holtan	Able Seaman Kåre Olsen	Able Seaman Armand Tanava (Estonian)	Able Seaman Olav Olsen
Able Seaman Olav Bygnes	Able Seaman Kåre Thingstad	Able Seaman Ivar Ruud	Able Seaman Børge Jørgensen (Danish)	Able Seaman Wilfred Gulbrandsen*	Able Seaman Frank Mathiesen
Ordinary Seaman Richard McDonald (British)	Ordinary Seaman Martin Naylor (Australian)	Ordinary Seaman Einar Nekola (Finnish)	1st Engineer Lars Dyrø	2nd Engineer Olav Skåle	3rd Engineer Gerdt E. Christensen (Danish)
4th Engineer Erling Røed	Assistant Nils O. Johansen	Electrician John P. Johansen	Repairman Ole K. Olsen	Mechanic Arvid Edvardsen	Mechanic Jacob Hauge
Mechanic Desmond Stock (British)	Mechanic Thoralf Olsen	Mechanic Anfinn Hagebø	Mechanic Asvald Warholm	Oiler Unta Koskinen (Finnish)	Steward Einar Andersen
Cook Paul Bang	2nd Cook Nils Nilsen	Mess Boy Raymond Lazarus (South African)	Mess Boy Kevin Twomey (Australian)	Gunner Rolf Hansen	Gunner Alfred Siem
Gunner Kjell Sæthre	+2 more? **

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

Norway had previously had a small steamship by this name from 1913, originally delivered in Nov.-1884 as Ituna for London & Solway S. S. Co. Ltd., London, 457 gt. When purchased by Jacob Kielland & H. O. Warloe, Trondheim in 1897 she came from owners in Grangemouth, still Ituna. From 1898 she belonged to A/S D/S Ituna (Albr. W. Selmer), Trondheim. Purchased by Ole L. Waage, Kopervik in 1907. Aground on Jan. 8-1908 on Langeland in heavy storm with snow on a voyage Hadersleben, Germany (now Haderslev)-Rostock in ballast. Condemned, then sold in 1909 to O. A. A. Hirsch, Moss, repaired and sold in 1913 as Fenris to Johan T. Østbø, Stavanger, purchased by D/S A/S Fenris (O. Emil Lea), Haugesund in June-1915, then sold in 1916 to Erik Evanger, Fosnavåg/Ålesund. Managed by Ingv. Bjørnebos Rederi, Kristiansand in the period 1917-1919, from 1919 she belonged to Skibs-A/S Crescendo (Thor Hals), Christiania. Sold in Aug.-1920 to Malta (T. Gasan) and renamed Ituna again. Struck a mine and sank on March 26-1921 near Santa Maria on a voyage Piræus-Malta via Korfu with cargo of flour. ("Våre gamle skip").

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. - ref. My sources.