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M/S Hav To Hav on the "Ships starting with H" page. Owners: A/S Havtank & A/S Hav Built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Wallsend, Sunderland in 1939. (J. Rohwer calls this a steam ship). Captain: G. E. Henriksen, later replaced (Jan. 16-1942) by Josef Jensen, formerly the 1st Mate. Related item on this website: Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives: Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. Please be aware that errors do exist, and several voyages are missing.
It'll be noticed that some of the dates in this report differ from those found on the archive documents - I've left them as shown in the original (probably written by the captain, source has been named at the bottom of this page). When Norway was invaded on Apr. 9-1940, Hav had just recently left Port Alberni (Apr. 7) with a cargo of lumber and general for a port in South Africa, but at the news of the invasion she was called back by Canadian authorities and ordered on Apr. 11 to head for Esquimalt (B.C.), arriving that same evening (Page 1 of the archive docs gives arrival as Apr. 15). She was allowed to continue to her original destination on Apr. 26, though was not permitted to stop in Dutch or Russian territories. There were no plans to visit Russian territory anyway, but the plan had been to stop at a Dutch East Indies port for bunkers, so she now instead had to take on an extra 300 tons bunkers at Victoria, B.C. She was to unload her cargo at Beira and proceeded without incident until May 8, when the top of the 4th cylinder was ruined, and the engine had to be stopped. The engine crew worked on the problem for 15 hours before she could finally continue, though had some difficulties maneuvering. Telegrams were sent and new parts ordered to South Africa, but on arrival Beira on June 16 there was no news of the engine parts. They were now told they had been chartered for 6 months to an Australian company, effective as soon as cargo had been unloaded. From Beira she went to Lourenco Marques, Durban and East London, still with the defective engine. She arrived the latter port on July 15, assisted in by tugs, and a few days later the engine parts arrived so that they could repair properly (this was done by own crew) and as soon as the cargo had been unloaded she headed to Durban for bunkers, then on to Calcutta in ballast on July 23, arriving Aug. 12. She took on board 8030 tons general cargo, departed Calcutta on Aug. 17, arrived Fremantle Sept 2 - 640 tons of the cargo was unloaded there, and 340 tons loaded, then on to Adelaide Sept. 4, later to Melbourne and Sydney. At the latter port, sacks of flour were loaded for Taku Bar with arrival Oct. 18, continuing to Shanghai on the 27th with arrival Oct. 30 where she went into drydock. On Nov. 2, she went to Nauru to pick up a cargo of phosphates for Geraldton and Fremantle and ended up in a powerful hurricane on the 6th, but was not damaged in any way, though arrived Nauru almost 2 days late on Nov. 14. She picked up 9200 tons of phosphates and was ready to leave again for Fremantle on the 17th, with arrival Dec. 2. Having unloaded her cargo, she had to wait for a couple of days before she could start loading railroad tracks and general cargo for Suez. On Dec. 30 and 31, while in Melbourne, protection was built around the bridge (according to Page 1, she had arrived there from Wallaroo on Dec. 26). She left Melbourne for Suez on Jan. 1-1941, arriving early the following month, having stopped by Aden on her way. By then she was minus 6 crew members; 4 had run away and 2 had paid off due to illness. Nonetheless, she continued to Haifa where her cargo was discharged, then back to Port Said. After having been requisitioned by Sea Transport Office for special service, she now headed to Alexandria where she took on board heavy vehicles and was then sent to Piræus, leaving again on March 25 (again, compare with Page 1, which shows that she had made more than 1 voyage to Alexandria and Piræus in this period). The following morning, the convoy she was in was attacked by aircraft, and again that afternoon by 10 aircraft (according to Arnold Hague, she was in Convoy AS 22 at the time, ref. link provided within the above Voyage Record). In the course of the latter attack a large bomb, or possibly an air torpedo exploded right by her port bow causing the entire foreship to lift out of the water and resulting in extensive damages, but temporary repairs were undertaken and she continued her voyage, arriving Alexandria for her own power on March 28. Further temporary repairs were made there (simply by tipping her up with the help of the ballast tanks since there was no dock to go to).On Apr. 11, she was released from service for Sea Transport Office, repairs were completed on Apr. 18 and that same day she headed to Kosseir to pick up another cargo of phosphates, arrival Apr. 22, departure with full load on Apr. 27, via Aden and Fremantle for routing orders to Melbourne, arriving the latter on May 29 (Page 1 gives arrival Geelong that day, on to Auckland May 31 - arrival Melbourne not given). She could now be docked (June 4) for more permanent repairs of the bomb damages. In the meantime, the original 6 months time charter to the Australian company had been extended by another 6 months. Repairs were completed on June 20 and at the same time degaussing and an aft gun platform had been installed (though no gun). She now took on board cargo and was ready to head out. However, 6 men proved to be missing and assumed run away, while another had to be admitted to a hospital. 3 new ones were found, and she departed for Egypt via Aden. Arrived Port Said on July 30, cargo was discharged, departed Aug. 17 and via Aden she went to Colombo for bunkers, arrived Calcutta on Sept. 3 for general cargo for Chile and Peru with some cargo also loaded at Rangoon (see Page 2). By this time, she had armament and 2 Australian gunners, and a new 4th mate and 4 Chinese crew had also joined. She arrived Talcahuano on Oct. 31 and after having unloaded at various places in South America she took on board a cargo in Tocopilla (Nov. 22 - Nov. 28) for Australia. By the time she left for Australia she had lost another 4 men who had been left behind in Valparaiso. Hav arrived Sydney on Jan. 1-1942. By the 9th, the cargo had been discharged and she went to a yard for further repairs. She had encountered a storm on the voyage from South America which had shown that the repairs that had been made in Melbourne were inadequate. A new protection around the bridge was also installed, as well as a new gun. Captain Henriksen now paid off to take a vacation in the middle of Jan.-1942, and the 1st Mate, Josef Jensen replaced him as captain on Jan. 16. Two days later, she was finished at the yard and continued to Newcastle (N.S.W.) for coal, then on to Adelaide via Sydney. She later took a cargo of ore from Whyalla back to Newcastle and after a stay in dry dock she took a cargo of coal from there to Adelaide, with arrival Febr. 15. Having unloaded the coal she started loading 8850 tons of flour for The Middle East and departed Febr. 26 for Bandar Shapur with arrival March 31. While there, after having unloaded the flour, she took on board a cargo of barley for Port Said and Alexandria. On Apr. 22 she was in Abadan after having taken on board a cargo in Basra (had left on Apr. 21), and on May 6 she arrived Suez with 7380 tons of barley and 16 tons general, as well as 220 tons steel rods (the latter had been loaded in Abadan). The steel rods and the general cargo were now discharged in Suez, before she continued to Port Said on May 8 with arrival that same day, but had to wait for further orders until May 13 at which time it was decided she was to head for Beirut to discharge the barley there.
That afternoon, shortly after the pilot had left the ship a powerful explosion occurred amidships, starboard side. It later turned out she had struck a mine (laid by U-561 [Bartels] on Apr. 14-1942). 2 were killed, several were injured, 3 of whom were taken to the British hospital ship Aba in the harbour with the help of lifeboats. They were 2nd Mate Richard Fureborg, 3rd Engineer John Silseth (Stålseth?) and Ordinary Seaman Thor Kvilhaug who were all later transferred to the British hospital in Port Said. Hav had immediately started to sink, with No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 holds as well as the engine room flooding, but a tug and 2 minesweepers towed her to shore where she was beached in 29 ft. water (31 17 57N 32 21 09E). 7 crew and 2 gunners were told to keep watch while the others were taken ashore. At this time, Captain Jensen, who had also been injured was taken to a hospital together with the Chinese mess boy Chang Ming Chen. Members of the crew guarded the ship from May 13 until June 23. On May 16 Vilja's Captain Andersen paid them a visit. This ship had arrived Port Said after having been heavily damaged at Haifa - follow the link to Vilja to read about what had happened to her. Some of Hav's equipment and supplies were transferred to this ship. On June 23, people from shore took over the watches; that same day a fire was observed on Hav, and it was not to be the last. Later that summer she was on fire 6 times, which eventually reduced her to scrap. Maritime hearings were held in Port Said on May 19-1942 with Captain Jensen, the 1st mate, the 1st engineer, the boatswain, Assistant (engine room) Amundsen, and Ordinary Seaman Moholdt appearing. Mechanic Alfred Lund, on duty in the engine room at the time of the explosion, was never(?) found, while Able Seaman Einar Enerud was found outside the breakwater the next day and was buried at the Protestant cemetery in Port Said on May 15. 3rd Mate F. Hansen, 2nd Engineer E. Larsson and Radio Operator N. Nicolaysen had the sad task of identifying the body. The following 9 men had been on board since 1939: Captain Josef Jensen, who had joined on Aug. 28-1939 in Norway Crew List:
* 1st Engineer Arne Berntsen later joined M/S Cypria. Related external links: Back to Hav on the "Ships starting with H" page. Other ships by this name: I have information on 2, former steamships by this name, one of which was lost on Dec. 13-1921, having gone ashore at Halsebaaen, Sildegabet (unsure of place name) and capsized on a voyage from Blyth to Trondheim with coal. This ship had been built 1877, belonged to Thv. Halvorsen and was 1254 gt. Also, H. Staubo had previously had a steamship named Hav. According to Karl Henrik Henriksen, a visitor to my website, this was the former D/S Putten belonging to Skipsaktieselskapet Eidsiva (O. Ditlev- Simonsen og Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen). Captain from Oct. 26-1929 till May 29-1934 was Karl Henrik's grandfather, Karl Helmer Henriksen (see M/S Vinni's Story). This ship was sold in Apr.-1935 to Helmer Staubo, Oslo and renamed Hav. I have no further info on what happened to this vessel, whether it was sold or lost. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Misc. sources, mainly "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, and "19 Oslo-skips historie under verdenskrigen, fra April 1940 til krigens slutt i 1945" ("The Story of 19 Oslo ships during the World War, from April 1940 until the End of the War in 1945") Harald Nicolaisen - based on the ship's logs and diaries. Also, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume I (Norwegian Maritime Museum) - ref. My sources.
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