M/T Hamlet - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/T Hamlet
Updated Oct. 3-2011

To Hamlet on the "Ships starting with H" page.

Crew List

Received from, and painted by, Jan Goedhart, Holland.

From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

Manager: Bruusgaard, Kiøsterud & Co., Drammen
Tonnage: 6578 gt, 3994 net, 9960 tdwt.
Signal Letters: BNMB (previously: LITZ)

Built by Götaverken A/B, Gothenburg in 1934. Previous names: Eidsvold until 1934 (Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen & Co., Oslo), Abu until 1937 (Skibs A/S Abu/Magnus Konows Rederi, Oslo).

Captain: Nils. A. Ambjørnsen.

Related item on this website:
Forum message from the stepdaughter of one of Hamlet's crew members, Peter Webster, looking for old friends from Hamlet. Contact address can be obtained by clicking on her name in the message.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3

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

Voyage Record
From Sept.-1939 to May-1942:

(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database).

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.

Errors may exist, and some voyages are missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1939	Sept. 11	Aruba	Kirkwall	Sept. 29	Independent	–
	Oct. 4	Kirkwall	Abo	Oct. 14	Independent	–
	Oct. 17	Abo	Talara	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 19	Talara	Rio	Dec. 12	Independent	–
	Dec. 14	Rio	Aruba	Dec. 27	Independent	–
	Dec. 29	Aruba	Gibraltar	Jan. 14	Independent	–
1940	Jan. 14	Gibraltar	Trieste	–	Independent	–
	Febr. 10	Trieste	Monfalcone	–	Independent	–
	Febr. 11	Monfalcone	Gibraltar	Febr. 18	Independent	–
	Febr. 18	Gibraltar	Aruba	March 3	Independent	–
	March 4	Aruba	Baltimore	March 31	Independent	Via New Haven March 13
	Apr. 2	Baltimore	Baltimore	Apr. 25	Independent	A. Hague says: Intermediate port unknown (Page 1 indicates Aruba).
	Apr. 29	Baltimore	Caripito	–	Independent	–
	May 11	Caripito	Bahia	May 24	Independent	–
	May 25	Bahia	Pernambuco	May 27	Independent	–
	May 28	Pernambuco	Buenos Aires	June 26	Independent	A. Hague says: Intermediate calls unknown (probably Caripito - see Page 1)
	June 30	Buenos Aires	Trinidad	July 20	Independent	Intermediate calls unknown (Caripito - again, see Page 1)
	July 20	Trinidad	Freetown	Aug. 2	Independent	–
	Aug. 9	Freetown	Trinidad	Aug. 20	Independent	–
	Aug. 22	Trinidad	Aruba	Aug. 26	Independent	–
	Aug. 28	Aruba	Jacksonville	Sept. 3	Independent	–
	Sept. 5	Jacksonville	Cartagena, Col	–	Independent	Page 1 gives arrival Sept. 11.
	Sept. 12	Cartagena, Col	Aruba	Sept. 14	Independent	–
	Sept. 16	Aruba	New York City	Sept. 27	Independent	–
	Oct. 5	New York City	Puerto la Cruz	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 13	Puerto la Cruz	Aruba	Oct. 15	Independent	–
	Oct. 16	Aruba	Boston	Oct. 25	Independent	–
	Oct. 27	Boston	Aruba	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 4	Aruba	Las Piedras	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 5	Las Piedras	Charleston, SC	Nov. 11	Independent	–
	Nov. 12	Charleston, SC	Aruba	Nov. 18	Independent	–
	Nov. 19	Aruba	Boston	Nov. 28	Independent	–
	Dec. 3	Boston	Aruba	Dec. 12	Independent	–
	Dec. 12	Aruba	Montevideo	Jan. 1-1941	Independent	–
1941	Jan. 4	Montevideo	Aruba	Jan. 23	Independent	–
	Jan. 24	Aruba	Boston	Febr. 2	Independent	–
	Febr. 5	Boston	Aruba	Febr. 15	Independent	–
	Febr. 16	Aruba	Cienfuegos	Febr. 19	Independent	–
	Febr. 20	Cienfuegos	Aruba	Febr. 26	Independent	–
	Febr. 26	Aruba	New York City	March 7	Independent	–
	March 9	New York City	Aruba	March 17	Independent	–
	March 18	Aruba	Havana	March 23	Independent	–
	March 26	Havana	Aruba	March 31	Independent	–
	Apr. 2	Aruba	Havana	Apr. 6	Independent	–
	Apr. 8	Havana	Santiago, Cuba	Apr. 9	Independent	–
	Apr. 10	Santiago, Cuba	Aruba	Apr. 13	Independent	–
	Apr. 14	Aruba	San Juan, P.R.	Apr. 16	Independent	–
	Apr. 17	San Juan, P.R.	Mayaguez	Apr. 18	Independent	–
	Apr. 18	Mayaguez	Aruba	–	Independent	Page 2 gives arrival Apr. 20.
	Apr. 21	Aruba	Hampton Roads	Apr. 27	Independent	–
	Apr. 29	Hampton Roads	Baltimore	May 1	Independent	–
	May 10	Baltimore	Aruba	May 17	Independent	–
	May 18	Cuba*	San Juan, P.R.	May 20	Independent	*Aruba
	May 21	San Juan, P.R.	Aruba	May 24	Independent	–
	May 25	Aruba	Havana	May 30	Independent	–
	May 31	Havana	Aruba	June 4	Independent	–
	June 5	Aruba	Havana	June 10	Independent	–
	June 11	Aruba*	Havana*	June 16	Independent	Havana to Aruba (see Page 2*)
	June 17	Aruba	San Juan, P.R.	June 20	Independent	–
	June 21	San Juan, P.R.	Caripito	June 24	Independent	–
	June 25	Caripito	Trinidad	June 25	Independent	–
	June 26	Trinidad	Pernambuco	July 7	Independent	–
	July 9	Pernambuco	Caripito	July 16	Independent	–
	July 17	Caripito	Aruba	July 19	Independent	–
	July 20	Aruba	Santos	Aug. 7	Independent	–
	Aug. 11	Santos	Caripito	Aug. 25	Independent	–
	Aug. 26	Caripito	Aruba	Aug. 29	Independent	–
	Aug. 30	Aruba	New York City	Sept. 6	Independent	–
	Sept. 10	New York City	Boston	Sept. 12	Independent	–
	Oct. 17	Boston	Houston	Oct. 26	Independent	–
	Oct. 29	Houston	Halifax	Nov. 8	Independent	–
	Nov. 15	Halifax	Loch Ewe	Nov. 28	HX 160	–
	Dec. 1	Loch Ewe	Methil*	Dec. 2	WN 212	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link) Missing movement, Page 2*
	Dec. 10	Methil	Oban	Dec. 13	EN 17	Did not sail. Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	Dec. 11	Methil	Loch Ewe	Dec. 12	EN 18	Convoy available at link above
	Dec. 13	Loch Ewe	–	–	ON 46	For NYC. Dispersed 55 39N 34W, Dec. 21. Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Dec. 21	Detached from ON 46	New York City	Dec. 30	Independent	–
1942	Jan. 17	New York City	Halifax	Jan. 19	Independent	–
	Jan. 26	Halifax	–	–	HX 172	Detached to Iceland Febr. 4. Page 3 gives arrival Febr. 6.
	Febr. 13*	Reykjavik	–	–	ON 67	Page 3 gives departure Febr. 16. A. Hague says: Joined from Iceland Febr. 19, detached off Halifax March 1. Convoy will be added.* See link above
	March 1	Detached from ON 67	Curacao	March 9	Independent	–
	March 11	Curacao	Halifax	March 20	Independent	–
	March 27	Halifax	Clyde	Apr. 8	HX 182	Missing movements, Page 3
	Apr. 23	Liverpool*	New York City	May 7	ON 89	From Clyde Convoy will be added.* See link above Left New York May 11 (Page 3).
	May 14	Hampton Roads	Key West	May 19	KS 500	A. Hague says: Thence Beaumont, arrived May 23. Convoy available at KS convoys (external link)
	May 26	Beaumont	–	–	–	Sunk - See "Final Fate" below

Some Convoy Voyages:

For information on voyages made prior to and in between those mentioned here, please see Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the convoy links provided for more details on them; several Norwegian ships took part.

Her 1940 voyages (from Apr. 2) and some of her early 1941 voyages are shown on Page 1 of the archive documents.

On Nov. 15-1941, Hamlet joined Convoy HX 160 from Halifax to the U.K. - Montbretia is named among the escorts. Hamlet arrived Loch Ewe on Nov. 28, later proceeding to Grangemouth, with arrival Dec. 3, according to Page 2. She returned across the Atlantic with the westbound Convoy ON 46*, which originated in Liverpool on Dec. 13; Hamlet joined from Loch Ewe and her destination is given as New York, where she arrived Dec. 30, the convoy having been dispersed on Dec. 21.

She headed back in the other direction again on Jan. 26-1942 in Convoy HX 172 from Halifax, and arrived Reykjavik on Febr. 6, having been detached from the convoy on Febr. 4 - see also Page 3. From Iceland, she later joined the westbound Convoy ON 67*, which had started out in Liverpool on Febr. 14 and arrived Halifax March 1; Hamlet, however, was bound for Curacao, and arrived there on March 9. This convoy lost several ships, including the Norwegian Eidanger, Finnanger and Sama - follow the links for more info. Belinda, Glittre, Idefjord, Nueva Andalucia, Skandinavia, Strinda and Thorhild are also listed in ON 67. From Curacao, Hamlet proceeded to Halifax 2 days later, in order to join Convoy HX 182 on March 27. This time, Acanthus, Eglantine, Kos XX, Potentilla and Rose are named among the escorts. She arrived Bowling on Apr. 9, and later that month, we find her in the westbound Convoy ON 89* (originated in Liverpool Apr. 23, arrived Halifax May 5). Hamlet joined from Clyde and arrived New York on May 7.

* The ON 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. As will be seen, they all had several Norwegian ships.

For more information on the other Norwegian ships named here, please see the alphabet index at the end of the page, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Final Fate - 1942:

Hamlet was torpedoed by U-753 (von Mannstein) in the morning of May 27-1942 when on a voyage from Beaumont, Texas to Liverpool with a cargo of oil, having departed Beaumont the day before (judging from the notes on Page 3 of the archive documents, it looks like she was on her way to Halifax to join a convoy for the U.K.).

I've come across an excerpt from Hamlet's logbook in Issue No. 2 for 1975 of "Krigsseileren", which says she had departed Beaumont with 8927 tons crude oil at 07:20 on May 26. At 04:10 on May 27, when she was in position 28 25N 91 00W*, she was hit by a torpedo in the forward part of No. 10 tank, starboard side. The engine was stopped, the alarm sounded and guns manned while the lifeboats were made ready for launching.

As it appeared the ship would stay afloat they discussed the possibility of getting her to port. The antenna had fallen down so it was impossible to send out a message, and while an emergency antenna was being rigged up another torpedo hit at 04:40, this time she appeared to have been struck in tank No. 12. The ship now started to sink very quickly so orders were given to take to the boats.

4 boats were successfully launched and were away from the ship's side when at 04:55 a 3rd torpedo hit between No. 13 and 15 tanks and she now sank down to the poop (a surfaced U-boat had been observed from the boats before the 3rd torpedo struck).

The lifeboats stayed alongside the ship until daylight at 06:30 to make certain no more men were left on board or in the water, whereupon course was set for nearest land (the poop of Hamlet could still be seen at a 45° angle above the water). At 09:30 assistance was offered by some fishing cutters which took the boats in tow, arriving Morgan City, Louisiana around 21:00.

The maritime hearings were held in New York on June 3-1942 with Captain Ambjørnsen (in his cabin when the first torpedo hit), 1st Mate Aake Andersen (on duty on the bridge), Able Seaman (helmsman) Frithjof Olsen and Able Seaman (lookout) Olaf Finvik appearing.

U-753 was also responsible for the attack on Haakon Hauan 2 days earlier and N.T. Nielsen Alonso in 1943.

* J. Rowher gives the position as 28 32N 91 30W and time as 11:03 on May 27 (German time).

Crew List - No Casualties:
Olaf Finvik had served on Sildra when that ship was torpedoed.
3rd Mate Olaf Johansen had previously served on Norefjord, later joined Strix and Bernhard (this external page has some more info on him - text is in Norwegian)
Olav M. Sørensen's other ships are listed on this external page.

Captain Nils A. Ambjørnsen	1st Mate Aake Andersen	2nd Mate Aage L. G. Ludvigsen	3rd Mate Olaf J. Johansen	Radio Operator Kenneth Fleming (British)	Radio Operator William Clay (U.S. Navy)
Carpenter Gunnar N. Nilsen	Boatswain Olaf Larsen	Able Seaman Olaf Finvik	Able Seaman Thorbjørn Solbakken	Able Seaman Frithjof Olsen	Able Seaman Allan J. Collier (Canadian)
Able Seaman Adrian Fase (Dutch)	Able Seaman Alf Gunnar Haug	Able Seaman Frederick Egner (Canadian)	Able Seaman Olav M. Sørensen	Ordinary Seaman Jacob Lilleheim	Ordinary Seaman/Gunner Arthur Thomas Denyer (British)
Ordinary Seaman/Gunner John Henry Clarke (British)	1st Engineer Gunnar J. Pettersen	2nd Engineer Jens Røsland	3rd Engineer Kristian Larsen	Assistant Thorleif Reinemo	Mechanic Harald Oftedal
Mechanic Walter Eugen Svendsen	Mechanic Frithjof Larsen	Mechanic Søren Eriksen	Mechanic Odd Lugård Jørgensen	Mechanic K. F. Halvardsen	Pump Man Harald K. Amundsen
Steward Olaf Anderson (Swedish)	Cook Håkon Johansen	Galley Boy Edward C. Butghart (British)	Mess Boy Peter Webster* (British)	Mess Boy Robert Walker (British)	Signal Man Charles Burianck (U.S. Navy)