M/T Høegh Hood - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/T Høegh Hood
Updated Oct. 25-2011

To Høegh Hood on the "Ships starting with H" page.

Source: Scanned from Leif Høegh & Co,'s fleet list and added to this website with the company's permission.
Another picture is available on this external page (click in it to make it larger).

Manager: Leif Høegh & Co. A/S, Oslo
Tonnage: 9351 gt, 5652 net, 14 640 tdwt.
Dimensions: 485' 9" x 65' 8".
Machinery: 7-cyl. four-stroke cycle single acting oil engine by Burmeister & Wain, Copenahgen.

Completed in Dec.-1936 by Odense Staalskibsværft, Odense, Denmark. Managed during the war by British Tanker Co. Ltd., London.

Captain: Gustav Saanum. A visitor to my site, George Monk, has told me that the captain recived the British award Hon OBE(Civ) = "Honour of the British Empire" - his source: Seedies List of awards to the British Merchant Navy which includes awards to Allied merchant seamen.

Related item on this website:
A Guestbook message from the son of Rufus Donald Symons, who served on this ship (as well as Norden and Honningsvaag - later Tarn and Hiram, post war). He's interested in getting in touch with someone who served with his dad. His E-mail address can be obtained by contacting me (address at the bottom of this page).

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5

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

Voyage Record
From Apr.-1940 to July-1945:

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

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Apr. 18	Capetown	Abadan	May 7	Independent	Had arrived Capetown Apr. 9. See Page 1
	May 8	Abadan	Capetown	May 29	Independent	–
	June 1	Capetown	Abadan	June 20	Independent	–
	June 26	Abadan	Bahrein	June 27	Independent	–
	June 27	Bahrein	Karachi	July 1	Independent	–
	July 6	Karachi	Bombay	July 9	Independent	–
	July 17	Bombay	Suez	Aug. 6	BN 2	Convoy available at BN convoys (external link)
	Aug. 23	Port Said	Alexandria	Aug. 24	Independent	–
	Oct. 10	Alexandria	Haifa	Oct. 12	Independent	–
	Oct. 22	Haifa	Alexandria	Oct. 24	Independent	–
	Nov. 7	Alexandria	Haifa	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 11	Alexandria	Port Said	Nov. 12	Independent	–
	Nov. 14	Port Said	Alexandria	Nov. 15	Independent	–
	Dec. 16	Alexandria	Malta	Dec. 21	MW 5B	Convoy available via this page (external link)
1941	Jan. 10	Malta	Port Said	Jan. 14	ME 6	Convoy available via link above (voyage not included, Page 1).
	Jan. 19	Suez	–	–	BS 13	For Abadan. Dispersed Jan. 27. Convoy available via link above
	Jan. 27	Dispersed from BS 13	Abadan	Febr. 4	Independent	–
	Febr. 6	Abadan	Aden	Febr. 14	Independent	–
	Febr. 17	Aden	Suez	Febr. 22	BNF 2	Convoy available via link above
	Apr. 18	Port Said*	Alexandria	Apr. 19	Independent	*From Suez (Page 1).
	May 5	Alexandria	Malta	May 9	MW 7B	Convoy available via this page (external link). See also narrative below
	July 23	Malta	Gibraltar	July 27	MG 1A	Arrived damaged (see narrative below). Convoy available via link above. See also Page 1 & Page 2
1942	March 5	Gibraltar	–	–	Escorted	Detached independent, March 9
	March 9	Detached from escort	Galveston	March 29	Independent	–
	May 28	Galveston	Texas City	May 28	Independent	–
	May 31	Texas City	Key West	June 3	Independent	–
	June 5	Key West	Hampton Roads	June 10	KN 107	Convoy available at KN convoys (external link)
	June 12	Hampton Roads	New York City	June 13	Independent	–
	June 17	New York City	Cape Cod Canal	–	Independent	–
	June 19	Cape Cod Bay	Halifax	June 21	BX 25B	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	June 29	Halifax	Loch Ewe	July 10	HX 196	–
	July 11	Loch Ewe	Scapa Flow	July 12	WN 308	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	July 23	Lyness	Loch Ewe	July 24	EN 114	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	July 24	Loch Ewe	Halifax	Aug. 6	ON 115	Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Aug. 12	Halifax	Curacao	Aug. 22	HA 3	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link)
	Aug. 25	Curacao	Key West(?)	Aug. 31	TAW 15C	From Curacao. Convoy available at TAW convoys (external link)
	Aug. 31	Gitmo	Cristobal	Sept. 3	GZ 1	Convoy available at GZ convoys (external link)
	Sept. 5	Balboa	Capetown	Oct. 7	Independent	–
	Oct. 18	Capetown	Abadan	Nov. 8	Independent	–
	Nov. 11	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 16	Bandar Abbas	Aden	Nov. 23	PA 11	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Nov. 26	Aden	Bandar Abbas	Dec. 2	AP 8	Convoy available at AP convoys (external link)
	Dec. 2	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Dec. 4	Independent	(Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2).
	Dec. 6	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Dec. 10	Bandar Abbas	Aden	Dec. 16	PA 14	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Dec. 21	Aden	Bandar Abbas	Dec. 28	AP 10	Convoy available at AP convoys (external link)
	Dec. 28	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Dec. 31	Independent	(Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2).
1943	Jan. 5	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	Notional sailing date
	Jan. 11	Bandar Abbas	Aden	Jan. 18	PA 19	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Jan. 22	Aden	Bandar Abbas	Jan. 28	AP 14	Convoy available at AP convoys (external link)
	Jan. 28	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Jan. 30	Independent	(Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2).
	Febr. 1	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Febr. 4	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PA 23	For Durban. Detached Febr. 7. Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Febr. 7	Detached from PA 23	Durban	Febr. 25	Independent	–
	March 13	Durban	–	–	DN 24	Dispersed March 15. Convoy available via link above
	March 15	Dispersed from DN 24	Abadan	Apr. 4	Independent	–
	Apr. 6	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Apr. 10	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	Apr. 17	PB 35	Convoy available via link above
*	June 3	Bombay	Abadan	June 10	BP 82	A. Hague says: Probably with this convoy. Available via link above
*	June 4	Bombay	Abadan	June 10	Independent	–
	One of the above 2 entries should probably be deleted. According to Page 2, Høegh Hood* sailed from Bombay on June 4.
	June 11	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	June 18	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PA 42	For Durban. Detached June 20. Convoy available via this page (external link)
	June 20	Detached from PA 42	Durban	July 7	Independent	–
	July 16	Durban	–	–	DN 52	Dispersed 34 02S 37 40E, July 18. Convoy available via link above
	July 18	Dispersed from DN 52	Abadan	Aug. 6	Independent	–
	Aug. 7	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PA 49	Detached Aug. 15. Convoy available via link above
	Aug. 15	Detached from PA 49	Durban	Sept. 1	Independent	–
	Sept. 9	Durban	–	–	DN 60	Detached Sept. 12. Convoy available via link above
	Sept. 12	Detached from DN 60	Abadan	Sept. 28	Independent	–
	Sept. 30	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 2	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PB 58	Detached Oct. 8. Convoy available via link above
	Oct. 8	Detached from PB 58	Fremantle	Oct. 27	Independent	–
	Dec. 1	Fremantle	Esperance Bay	Dec. 3	Independent	A. Hague says: Notional sailing date. Page 3 gives Nov. 30.
	Dec. 6	Esperance Bay	Fremantle	Dec. 9	Independent	–
	Dec. 21	Fremantle	Abadan	Jan. 13-1944	Independent	–
1944	Jan. 15	Abadan	Aden	Jan. 23	Independent	–
	Jan. 23	Aden	Suez	Jan. 29	Independent	On to Port Said same day (Page 3).
	Febr. 4	Port Said	Augusta	Febr. 10	GUS 30	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 24	Augusta	Algiers	Febr. 28	MKS 41	Convoy will be added. See ships in MKS convoys
	March 5	Algiers	New York City	March 23	GUS 32	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 1	New York City	Baltimore	Apr. 2	Independent	–
	May 9	Baltimore	Norfolk, VA	May 9	Independent	–
	May 13	Hampton Roads	Augusta	June 3	UGS 42	Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	June 4	Augusta	Naples	June 5	VN 44	Convoy available at VN convoys (external link)
	June 11	Naples	Augusta	June 12	NV 45	Convoy available at NV convoys (external link)
	June 13	Augusta	Algiers	June 17	MKS 52	Convoy will be added. See ships in MKS convoys
	June 22	Algiers	Philadelphia	July 10	GUS 43	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	July 13	Philadelphia	New York City	July 13	Independent	–
	July 17	New York City	Liverpool	Aug. 3	HX 300	On to Milford Haven, next day (Page 3).
	Aug. 4	Milford Haven	Devonport	Aug. 6	EBC 63	Convoy available at EBC convoys (external link) See also Page 3.
	Aug. 11	Devonport	Belfast Lough	Aug. 13	–	A. Hague says: Convoy Devonport to Milford Haven(?) unknown.
	Aug. 18	Belfast Lough	New York City	Sept. 2	ON 249	Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Sept. 7	New York City	–	–	NK 637	Detached Sept. 13. Convoy available at NK convoys (external link)
	Sept. 13	Detached from NK 637	Texas City	Sept. 15	Independent	–
	Sept. 16	Texas City	Key West	Sept. 20	HK 279	Convoy available at HK convoys (external link)
	Sept. 20	Key West	New York City	Sept. 28	KN 339	Convoy available at KN convoys (external link)
	Oct. 1	New York City	Texas City	Oct. 8	Independent	–
	Oct. 10	Galveston	Hampton Roads	Oct. 17	Independent	–
	Oct. 19	Hampton Roads	Baytown	Oct. 27	Independent	–
	Oct. 28	Baytown	New York City	Nov. 5	Independent	–
	Nov. 8	New York City	Puerto la Cruz	Nov. 16	Independent	–
	Nov. 17	Puerto la Cruz	Philadelphia	Nov. 26	Independent	–
	Nov. 29	Philadelphia	Mobile	Dec. 6	Independent	–
	Dec. 8	Beaumont	Philadelphia	Dec. 15	Independent	–
	Dec. 19	Philadelphia	Galveston	Dec. 25	Independent	–
1945	Jan. 21	Galveston	New York City	Jan. 28	Independent	–
	Febr. 2	New York City	Puerto la Cruz	Febr. 11	Independent	–
	Febr. 12	Puerto la Cruz	Delaware Capes	Febr. 20	Independent	–
	Febr. 23	Delaware Capes	Puerto la Cruz	March 4	Independent	–
	March 5	Puerto La Cruz	Delaware Capes	March 13	Independent	–
	March 16	Delaware Capes	Puerto la Cruz	March 24	Independent	–
	March 25	Puerto la Cruz	Philadelphia	March 29	Independent	–
	Apr. 4	Philadelphia	Curacao	Apr. 12	Independent	See also Page 4
	Apr. 13	Curacao	New York City	Apr. 20	Independent	–
	Apr. 23	New York City	Downs	May 8	HX 352	Missing movements, Page 4 above. Convoy will be added. See ships in HX convoys
	May 17	Downs	New York City	June 2	ON 303	Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	June 5	New York City	London	June 19	Independent	(See also Page 4).
	June 21	London	Fayal	June 28	Independent	–
	June 28	Fayal	Puerto la Cruz	–	Independent	–
	July 8	Puerto la Cruz	Curacao	July 8	Independent	Subsequent voyages: Page 4 & Page 5

As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Høegh Hood arrived Table Bay from Abadan on Apr. 9-1940, the day of the German invasion of Norway. Her 1941 voyages also start on this document.

Voyage to Malta – 1941:

For information on earlier voyages, please see the archive document mentioned above and A. Hague's Voyage Record.

"Nortraships flåte" states that Høegh Hood was in one of two convoys that arrived Malta on May 9-1941 with oil, war materials and supplies for the British forces. The author, J. R. Hegland, says that one of the convoys had departed Gibraltar on May 6 and consisted of 5 British ships, 2 of which struck mines near Malta, 1 sank, all the rest reached their destination (this must have been Convoy Tiger - external link. Empire Song sank after having struck a mine. However, port of arrival was Alexandria, not Malta, and the date was May 12). The other convoy, given the designation MW 1* in this source, left Alexandria on May 6 escorted by Admiral Cunningham's forces and consisted of the Norwegian Talabot, Thermopylæ, Høegh Hood and Svenør, as well as the Danish Amerika (under MoWT control) and the British Settler. As the ships arrived, they were cheered by a large group of people; the Maltese were well aware of how dangerous the transport of the much needed supplies had been.

* It appears the author of "Nortraships flåte" has gotten the information somewhat "muddled up". For one ting, there was no Convoy MW 1 to Malta (the first MW convoy was MW 3 back in Nov.-1940). Also, I've been told by a visitor to my website that the convoy with the Norwegian ships was in two parts, which left Alexandria at different times but arrived Malta at the same time. He says Høegh Hood and Svenør were with the slower part, leaving Alexandria on May 5 (this was Convoy MW 7B, which agrees with Page 1 of the archive documents, stating that Høegh Hood left Alexandria on May 5 and arrived Malta May 9), while the other 4 ships were with a faster portion that left on May 6 (see Convoy MW 7A). He has also told me that the convoy arriving from Gibraltar (in other words, "Convoy Tiger" mentioned above) was not intended for Malta but for Alexandria. It was loaded with tanks that were used a few weeks later to launch an offensive against Rommel ("Operation Battleaxe" - see this external page).

"Nortraships flåte" further states that during the approx. 3 months the 6 ships were forced to remain in Malta (because of the danger involved in leaving), the island endured no less than 300 air attacks. While there, the ships were camouflaged with red and white diagonal stripes, like the Italian merchant ships. In Gibraltar, Admiral Somerville's battle fleet was reinforced with the addition of the battle ship Nelson and 3 cruisers, and Admiral Cunningham's forces were sent from Alexandria in an effort to get the attention away from another Malta convoy consisting of 6 British ships which left Gibraltar on July 21 (Convoy GM 1?). Two days later, on July 23 the 6 ships that had been waiting in Malta were given the order to leave, all of them under the Italian flag, and with no escort whatsoever, according to Hegland (Convoy MG 1A). The hope was that the enemy would concentrate on the battle fleets in the west and east, which also came to pass ("Operation Substance" - scroll down on this external page; see also this external page).

Høegh Hood arrived Gibraltar on July 27, though not without damage. Both the eastbound and the westbound convoys had been attacked during the crossings, but all the ships in both convoys made it to their respective destinations. Høegh Hood was hit by a torpedo* on the port side in tank No. 1, leaving a large hole in her side, but no one was injured and she could proceed at reduced speed, arriving Gibraltar as the last ship. The torpedo damage was temporarily repaired, before she continued to Galveston, Texas for further repairs (going back to Page 1, as well as Page 2, we learn that this voyage to Galveston did not take place until March-1942, Høegh Hood having remained in Gibraltar since July-1941. She left Gibraltar on March 5-1942 and arrived Galveston on the 29th).

*Leif Høegh's fleet list claims she was heavily damaged by air torpedo in June-1941, but this date must be an error. According to a message in my Guestbook, Høegh Hood's damage (by an Italian air torpedo) occurred on July 24-1941. See also a more recent Guestbook message, posted by Edgar Merrey, who was a gunner on bord at the time, and who says they were hit by 2 torpedoes. He has sent me the pilot's report, which says the following (I received it in a translated English version, the original is in Italian):

"In response to your letter dated 10 April, that you sent to the Commander 14 Stormo. The petrol tanker was torpedoed on 24/7/41 by aircraft from 280 Sqn and not 278 Sqn. Attached is a photocopy of the combat report raised by Capt. Amedeo Mojoli. The 280 Sqn aircraft were SM 79's and were based at Cagliari Elmas airfield in Sardinia.

Information on the attack:

a) Date of attack – 24 July 1941
b) Type of attack – Torpedo
c) Targets – 1 Auxilliary cruiser 7000 tonnes, 1 Petrol tanker 15000 tonnes
Position – 37-28, 270, 9.37
d) Parent base of aircraft – Elmas
e) Time of departure from parent base – 16:25
f) Number of aircraft – 3 x SM 79 aircraft from 280 Sqn
g) Name of Commander of formation – Capt. Amedeo Mojoli
h) Weather conditions on route – V. Good
i) Flight level – 500-100-40-500
j) Time of arrival on target – 18:00
m) Weather condition on target – V. Good
n) Total height at target – (none entered)
o) Number of aircraft arrived on target – 3
p) Type of formation – Patrol
q) Ammunition used – 3 x Torpedoes against Petrol tanker and Cruiser
r) Result of the attack – 2 Torpedoes struck the petrol tanker on the left side of the bow section. The petrol tanker leaned violently to the right and then drifted very strongly to the left while sinking slowly.
s) Reaction from the air – nil
t) Reaction – 2 canons fired from the auxilliary cruiser
u) Defensive action – 2 machine guns fired from both ships.
v) Time of return to base – 19:25
z) Number of aircraft returned – 3
Particular Event – The petrol tanker and cruiser hoisted the Italian flag and when the aircraft approached a green flare was fired from the ship.

(As mentioned, Høegh Hood arrived Gibraltar on July 27 for repairs, later continuing to Galveston).

Misc. other voyages:

Follow the convoy links provided for more details on them; several Norwegian ships took part.

As already mentioned, Høegh Hood had arrived the U.S. from Gibraltar at the end of March-1942 for repairs of the torpedo damage. She did not leave Galveston again until May 28, when she proceeded to Texas City, then on to Key West, Hampton Roads and New York. In June, she headed to Halifax in order to join Convoy HX 196 to the U.K. on June 29. She subsequently returned to Halifax with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 115*, which originated in Liverpool on July 24. She arrived Halifax on Aug. 6, having started out from Loch Ewe. The Norwegian Brimanger, Emma Bakke, Herbrand, Katy, Norsktank, Solfonn, Topdalsfjord and Ørnefjell are also listed.

The rest of her 1942 voyages are shown on Page 2, which also has a few 1943 voyages. See also Page 3, which lists most of her 1944 voyages. Convoy information for some of them can be found in the Voyage Record above.

This Guestbook message message says the following with regard to Rufus Donald Symons:
"He joined the M.T. Hoegh Hood in late 1943 as a "youngman" & he sailed to Abadan in Iran to load oil for Sicily. They went into dry dock in Baltimore where he says spare decks were put on the ship for carrying deck cargo including trucks & aircraft. He mentioned that facilities were also installed for refuelling escort vessels at sea. In late 1944 they were congratulated by the convoy Commander for being part of one of the largest east bound convoys of the time, there were over 400 ships in the convoy (this was Convoy HX 300, mentioned below - not 400 ships, but the largest convoy of the war). Later they were running down to Puerto La Cruz in Venezuela picking up crude oil for the refineries in Philedelphia. On one trip whilst running down the east coast of the USA they were asked to look for survivors of a tanker that had broken in half during a hurricane. They picked up one Brazilian who had survived four nights & three days on a hatch board. He paid off the M.T.Hoegh Hood in early 1945....."

In Febr.-1944, she had made a voyage from Augusta to Algiers, having sailed in Convoy MKS 41* (this convoy had started out in Port Said on Febr. 19 and arrived Gibraltar March 2, then joined up with the Freetown Convoy SL 150, before proceeding to the U.K. as a combined convoy); Høegh Hood had sailed from Augusta on Febr. 24 and arrived Algiers on the 28th. From there, she later headed to the U.S. (again, see Page 3 and Voyage Record). In June that same year, she was back in Augusta, making another voyage from there to Algiers with Convoy MKS 52*, and from Algiers back to the U.S. again, then in July, she's listed as sailing in Convoy HX 300 from New York. Her destination is given as Mersey, Milford Haven and Devonport - as already mentioned, this was the largest convoy to ever cross the Atlantic. She subsequently joined the westbound Convoy ON 249*, which left Liverpool on Aug. 18 and arrived New York on Sept. 2 (Høegh Hood had started out from Belfast Lough on Aug. 18). She had again been in the company of several other Norwegian ships, namely Frontenac, Gylfe, Høyanger, Kaia Knudsen, Laurits Swenson, Lista, Maud, Minerva, Norden, Norma (Vice Commodore), Skaraas, Skiensfjord, Torborg and Velma.

Arnold Hague has also included her in Convoy HX 352*, departing New York on Apr. 23-1945, arriving Liverpool on VE Day, May 8. According to Page 4, Høegh Hood was bound for London - she arrived Thameshaven on May 10. Anna Knudsen, Havkong, Havprins, Ivaran, Pan Scandia and Troubadour are also named in this convoy. Høegh Hood headed back across the Atlantic on May 17 with Convoy ON 303*, and arrived New York on June 2. Anna Knudsen is again listed, as are Skotaas and Villanger (Commodore Vessel). Further voyages are listed on Page 4 and on Page 5 (to Apr.-1946).