M/T Glarona
Updated Sept. 16-2011

To Glarona on the "Ships starting with G" page.


Received from Markus Berger, who has told me that the name Glarona is derived from Glarus where the Tschudi familiy originally came from.
(Markus and Peter Bichsel have a website about Swiss Ships - external link).
Another picture is available on this external page (click in it to make it larger).

Misc. Convoy Voyages:

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see 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.

As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Glarona was on her way from Trieste to Palermo when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940.

In June that year, she's listed among the ships in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 49, in which Eli Knudsen and Randsfjord were sunk - follow the links for details. Glarona was bound for Clyde with Admiralty fuel and joined with the Bermuda portion. The following month, she made a voyage to Trinidad, having started out from Clyde in Convoy OB 188, which originated in Liverpool on July 23 and dispersed on the 27th, Glarona arriving Trinidad Aug. 9. Borgholm, Gaston Micard, Inger, Loke (returned), Lotos and Reiaas are also named - ref. external link provided within the Voyage Record above. Going back to Page 1 (and Hague's Voyage Record), we see that she spent quite a long time in Durban later that year. She had arrived there from Capetown on Oct. 28 and did not leave again until Dec. 27, when she proceeded to Abadan.

She reported having seen a U-boat in 06 30N 11 52W on May 26-1941; "Nortraships flåte" suggests this may have been U-38. According to J. Rohwer this boat sank the Dutch Berhala on May 23 - 09 50N 17 50W, the British Vulcain, on May 24 - 09 20N 15 35W, Tabaristan, on May 29 - 06 32N 15 23W, Empire Protector on May 30 - 06N 14 25W and the Norwegian Rinda on May 31 - 06 52N 15 14W. Judging from the positions and dates of these sinkings, it would seem to me that U-103 would have been closer to the position of Glarona's sighting on the 26th than U-38 (U-103 sank a ship in 05 24N 12W on the 25th). I asked one of the visitors to Uboat.net's forum about this (I was told he has info from the KTB's) and he has informed me that U-38 chased a steamer from 17:45 on May 25 until 03:00 on the 26th going from Quadrant ET 1182 to ET 1253, so he agrees it's improbable that this U-boat was in ET 6662 which corresponds to 06 30N 11 52W (the position reported by Glarona on that date). On the other hand, at noon on the 26th U-103 was in ET 68 so he agrees that this must have been the boat seen by Glarona. No other U-boat was in this area. (According to her Voyage Record, she was on her way from Freetown to St. Helena on that date, having left Freetown on May 25).

A. Hague says she was docked for engine repairs in June-1941. She had arrived Capetown on June 26; departure is given as Nov. 26, when she proceeded to Aruba. Page 1 shows that she also spent a long time in New York at the beginning of 1942. She had arrived there from Aruba on Jan. 8 and departure is given as March 22. Page 2 has the rest of her 1942 voyages, while convoy info for some of them can be found in the Voyage Record above.

In June-1942, she rescued 28 survivors from the British Clan MacQuarrie, which had been sunk by the Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci on June 13. See this posting to my Ship Forum (the thread starts with this query). As can be seen in the table above (and Page 2 of the archive documents), Glarona was on a voyage from Freetown to Trinidad at the time, and the survivors were landed there on June 29.

On Aug. 29-1942, she's listed in Convoy SC 98 from Halifax. Her destination is given as Stanlow, where she arrived Sept. 14/15. A. Hague says she had straggled from the convoy on Sept. 8, so it looks like she sailed alone from then on. She headed back across the Atlantic later that month with the westbound Convoy ON 134*, but went into St. John's with defects, later joining ON 135* from there to Sydney, C.B., before proceeding to Halifax and New York, where she arrived Oct. 26, having joined Convoy ON 136* from Halifax. All these convoys also had other Norwegian ships, namely Askeladden (joined from Halifax), Bonneville (Commodore Vessel), Grado, Granfoss, Hallfried, Hjalmar Wessel, Loke, Mathilda (the latter 2 from Halifax), Maud, Sir James Clark Ross and Veni, as well as the Panamanian Nortun (Norwegian managers) in ON 134, which left Liverpool Sept. 26 and arrived New York Oct. 17. ON 135, which had started out in Liverpool Oct. 2 and arrived New York Oct. 21 included Fagerfjell (returned) Lynghaug, Ragnhild, Thorsholm and Villanger, while ON 136 had Astrid, Fana, Iron Baron, Lisbeth, Novasli and Ravnefjell (from Halifax) in its ranks. This convoy had sailed from Liverpool Oct. 3 and arrived New York Oct. 26, but again, please note that Glarona was not present from the U.K. in the latter 2 convoys - see Page 2 for her movements in this period. It looks like she may have undergone some repairs while in New York, because she did not leave again until Dec. 10, when she made a voyage to Curacao (convoy info in Voyage Record).

At the beginning of Jan.-1943, I have her in the Guantanamo-New York Convoy GN 32, bound for the U.K. via New York. The voyage to the U.K. was made in Convoy SC 118*, departing New York on Jan. 24. Annik, Bestik, Cetus, Daghild (sunk, follow link for details), Grey County, Maud, Norbryn, Petter II and Sommerstad are also listed. Glarona had a cargo of fuel oil and dieso, sailing in station 83, and arrived Bowling, via Clyde, on Febr. 11. Early the following month, she joined the westbound Convoy ON 170, bound for New York, but according to A. Hague, she arrived Halifax with engine defects on March 19, proceeding to New York on May 6 (again, see also Page 2). On May 26, we find her in station 72 of the slow Convoy SC 132 from Halifax (having been cancellled from the faster Convoy HX 239 from New York on May 13); she arrived Bowling on June 12. Just a few days later, she joined the westbound Convoy ON 189*, together with Gallia, Kong Sverre, Roald Amundsen, Solsten, Solør and Troubadour. The convoy originated in Liverpool on June 16 and arrived New York July 1. Glarona had station 92, and served as Escort Oiler, which she also did on several other occasions. Acanthus, Potentilla and Rose are named among the escorts (see ON convoy escorts). From New York, she later proceeded to Malta and Augusta.

In Sept-1943, she made a voyage from Malta to Bizerta with Convoy MKS 24. For info, this convoy had started out in Alexandria on Sept. 4, arrived Gibraltar on the 13th, then continued to the U.K., after having joined up with Convoy SL 136 (from Freetown) on Sept. 14. Note, however, that Glarona, being bound for Bizerta, was not part of the Gibraltar-U.K. convoy; she had sailed from Malta on Sept. 8 and arrived Bizerta on the 11th. The following month, she made a voyage from Oran to Malta, having joined Convoy KMS 27* - she left Oran on Oct. 1 and arrived Malta on the 6th, according to Page 3. At the end of that year, she headed back to New York again, where she remained until March-1944, possibly for repairs of the defects mentioned by A. Hague in the above record.

Having made a voyage to Curacao and back to New York (convoy info in table above), she was scheduled for Convoy HX 287 to the U.K. on Apr. 12-1944, but instead joined the next convoy on Apr. 18, HX 288, for which the Norwegian Laurits Swenson acted as Commodore Ship, while Emma Bakke served as Vice Commodore Ship. Glarona was bound for Stanlow, where she arrived, via Liverpool and Ellesmere Port, on May 7/8. Later that month, she's listed as bound for Curacao in Convoy ON 237*, departing Liverpool on May 19. She arrived her destination on June 11, having detached from the convoy on June 1, according to A. Hague, who has also included Brimanger (Commodore Vessel), Emma Bakke, Ferncourt, Herbrand, Laurits Swenson (Vice Commodore), Maud, Mosli, Norefjord, Noreg, Norma, Pan Scandia, Skaraas and Velma. Glarona was scheduled to return to the U.K. with Convoy HX 298 from New York on July 3, but did not sail. She was also cancelled from Convoy HX 299 (Commodore in Laurits Swenson, Vice Commodore in Høyanger), but joined HX 300 on July 17 (this was the largest convoy ever).

Along with Gausdal, Hardanger, Iron baron, Lago, Norvarg, Olaf Bergh, Peik, Solstad, Vav, Villanger and Vinland, we now find her in the westbound Convoy ON 248S*, departing Liverpool on Aug. 10, arriving New York Aug. 27, and she was scheduled to go back across the ocean at the end of that month with Convoy HX 306 but was cancelled and shows up again in Convoy HX 309 on Sept. 16 (Vice Commodore in Laurits Swenson). Glarona arrived Bowling on Oct. 6, and judging from Page 3 of the archive documents, it looks like she subsequently spent quite some time in Greenock, where she had arrived from Bowling on Oct. 9; departure is given as Dec. 16, when she proceeded to Clyde, and from there, she joined the westbound Convoy ON 273* for New York, where she arrived Jan. 5-1945. Fridtjof Nansen, Kaia Knudsen, Morgenen, Reinholt (returned), Skotaas and Sverre Helmersen are also listed in this convoy.

She was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 165 on Jan. 16-1945, but instead joined SC 166 at the end of that month; her destination is given as Liverpool, where she arrived Febr. 15. In March, she joined the westbound Convoy ON 290*, along with Kaldfonn and Thorhild (from Southend March 11, to New York March 29; Glarona, however, arrived Halifax March 27, having sailed from Liverpool on the 13th). According to A. Hague, she returned with Convoy SC 172*, which departed Halifax on Apr. 6 and arrived Liverpool Apr. 22; Glarona, cargo of sun fuel (station 62), arrived Bowling that day, see Page 4. She had again been in the company of several other Norwegian ships, namely Annik, Arosa, Maud, Minerva, Norelg, Orwell, Sandviken and Solstad. Just a few days later, she shows up in the westbound Convoy ON 299*, which also included Buenos Aires, Fagerfjell, Kaldfonn, Lektor Garbo and Sophocles. The convoy arrived New York on May 13, but Glarona was again bound for Halifax, arriving there on May 10 (in other words, VE Day was celebrated at sea). Her last Trans-Atlantic convoy voyage was made in Convoy SC 176*, departing Halifax on May 16 - she arrived Solent on May 30, Portsmouth the next day, cargo of sun fuel, serving as Escort Oiler, also carrying 60 depth charges. Chr. Th. Boe, Dageid, Elg, Garonne, Ima, Rena and Vinga are also listed.

* The ON convoys will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. The entire SC series will also be updated and completed, but for now, please go to ships in all SC convoys. See also ships in all KMS convoys, where Glarona is listed in KMS 27, as mentioned; this will also be added to an individual page.

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

POST WAR:

Sold in1951 to Italy and renamed Isabella O, renamed Amalthea in 1954.

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