D/S Hildur I - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

D/S Hildur I

To Hildur I on the "Ships starting with H" page.

Delivered in March-1919 from Laxevaags Maskin- & Jernskibsbyggeri, Bergen as Erich Lindøe to A/S D/S Erich Lindøe (P. Lindøe), Haugesund. "Våre gamle skip" gives tonnage as 1605 gt, 927 net, 2390 tdwt, 245.2' x 37.9' x 15.6', Triple exp. 167 nhp (Laxevaag). From 1928 as Grenland of Skien, from 1937 as Hildur I of Drammen.

Hildur I was mostly in service between Newcastle and Southampton, with some Atlantic crossings at the beginning of the war.

In Sept.-1940 she sailed in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 4, which had a large number of Norwegian ships. Hildur I was bound for River Medway with a cargo of pulp wood. At the end of the following month she shows up, with no voyage information, in Convoy OA 233, which departed Methil on Oct. 22-1940. She must have been bound for a local U.K. port, because she's also listed in Convoy OG 76, departing Milford Haven on Oct. 26, arriving Gibraltar Nov. 11. Hildur I, however, is said to have been bound for Liverpool on this occasion, but it looks like she may have headed further afield, given the fact that she's mentioned in an SC convoy not long thereafter. The Norwegian Blink (returned), Erica, Lago and Lisbeth are also listed in OG 76. (This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, with more information on it; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named on my page listing ships in all OG convoys). She was scheduled for Convoy SC 14 in Nov.-1940, lumber for Preston, but instead joined the next convoy, SC 15 a week later - follow the links for the names of the other ships in the SC convoys mentioned here, other Norwegian ships also took part (convoy left Sydney, C.B. on Dec. 8-1940, arrived Liverpool on the 23rd).

In the summer of 1941 we find her in station 15 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 3, which left Liverpool on July 31-1941, but she lost touch in fog a few days into the voyage. According to the Commodore's notes, she was "unable to maintain speed, reason unknown, but believed to be insufficient power to maintain 8 knots in smooth water. Missing in fog during the night of Aug. 3/4 in 60 10N 11 20W, night overcast". She's subsequently listed in the slow, eastbound North Atlantic Convoy SC 41, which had originated in Sydney, C.B. on Aug. 24-1941, but Hildur I is said to have joined from Iceland. She was again in the company of several other Norwegian ships, namely Akabahra, Astra, Audun, Balduin, Blink, Carrier (returned), Einvik (sunk, follow link for details), Evviva, Fagersten, Fanefjeld, Grado, Gudrun, Heien, Hestmanden, Ledaal, Leka, Lom, Marga, Nesttun, Orania (returned), Reiaas, Siak, and Spes. This convoy is not available among the SC convoys included in my own Convoys section, but I've linked directly to it further down on this page.

In March-1942 she's listed in Convoy RU 14 from Reykjavik to the U.K. The Norwegian Marianne is also listed, but returned to port and later joined the next convoy, RU 15.

Hildur I was used as ammunition and supply ship for the Torch operations, which commenced in Nov.-1942 (invasion of North Africa, she was the 1st allied cargo ship at Port Lyautey - Athos has a list of Norwegian ships taking part in these operations). At the end of Febr.-1943 she's said to have made a voyage from Bone to Algiers with Convoy MKS 8, again, follow the link for the names of other ships in the convoy.

She was also used during the invasion of Normandy in June-1944, arriving with ammunition on June 13, departing again on June 23.

Note that by following the instructions provided at the first external link below, information on some of her convoy voyages will come up.

Related external link:
Misc. convoys - By clicking on "Ship Search", using "Hildur" as keyword, several convoys will come up. Here are OA 233 and SC 41, both mentioned above.

Back to Hildur I on the "Ships starting with H" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Våre gamle skip" by Leif M. Bjørkelund and E. H. Kongshavn, and misc.