M/S Høegh Silverlight - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Manager: Leif Høegh & Co. A/S, Oslo
Tonnage: 5197 gt, 3186 net, 8425 tdwt.
Dimensions: 409' 7" x 55' 7".
Machinery: 5-cyl. two-stroke cycle double acting oil engine by Machinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg, A.G., Augsburg.

General cargo vessel completed by Deutsche Werft Reiherstiegwerft, Hamburg in Dec.-1936. Managed during the war by S & J Thompson Ltd., London, managers of Silver Line Ltd., which had a joint service arrangement with Leif Høegh before the war.

Høegh Silverlight had 5 mates and 2 female radio operators in 1944, one of whom was the Canadian Margaret Benham (from Febr.-1944 until Febr.-1945 - she later served on M/S Roseville). In addition to the Norwegian steward and cook the ship had 13 Lascars (from Goa, India) who had their own steward, 2 cooks, 2 saloon boys, 5 messboys, 2 Boys and a laundryman. She had 2 boatswains, 1 Norwegian and 1 Chinese.

Related item on this website:
A Guestbook message - From someone whose aunt was a passenger on Høegh Silverlight in Dec.-1941 (see also Page 3 below).

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

Voyage Record
From Dec.-1941 to Dec.-1945:

(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 several voyages are missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1941	Dec. 30	Fremantle	Capetown	–	Independent	Previously traded in Pacific See Page 1, Page 2 & Page 3
1942	Jan. 26	Capetown	Trinidad	Febr. 15	Independent	–
	Febr. 18	Trinidad	New Orleans	Febr. 27	Independent	–
	Apr. 18	New Orleans	Capetown	May 16	Independent	–
	May 21	Capetown	Abadan	June 10	Independent	–
	June 11	Abadan	Basra	June 11	Independent	Missing voyages, Page 3
	June 25	Kuwait	Bombay	June 30	Independent	–
	July 9	Bombay	Bombay	July 16	Independent	Voyage data unknown
	Aug. 9	Bombay	Capetown	Aug. 27	Independent	–
	Sept. 1	Capetown	Punta Arenas	Sept. 21	Independent	–
	Sept. 22	Punta Arenas	Valparaiso	Sept. 29	Independent	–
	Oct. 2	Valparaiso	Balboa	Oct. 12	Independent	–
	Oct. 17	Cristobal	Gitmo	Oct. 21	ZG 8	Convoy available at ZG convoys (external link)
	Oct. 23	Gitmo	New York City	Oct. 30	GN 14	Convoy available at GN convoys (external link)
	Nov. 28	New York City	Gitmo	Dec. 6	NG 325	For Cristobal. Convoy available at NG convoys (external link)
	Dec. 6	Gitmo	Cristobal	Dec. 9	Independent	–
	Dec. 10	Balboa	Durban	Jan. 12-1943	Independent	–
1943	Jan. 14	Durban	Abadan	Febr. 2	Independent	–
	Febr. 5	Abadan	Basra	Febr. 5	Independent	Not included on Page 4
	Febr. 25	Basra	Abadan	Febr. 25	Independent	–
	March 4	Abadan	Bahrein	–	Independent	–
	March 6	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	March 9	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	March 15	PB 30	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	March 22	Bombay	Cochin	March 24	Independent	–
	March 26	Cochin	Colombo	March 27	Independent	–
	Apr. 1	Colombo	Fremantle	Apr. 14	Independent	–
	Apr. 14	Fremantle	Balboa	May 21	Independent	–
	May 24	Cristobal	Gitmo	May 28	ZG 32	Convoy available at ZG convoys (external link)
	May 29	Gitmo	New York City	June 6	GN 62	Convoy available at GN convoys (external link)
	July 1	New York City	Gitmo	July 8	NG 371	Convoy available at NG convoys (external link)
	July 9	Gitmo	Cristobal	July 12	GZ 37	Convoy available at GZ convoys (external link)
	July 12	Balboa	Fremantle	Aug. 17	Independent	–
	Aug. 20	Fremantle	–	–	OW 6/1	Dispersed Aug. 31. Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Aug. 31	Dispersed from OW 6	Bombay	Sept. 6	Independent	–
	Sept. 8	Bombay	Bandar Abbas	Sept. 13	BP 94	Convoy available at link above. Compare w/Page 4
	Sept. 13	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Sept. 22	Independent	Lay five days at Basra Bar
	Sept. 24	Abadan	Basra	Sept. 24	Independent	–
	Oct. 29	Basra	Abadan	Oct. 29	Independent	–
	Nov. 9	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 11	Bandar Abbas	Karachi	Nov. 14	PB 63	Convoy available at link above
	Nov. 22	Karachi	Bombay	Nov. 26	PB 64	Convoy available at link above
	Nov. 27	Bombay	Colombo	Dec. 2	BM 76	Convoy available at BM convoys (external link)
	Dec. 15	Colombo	Aden	Dec. 23	Independent	–
	Dec. 23	Aden	Suez	Dec. 28	Independent	See also Page 4
1944	Jan. 5	Port Said	New York City	Febr. 4	GUS 27	Port Said to USA. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link) See also narrative below
	March 2	New York City	Hampton Roads	–	Independent	–
	March 4	Hampton Roads	Port Said	March 31	UGS 35	Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 2	Suez	Aden	Apr. 8	Independent	–
	Apr. 11	Aden	Bandar Abbas	Apr. 18	AP 68	Convoy available at AP convoys (external link) Compare w/Page 5
	Apr. 18	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Apr. 22	Independent	–
	Apr. 27	Abadan	Basra	Apr. 27	Independent	–
	May 3	Basra	Abadan	May 3	Independent	–
	May 12	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	May 15	Bandar Abbas	Karachi	May 17	Independent	–
	May 25	Karachi	Cochin	May 29	Independent	–
	June 2	Cochin	Colombo	June 4	Independent	–
	June 21	Colombo	Aden	July 3	Independent	–
	July 4	Aden	Suez	July 10	Independent	See also Page 5 above
	July 14	Port Said	New York City	Aug. 8	GUS 46	–
	Sept. 22	Hampton Roads	Port Said	Oct. 17	UGS 55	For Bombay. Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	Oct. 18	Suez	Aden	Oct. 23	Independent	–
	Oct. 23	Aden	Karachi	Oct. 29	Independent	–
	Oct. 31	Karachi	Bombay	Nov. 2	Independent	–
	Nov. 18	Bombay	Colombo	Nov. 21	Independent	–
	Dec. 25	Colombo	Cochin	Dec. 27	Independent	–
1945	Jan. 2	Cochin	Aden	Jan. 9	Independent	–
	Jan. 10	Aden	Suez	Jan. 15	Independent	–
	Jan. 16	Port Said	Oran	Jan. 24	Independent	–
	Jan. 27	Oran	Hampton Roads*	Febr. 14	GUS 68	Arr. New York - see Page 5* Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	March 18	New York City	Passed Gibraltar	Apr. 3	UGS 81	For Karachi. Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 3	Passed Gibraltar	Port Said	Apr. 9	Independent	–
	Apr. 10	Suez	Aden	Apr. 15	Independent	–
	Apr. 15	Aden	Karachi	Apr. 20	Independent	–
	Apr. 23	Karachi	Bombay	Apr. 25	Independent	–
	May 7	Bombay	Cochin	May 9	Independent	–
	May 15	Cochin	Colombo	May 16	Independent	–
	May 24	Colombo	Suez	June 6	Independent	–
	June 7	Port Said	New York City	June 26	Independent	–
	July 27	New York City	Port Said	Aug. 14	Independent	–
	Aug. 15	Suez	Bombay	Aug. 25	Independent	–
	Sept. 18	Bombay	Karachi	Sept. 20	Independent	–
	Sept. 29	Karachi	Suez	Oct. 9	Independent	Compare w/Page 6
	Oct. 10	Port Said	New York City	Oct. 30	Independent	–
	Dec. 9	New York City	Cristobal	Dec. 15	Independent	–
	Dec. 16	Balboa	Los Angeles	Dec. 26	Independent	Further voyages, Page 6 above

Misc. War Details:

For information on voyages made in between those discussed below, please see the documents received from the Norwegian archives and Hague's Voyage Record above.

As can be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Høegh Silverlight was on her way from Singapore to Colombo when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. Her 1941 voyages start on Page 2.

She's said to have been at Cebu (Philippines) on Dec. 7-1941 but managed to get out on the 14th, before the islands fell to the Japanese. (This voyage is not mentioned on Page 3).

Her 1943 voyages and early 1944 voyages are shown on Page 4. In Jan.-1944, she was in Convoy GUS 27 which was attacked by aircraft off Derna shortly after midnight on Jan. 9. No ships were lost. This convoy, which is available via the external link provided within the above table, had departed Port Said on Jan. 5 and reached Hampton Roads on Febr. 4; Høegh Silverlight arrived New York that day. That summer, in July-1944, she acted as Commodore Ship for Convoy GUS 46, which departed Port Said on July 14 and arrived Hampton Roads on Aug. 8; Høegh Silverlight again went to New York. Other Norwegian ships also took part, as will be seen when following the link.

When in New York loading for an Indian port in Sept.-1944 she had the wreck of the French liner Normandie* in the neighbouring pier, capsized and burnt out. While there, they experienced a tremendous hurricane, which caused a lot of damages and deaths in the area. On Sept. 27(?)** Høegh Silverlight headed out in convoy for Gibraltar and made several voyages New York-India. On one of the return trips to New York she had raw Opium in her cargo, and had to have armed police on board while it was being unloaded.

When the war ended in Europe she's said to have been in Cochin***, India, then returned to New York the following month. When the news of Japan's capitulation came on Aug. 14-1945 she was in the Suez Canal - she was back in New York again on Oct.30.

*Upon checking on Normandie in Roger W. Jordans book, "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939" I find that she had been requisitioned by the US in Dec.-1941 (USMC, then USN), renamed USS Lafayette (AP-53). On fire in New York harbour on Febr. 9-1942, listed and settled on her side (1 died). Refloated in 1943, laid up then sold to breakers in Oct.-1946; broken up at Newark, NJ 1946-'47.

** Page 5 of the archive documents says she left New York on Sept. 20, arrived Hampton Roads the next day, departing again for Bombay on the 22nd. This voyage from the U.S. was made in Convoy UGS 55 - again, ref. external link provided within the Voyage Record. It left Hampton Roads on Sept. 22 and arrived Port Said on Oct. 17. Via Suez, Aden and Karachi, she arrived Bombay on Nov. 2.

*** The same document says she left Bombay on May 7-1945, arriving Cochin on the 9th.

See also Page 6, which shows voyages to Apr.-1946.

POST WAR:

Høegh Silverlight was sold in Jan.-1953 to Kyodo Sempaku K.K., Japan and renamed Ginyo Maru. In 1960 owners became Kyodo Sempaku K.K. and Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Japan. Sold in 1964 to Japanese shipbreakers. Arrived at Osaka in Dec.-1964 for breaking up.

Related external link:
The Australian War Memorial has another picture of this ship. It can be found by running a search through their collection search page.