Manager: Bruusgaard, Kiøsterud & Co., Drammen
Tonnage: 1683 gt

Built by Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd., Kowloon, Hong Kong in 1940.

According to R. W. Jordan, she was managed by John Bruce & Co, Glasgow during the war.

Captain John A. Pedersen is said to have died during an air attack while at Penang on Dec. 8-1942. See the Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway (external link).

Misc. War Voyages:

(More will be added).

Hermelin, carrying war materials, arrived Singapore in Convoy BM 10 in Jan-1942. This convoy is available at the first external website that I've linked to at the end of this page, which adds that the convoy had left Bombay on Jan. 8-1942 and arrived Singapore on the 25th. Hermelin, which had started out in Rangoon on Jan. 14, is said to have joined at sea. See also the 2nd external website that I've linked to, which says that Hermelin joined on Jan. 22, adding that the convoy arrived Singapore with the 44th Indian Infantry brigade group (6000 men), vehicles and stores for the 18th division.

She left Singapore again on Febr. 4-1942, and subsequently made several independent voyages, to Karachi, Basra, Bahrein, Aden, Suez, Haifa, Port Said, Alexandria, Benghazi etc. in the course of 1942. She arrived Alexandria from Benghazi on Jan. 3-1943, then joined Convoy MH 3 in order to return to Benghazi, arriving on Jan. 23. She later travelled to Tobruk, then back to Benghazi and Alexandria, and from the end of March-1943 and onwards she's included in several convoys, as will be seen by following the instructions provided at the first external link below (making voyages to Tripoli, Alexandria, Benghazi, Port Said etc.).

She had arrived Alexandria from Port Said on Sept. 2-1943, then made a voyage from Alexandria to Malta with Convoy MKS 24. This convoy left 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. Hermelin, however, being bound for Malta, where she arrived on Sept. 9, was not part of the Gibraltar-U.K. convoy. Follow the link for the names of other ships taking part.

A message in my Guestbook states that Hermelin was present at Bari when the big explosion occurred there on Dec. 2-1943, but quickly got away - see Bollsta for further details on what happened at Bari that day. This, to a certain extent, fits in with the fact that she's listed among the ships in Convoy AH 10, which left Augusta on Nov. 26-1943 and arrived Brindisi on Nov. 28. Some of the ships that were sunk at Bari are also listed in this convoy (John Harvey and John L. Motley). With Somerville, Hermelin left again with Convoy HA 11, which departed Bari on Dec. 8 and arrived Augusta Dec. 10. Again, see the links to these convoys provided at the end of this page.

Together with the Norwegian Fernbank and Pan Aruba, she appears in Convoy KMS 36*, departing Gibraltar on Jan. 3-1944, arriving Port Said on the 13th. This convoy had started out from the U.K. on Dec. 15-1943 as the combined Convoy OS 62/KMS 36, and split up off Gibraltar on Jan. 2-1944, the OS portion proceeding to Freetown, while the KMS portion went to Gibraltar. Hermelin joined from Bone (left Jan. 6-1944), so she was not present from the U.K., and her destination is given as Augusta, where she arrived on Jan. 9. In March that same year she shows up in Convoy KMS 44*, which left Gibraltar on March 17 and arrived Port Said on the 27th. Hermelin, however, was again bound for Augusta, where she arrived on March 22. The Norwegian Bruse Jarl, Egerø, Elise, Meline and Topdalsfjord are also listed in KMS 44, which had originally started out from the U.K. on March 3 as the combined Convoy OS 70/KMS 44, and split up off Gibraltar on March 15, but note that Hermelin (and some of the other Norwegian ships named here) was not present from the U.K., as she joined from Algiers, having left that port on March 19. The following month she's listed, together with Belpareil, Borgholm, Hai Lee, Solør and Troubadour, in Convoy KMS 46*, departing Gibraltar on Apr. 6-1944, arriving Port Said, her destination at the time, on the 16th, Hermelin having joined from Augusta (she had left Augusta on Apr. 11 - this convoy had also originally been part of a combined convoy from the U.K. which split up off Gibraltar, namely OS 72/KMS 46).

That summer she's listed, with Facto, Gylfe, Høegh Hood, and Tore Jarl, in Convoy MKS 52* (from Port Said June 8-1944, to Gibraltar June 20); Hermelin's voyage information is given as "Alexandria to Augusta"; she had left Alexandria on June 9, and arrived her destination on the 14th. (For info, MKS 52 joined up with the Freetown Convoy SL 161 on June 20, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on July 2, but as already noted, Hermelin was not bound for the U.K.).

Going back to the external website already mentioned, we find her in Convoy SL 163/MKS 54 in July-1944, joining with the Gibraltar portion (MKS 54*, departing Port Said June 28, arriving Gibraltar July 10 - according to Arnold Hague, Hermelin had started out in Augusta on July 3, Jan joined from Algiers, Norelg is listed, but was bound for Augusta, Suderholm joined at Port Said, bound for Palermo, Vigsnes joined from Algiers, arrived Gibraltar with defects). From Gibraltar, MKS 54 merged with the SL 163 (from Freetown) on July 11, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on July 22-1944. The Norwegian Lago is also listed; while Snar and Vigsnes were scheduled, but did not sail. Follow the link for more info.

In Oct.-1944 she's included among the ships in Convoy KMS 66*, which departed Gibraltar on Oct. 26 and arrived Port Said, Hermelin's destination, on Nov. 5. Bosphorus, Fernbank, Hardanger, and Liss are also listed. Again, this was originally a combined convoy from the U.K., OS 92/KMS 66, which split up off Gibraltar on Oct. 25, having departed Liverpool on the 15th, and this time Hermelin was present from the beginning (joining from Belfast Lough), as was the Norwegian Ragnhild. A section of the site that I've linked to below also has Bosphorus, Fernbank, and Hardanger in the combined convoy, and destination for Hermelin in that section is given as Alexandria.

Several independent voyages now followed, to Massawa (end of Nov.-1944), Aden and Colombo (Dec.-1944), Fremantle and Sydney (Jan.-1945).

For information on Hermelin's voyages in between those noted here, please follow the instructions provided at the first external link below. As will be seen, she appears in a few Malta to Alexandria and returning convoys in 1943, as well as in several HA convoys (Bari-Augusta) and GUS and UGS convoys, among many others. The latter 2 series ran between Hampton Roads and Port Said, but Hermelin joined and left at other ports.

* The KMS convoys mentioned here are available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course. In the meantime, see the section listing ships in all KMS convoys. The MKS convoys will also be added; but for now, the ships sailing in them are named in the section listing ships in all MKS convoys.

All the other Norwegian ships named on this page are discussed on this website, please see the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

POST WAR:

Hermelin arrived Hong Kong for the first time after war's end sometime between Sept. 11 and Sept. 18-1945. On March 2-1953 she was in a collision with the French passenger liner La Marseillaise at Yokohama and sustained some damage. Sold in 1972 to Kwok Wah Shipping Co, Panama, and renamed Treasure Country. Sold to Fuji Marden & Co. for scrap and in Apr.-1977 breaking up commenced in Hong Kong.

Related external links
SL/MKS convoys - The site also has the OS/KMS convoys, and several other convoy series. As can be seen, Hermelin is listed in Convoy SL 163/MKS 54 and OS 92/KMS 66. Note also that by going to this section of the same site and clicking on "Ship Search", using "Hermelin" as keyword, several convoys will come up. Here are BM 10, MH 3, AH 10, and HA 11, all mentioned in the above narrative.

Also, Jan Visser, the webmaster of
Royal Netherlands Navy Warships of World War II has also listed the ships in Convoy BM 10 on his page The Singapore Convoys.

Stavern Memorial commemoration - This site says Captain John A. Pedersen died during an air attack while at Penang on Dec. 8-1942.

Back to Hermelin on the "Ships starting with H" page.

This company also had a ship named Hermelin post war, originally built in 1955 as Bow Plate for Rederiet Odfjell, Bergen, 4621 gt. From 1964 she sailed as Sunndalsfjord for Den Norske Amerikalinje, then managed by Bruusgaard Kiøsterud & Co. from July-1973, renamed Hermelin. Later names: Arafura Dua (Panama) 1979, Fullwind Lucky 1980, sold for breaking up that same year.