Owner: A/S Kristian Jebsens Rederi
Manager: Kr. Jebsen jr., Bergen
Tonnage: 1559 gt

Built by Bergens Mekaniske Verksteder A/S, Bergen, Norway in 1930.

I've been told that the captain of this ship from May-1942 to Sept.-1942 was Leif Moen, who had previous survived the sinking of Kongsgaard. He later served as captain of Polarsol and General Ruge.

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

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

Errors may exist, and several voyages are missing.

As can be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Garnes arrived Demerara on Apr. 9-1940, the day of the German invasion of Norway. A French visitor to my website has told me that she was stopped for examination in the Caribbean sea (18 09N 64 57W) by the French cruiser Primauguet on Apr. 16(? this date does not quite match up with the voyages listed on the archive document) and ordered to Fort-de-France (French West Indies) where she arrived on Apr. 23. Released the same day provided she complied with orders from London-based operating office.

The rest of her 1940 voyages are shown on the document mentioned above (it'll be noticed that she appears to have spent a long time in Philadelphia, from May 29 to Sept. 14). Some of her 1941 voyages are also listed and continue on Page 2, which also has some early 1942 voyages.

In June-1942, she's listed as bound from Halifax to Boston in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 103*, which had started out in Liverpool on June 12 and arrived Boston on the 26th; Garnes sailed from Halifax on June 24, but her stop at Boston is not mentioned on Page 3 of the archive documents, which says she arrived New York on June 27. The Norwegian Ferncourt, Frontenac, Idefjord, Kaia Knudsen, Kong Haakon VII (Commodore Vessel), Lista, Maud, Mirlo, Noreg, Scebeli, Sommerstad, Thorshøvdi, Tijuca and Troubadour are also listed in this convoy, as is the Panamanian Norvinn, which had Norwegian managers and is, therefore, included under the N's on this website.

Garnes is also mentioned in connection with the ships leaving Halifax on Aug. 11-1942 to form Convoy SC 96 for the U.K., but does not appear to have sailed in this convoy; she's not included in the Advance Sailing Telegram for SC 96. She did, however, leave Halifax that day, but with the help of A. Hague's Voyage Record, we now learn that she did so in order to sail to Sydney, C.B., joining Convoy HS 40. Page 3 does not mention Sydney, C.B. at this time, but agrees that she later arrived St. John's, N.F. on Aug. 15. The following month, Arnold Hague has included her in Convoy ON 126, which had started out in Liverpool on Aug. 29 and arrived New York on Sept. 18. As will be seen when following the link to my already existing page about this convoy, she's not mentioned there, but my information appears to be incomplete. She was not present from the U.K., but joined the convoy from Halifax, having sailed from there on Sept. 15, and the Halifax portion is missing from the document I've used for my ON 126 page; the Commodore's notes indicate that 7 ships joined from Halifax. The archive document gives her arrival New York as Sept. 19. Other Norwegian ships were Carrier, Inger Lise, Ingerfem, Norse Lady, Rena (Commodore Vessel) and Senta.

Not long afterwards, she appears in the slow, eastbound North Atlantic Convoy SC 104*, which left New York on Oct. 3-1942 and arrived Liverpool on the 21st, but Garnes was only bound for Sydney, C.B., where she arrived on Oct. 9. This convoy lost several ships, including the Norwegian Fagersten and Senta; Bernhard, Bonde (returned), Boreas, Gudvor, Inger Lise, Ingerfem, Lido, Nea, Suderøy and Vinga also took part (not all bound for the U.K.), and Acanthus, Eglantine, Montbretia and Potentilla are named among the escorts. Ref. external links at the end of this page, as well as my page about Potentilla for more on this convoy battle.

With Acasta, Aragon, Borgholm, Dageid, Fjordheim, Harpefjell, Heimgar, Norjerv, Primo, Sir James Clark Ross, Solitaire and Tropic Star (returned), A. Hague has also included her in Convoy SC 112*, which departed New York on Dec. 4-1942 and arrived Liverpool on Dec. 25, but Garnes was only bound for St. John's, arriving there on Dec. 11.

At the beginning of 1943, we find her in station 81 of the westbound Convoy ON 160. This convoy had also started out in Liverpool (for New York) on Jan. 11, but Garnes again joined from Halifax (Febr. 1), having sailed from there on Jan. 31. She arrived New York on Febr. 5, proceeding to Boston a few days later (according to Page 3), then returned to New York. Later that month, she's mentioned in Convoy SC 121, departing New York for the U.K. on Febr. 23, but she was again only bound for St. John's and left the convoy on March 1, with arrival on March 4 - see also Page 4. This is the convoy in which the Commodore Vessel Bonneville and several others were sunk; follow the links for much more information - there's also an analysis of attacks. See also the external link at the end of this page.

That summer, she shows up (with a note saying "probably this convoy") in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ONS 12*, which originated in Liverpool on July 3-1943 and arrived Halifax on the 18th, but again, Garnes was not present from the U.K.; she joined from Sydney, C.B. (left July 16, according to A. Hague) and arrived New York July 21. Other Norwegian ships were Fana, Gausdal, Hjalmar Wessel, Iron Baron, Mui Hock, Norvarg, Para (collided, returned), Petter II, Suderøy and Tropic Star.

The rest of her voyages are shown on Page 4, Page 5, Page 6 & Page 7, while convoy information for some of them can be found in A. Hague's Voyage Record.

* The ON and ONS convoys will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, with more information on each; in the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON Convoys and on the page for ships in all ONS convoys. The entire SC series will also be completed and updated (including the already existing convoys - some have already been updated), but for now, please see ships in all SC convoys.

More information on all the other Norwegian ships mentioned on this page is available via the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Related external links:
Uboat.net's account on battle for SC 104 - the site also has info on the battle for Convoy SC 121.

Group Wotan and the Battle for Convoy SC 104 - Article with a very detailed description of the convoy battle (a section of Rob Fisher's Home Page). Again, my page about Potentilla also has information on this battle.

Back to Garnes on the "Ships starting with G" page.

Aa–Al	An–Ar	As–Av	Ba	Be	Bi–Bl	Bo	Br–Bu	C	D
E	F	G	Ha	He	Hi–Hy	Hø	I	J	K
L	M	N	O	PQ	R	Sa–Sc	Se–Sj	Sk–Sn	So
Sp–St	Su–Sø	Ta–Te	Th–Ti	To	Tr–Tø	U	V	W	Ø

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