M/S Ida Bakke - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

M/S Ida Bakke
Updated Oct. 31-2011

To Ida Bakke on the "Ships starting with I" page.

Emma Bakke & Ida Bakke (Concordia Line - 1950's, taken in Beirut).
Sent to me by Roger W. Jordan.
Another picture is available on this external page (click in it to make it larger).

Manager: Christian Haaland, Haugesund
Tonnage: 5444 gt, 3260 nrt, 8490 tdw.
Dimensions: 453.2'/435.9'(lpp) x 58.8' x 28.0'.
Machinery: 6 cyl. 2tdv Burmeister & Wain (AB Götaverken) 6900bhp
Speed: 16 knots.

Delivered in Nov.-1938 from A/B Götaverken, Gothenburg as cargoliner Ida Bakke to D/S A/S Idaho (Christian Haaland), Haugesund. On TC to Knut Knutsen O.A.S., Haugesund and placed in the Knutsen Line - South Pacific UK Service (Europe-USA-west coast of South America). This line was started in 1935, and being the son-in-law of Knut Knutsen O.A.S., Christian Haaland had ships in the line from the very start (on TC basis).

Between April 9-1940 and Jan. 1-1945 Ida Bakke had sailed 340 795 miles, having visited 167 ports.

Some of the men on board had served all through the war, many since delivery in 1938. Among them were:

Captain: Knut Meling (from 1940. Previous captain had been Anton Zakariassen, who died in Lima, Peru).
1st Mate: Paul Vallevik.
Mate/Radio Operator: Bjarne Grimstvedt
Chief Engineer: Oyva Vermanen (Finnish citizen, living in Haugesund)
2nd? Engineer: Gustav Løge.
3rd Engineer: Olaf Håvig.
Engineer: Sigvald Johan Olsen.
Electrician: Thomas Falkeid.
Mechanic: William Wilhelmsen.

Related item on this website:
Guestbook message from someone who served on this ship for a while post war.
Another Guestbook message

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 May-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. 22	Cristobal	Kingston	Apr. 23	Independent	Earlier voyages, Page 1
	Apr. 23	Kingston	Halifax	May 1	Independent	–
	May 16	Halifax	Clyde	May 31	HX 43	See also narrative below
	June 8	Clyde	Liverpool	June 9	Independent	–
	June 23	Liverpool	Montreal	July 2	Independent	–
	July 2	Montreal	Cristobal	July 11	Independent	–
	July 13	Balboa	Los Angeles	July 19	Independent	–
	July 21	Los Angeles	Columbia River	July 23	Independent	–
	July 26	Portland, Oregon	Balboa	Aug. 6	Independent	–
	Aug. 8	Cristobal	Quebec	Aug. 16	Independent	–
	Aug. 21	Quebec	Cristobal	Aug. 30	Independent	–
	Sept. 1	Balboa	Columbia River	Sept. 11	Independent	–
	Sept. 15	Columbia River	Los Angeles	Sept. 17	Independent	–
	Sept. 18	Los Angeles	Balboa	Sept. 26	Independent	–
	Sept. 28	Cristobal	Quebec	Oct. 7	Independent	–
	Oct. 10	Quebec	Boston	Oct. 14	Independent	–
	Oct. 15	Boston	New York City	Oct. 15	Independent	–
	Oct. 17	New York City	Baltimore	Oct. 18	Independent	–
	Oct. 21	Baltimore	New York City	Oct. 22	Independent	Via Hampton Roads (Page 1).
	Oct. 26	New York City	New Orleans	Oct. 31	Independent	–
	Oct. 31	New Orleans	Cristobal	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 5	Balboa	Los Angeles	Nov. 13	Independent	–
	Nov. 14	Los Angeles	Miri	Dec. 6	Independent	–
	Dec. 6	Miri	Singapore	Dec. 8	Independent	–
	Dec. 8	Singapore	Calcutta	Dec. 13	Independent	–
	Dec. 18	Calcutta	Rangoon	Dec. 20	Independent	–
	Dec. 23	Rangoon	Madras	Dec. 26	Independent	–
	Dec. 27	Madras	Colombo	Dec. 28	Independent	–
	Dec. 29	Colombo	Bombay	Jan. 1-1941	Independent	–
1941	Jan. 4	Bombay	Karachi	Jan. 6	Independent	–
	Jan. 8	Karachi	Colombo	Jan. 13	Independent	–
	Jan. 15	Colombo	Penang	Jan. 19	Independent	–
	Jan. 20	Penang	Singapore	Jan. 22	Independent	–
	Jan. 25	Singapore	Macassar	Jan. 29	Independent	–
	Jan. 30	Macassar	Los Angeles	Febr. 21	Independent	–
	Febr. 22	Los Angeles	Balboa	March 3	Independent	–
	March 4	Cristobal	Boston	March 10	Independent	–
	March 12	Boston	New York City	March 13	Independent	–
	March 28	New York City	New Orleans	Apr. 1	Independent	–
	Apr. 4	New Orleans	Cristobal	Apr. 8	Independent	–
	Apr. 9	Balboa	Los Angeles	Apr. 17	Independent	–
	Apr. 22	Los Angeles	Miri	May 14	Independent	–
	May 14	Miri	Singapore	May 16	Independent	–
	May 17	Singapore	Rangoon	May 21	Independent	–
	May 24	Rangoon	Calcutta	May 27	Independent	–
	June 1	Calcutta	Madras	June 3	Independent	–
	June 4	Madras	Colombo	June 6	Independent	–
	June 7	Colombo	Cochin	June 8	Independent	–
	June 8	Cochin	Bombay	June 10	Independent	–
	June 15	Bombay	Calcutta	June 21	Independent	–
	July 3	Calcutta	Colombo	July 7	Independent	–
	July 7	Calcutta*	Capetown	July 21	Independent	Colombo (Page 2*).
	July 21	Capetown	New York City	Aug. 10	Independent	–
	Sept. 9	New York City	Cristobal	Sept. 15	Independent	–
	Sept. 16	Balboa	Los Angeles	–	Independent	–
	Sept. 25	Los Angeles	Miri	Oct. 18	Independent	–
	Oct. 18	Miri	Singapore	Oct. 20	Independent	–
	Oct. 20	Singapore	Rangoon	Oct. 24	Independent	–
	Oct. 26	Rangoon	Calcutta	Oct. 29	Independent	–
	Nov. 2	Calcutta	Madras	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 5	Madras	Colombo	Nov. 7	Independent	–
	Nov. 8	Colombo	Bombay	Nov. 11	Independent	–
	Nov. 16	Bombay	Karachi	Nov. 17	Independent	–
	Nov. 25	Karachi	Bombay	Nov. 27	Independent	–
	Nov. 29	Bombay	Singapore	Dec. 6	Independent	–
	Dec. 13	Singapore	Capetown	Dec. 30	Independent	–
	Dec. 30	Capetown	New York City	Jan. 20-1942	Independent	–
1942	March 14	New York City	Trinidad	March 23	Independent	–
	March 24	Trinidad	Capetown	Apr. 11	Independent	–
	Apr. 12	Capetown	Karachi	Apr. 26	Independent	–
	May 16	Karachi	Bombay	May 18	Independent	–
	June 8	Bombay	Capetown	June 25	Independent	–
	June 30	Capetown	Trinidad	July 19	Independent	–
	July 21	Trinidad	Key West	July 29	TAW 7	Convoy available at TAW convoys (external link)
	July 31	Key West	New York City	Aug. 6	KN 125	Via Hampton Roads - See Page 3 Convoy available at KN convoys (external link)
	Sept. 8	New York City	Capetown	Sept. 29	Independent	–
	Sept. 29	Capetown	Bombay	Oct. 14	Independent	–
	Nov. 4	Bombay	Karachi	Nov. 6	Independent	–
	Nov. 7	Karachi	Cochin	Nov. 10	Independent	–
	Nov. 14	Cochin	Colombo	Nov. 15	Independent	–
	Nov. 18	Colombo	Capetown	Dec. 2	Independent	–
	Dec. 4	Capetown	New York City	Dec. 25	Independent	–
1943	Jan. 26	New York City	Key West	Jan. 30	NK 519	Convoy available at NK convoys (external link)
	Jan. 30	Key West	Cristobal	Febr. 2	Independent	Stop at Key West not mentioned, Page 3
	Febr. 4	Balboa	Fremantle	March 3	Independent	–
	March 4	Fremantle	Karachi	March 18	Independent	–
	March 20	Karachi	Bombay	March 22	Independent	–
	Apr. 5	Bombay	Cochin	Apr. 7	Independent	–
	Apr. 10	Cochin	Colombo	Apr. 11	Independent	–
	Apr. 14	Colombo	Fremantle	Apr. 25	Independent	–
	Apr. 25	Fremantle	Fremantle	Apr. 25	Independent	Put back with engine defects
	May 3	Fremantle	Balboa	June 1	Independent	–
	June 23	Cristobal	Gitmo	June 27	ZG 35	Convoy available at ZG convoys (external link)
	June 28	Gitmo	New York City	July 5	GN 68	Convoy available at GN convoys (external link)
	Aug. 19	New York City	Key West	Aug. 23	NK 560	Convoy available at NK convoys (external link)
	Aug. 23	Key West	Cristobal	Aug. 26	Independent	(Stop at Key West not mentioned, Page 3)
	Aug. 27	Balboa	Fremantle	Sept. 24	Independent	–
	Sept. 25	Fremantle	Bombay	Oct. 7	Independent	–
	Oct. 25	Bombay	Cochin	Oct. 28	BM 72	Convoy available at BM convoys (external link)
	Nov. 5	Cochin	Colombo	Nov. 7	BM 73	Convoy available at link above
	Nov. 11	Colombo	Aden	Nov. 17	Independent	–
	Nov. 18	Aden	Suez	Nov. 21	Independent	Arrived Port Said Nov. 24 (Page 4).
	Nov. 27	Port Said	New York City	Dec. 25	GUS 23	To NYC. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
1944	Jan. 31	New York City	Hampton Roads	–	Independent	–
	Febr. 3	Hampton Roads	Port Said	March 1	UGS 32	For Port Said. Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link) Via Gibraltar (Page 4). On to Suez March 1.
	March 3	Suez	Aden	March 7	Independent	–
	March 7	Aden	Bombay	March 12	Independent	–
	March 14	Bombay	Karachi	March 16	Independent	–
	March 20	Karachi	Bombay	March 22	Independent	–
	March 31	Bombay	Cochin	Apr. 2	Independent	–
	Apr. 10	Cochin	Colombo	Apr. 11	Independent	–
	Apr. 22	Colombo	Aden	Apr. 28	Independent	–
	Apr. 28	Aden	Suez	May 2	Independent	On to Port Said next day (Page 4).
	May 3	Port Said	Alexandria	May 4	Independent	–
	May 5	Alexandria	New York City	May 28	GUS 39	Alexandria to USA. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	June 30	New York City	Capetown	July 21	Independent	–
	July 21	Capetown	Karachi	Aug. 5	Independent	–
	Aug. 17	Karachi	Colombo	Aug. 22	Independent	–
	Sept. 19	Colombo	Cochin	Sept. 20	Independent	–
	Sept. 29	Cochin	Aden	Oct. 5	Independent	–
	Oct. 5	Aden	Suez	Oct. 9	Independent	On to Port Said Oct. 10 (Page 4).
	Oct. 12	Port Said	New York City	Nov. 6	GUS 55	Port Said to USA. Convoy available at link above
	Dec. 10	Hampton Roads*	Passed Gibraltar	Dec. 20	UGF 18	From New York (Page 4*). Convoy available at UGF convoys (external link)
	Dec. 20	Passed Gibraltar	Port Said	Dec. 26	Independent	On to Suez same day.
	Dec. 27	Suez	Aden	–	Independent	–
	Dec. 31	Aden	Bombay	Jan. 5-1945	Independent	–
1945	Jan. 15	Bombay	Karachi	Jan. 16	Independent	–
	Jan. 24	Karachi	Cochin	Jan. 27	Independent	–
	Febr. 1	Cochin	Colombo	Febr. 2	Independent	–
	Febr. 13	Colombo	Aden	Febr. 19	Independent	–
	Febr. 19	Aden	Suez	Febr. 23	Independent	On to Port Said same day (Page 5).
	Febr. 24	Port Said	Oran	March 2	Independent	–
	March 3	Oran	New York City	March 17	GUS 75	Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 24	New York City	Liverpool	May 5	CU 67	–
	May 17	Liverpool	New York City	May 28	UC 68A	Convoy will be added. See ships in UC convoys

Further voyages, up to and including most of Apr.-1946, are listed on Page 5 of the archive documents.

Two Rescues - 1939:

Captain Anton Zakariassen. In the fall of 1939 Ida Bakke rescued 42 men from the tanker British Influence which had been sunk by a German U-boat (U-29, Schuhart, Sept. 14-1939 - ref. external link provided below). Ida Bakke had been in Liverpool on Sept. 3 and I believe she was en route to the U.S. via Panama and was about 150 n. miles west of Ireland when a periscope was spotted. The U-boat came to the surface to inform them a ship had been sunk and told them where to find the lifeboats from British Influence. (The rescued men were landed near Fastnet Light). Ida Bakke then continued on her way, but the following day she received a distress call from yet another ship, the tanker Cheyenne which was being shelled by a U-boat (U-53, Heinicke, Sept. 15). By the time the Norwegian ship arrived on the scene Cheyenne had been torpedoed and had broken in 2, with both parts still floating. Behind them a British destroyer appeared, fired at the U-boat which submerged, whereupon the destroyer headed towards shore again, leaving the shipwrecked in the hands of Ida Bakke's crew. 39 were picked up (another source says 37) and subsequently landed near Fastnet Light. While continuing her voyage, Ida Bakke, which had 12 passengers on board, was redirected to Havana, then to New Orleans to pick up a cargo of cotton for Norway.

T. Eriksen, Norway has told me she passed the Panama Canal on Nov. 7-1939, and as per Jan. 29-1940 she was en route from Panama to Kingston, Jamaica. Later arrived Liverpool on Febr. 8-1940.

Related external links:
The attack on British Influence
The attack on Cheyenne

Some More Voyages:

For information on voyages made prior to and in between those mentioned here, please see the archive documents and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the convoy links provided for more details on them; several Norwegian ships took part.

Captain Knut Meling. According to a personal story, Ida Bakke was in San Fransisco when the war started in Norway on Apr. 9-1940, most of the crew hearing the news while at a movie theater (the movie was interrupted and the news announced over the loudspeakers).

With a cargo of lumber, lead and fruit for Glasgow, she was scheduled for Convoy HX 39 from Halifax on Apr. 30-1940, but did not sail. According to Page 1 of the archive documents, she was on her way from Kingston, Jamaica to Halifax on that date, with arrival Halifax on May 1. She was also cancelled from HX 40 and HX 41, but eventually got away with Convoy HX 43 on May 16, and arrived Glasgow on May 31. The Norwegian Laurits Swenson, Vivi and Sildra also sailed in this convoy.

Ida Bakke was one of the 15 allied merchant ships (5 were Norwegian) which carried the gold belonging to Norges Bank from the U.K. to Canada in June-1940. Ida Bakke departed Liverpool with the gold on June 23* (unescorted?), arriving Montreal on July 2. These dates agree with what can be found on the archive document mentioned above, which adds that she proceeded to Cristobal that same day, so the gold must have been unloaded very quickly. M/S Bomma has an account on how the gold was smuggled out of Norway.

* T. Eriksens' sources gives the departure date as June 22, saying she left in a convoy. The convoy that best fits this date is OB 172 (external link), which left Liverpool on the 22nd, dispersed in 46 55N 20 33W on June 26, 50 ships. However, as will be seen when following the link, Ida Bakka is not included in this convoy - I believe she made this voyage independently.

She was subsequently mostly in service between Canada and the U.S., later between the U.S. and India, via Panama. On Dec. 25-1940, she's said to have been en route to Calcutta, according to a story written by someone who was on board at the time (comparing with Page 1, we see that she arrived Madras on Dec. 26, having started out from Rangoon on the 23rd - she had been to Calcutta earlier that month). With the Haugesund ships Promise and Utsire, she's also said to have been in Calcutta on June 6-1941; from Page 2 of the archive documents, we learn that she arrived Colombo on that date (from Madras) - she had been to Calcutta at the beginning of that month.

Ida Bakke had arrived Singapore on Dec. 6-1941 and was still there loading rubber when the Japanese attacked, but was able to get out in the evening of Dec. 13, arriving Cape Town on Dec. 30, via Rangoon on Dec. 23 (this stop at Rangoon is not mentioned on Page 3 of the archive documents). From Cape Town she continued to New York where the rubber was discharged, having arrived on Jan. 21-1942. As per Febr. 2, she had been at Hoboken near New York for engine repairs and the installation of anti aircraft guns, then took on board a cargo of ammunition. Going back to the archive document, we see that she did not leave New York until March 14, arriving Trinidad March 23, proceeding to Cape Town the next day.

Some of her 1943 voyages are also shown on Page 3 (as can be seen, she had further long stays in New York, in 1942 as well as in 1943). Her 1944 voyages start on Page 4 (having had another long stay in New York, and again later that year). This document also lists her early 1945 voyages. Convoy information can be found in the Voyage Record above.

In the book "Sjøfolk i krig" by Leif M. Bjørkelund there are several personal stories told by Ida Bakke's crew members. The book is largely based on interviews with seamen 50 years after the war. Rasmus Meland, who had previously served on D/S Sydfold (pre war) and M/S Vigrid served on Ida Bakke from 1942 and in this book his memories of the ship's last few voyages of the war are included.

Peace at last!

Rasmus Meland says she was in the Cunard Line at the end of the war and had 2 round trips U.S.A.-U.K. in large, fast convoys* (on one of these voyages Knut Knutsen's M/S Martin Bakke, bound for Antwerp, was also part of the convoy). Ida Bakke arrived River Mersey on May 5-1945, 3 days before the war was over - see also Page 5. The days in Liverpool celebrating peace were of course memorable to all, but even more so to the Norwegians was the day they departed, which happened to be May 17, Norway's Constitution Day. Ida Bakke was the Commodore Ship on this occasion. Rasmus Meland says he visited the radio room and listened to the broadcast from Norway where the 17th of May celebrations were in full swing, with the well known Norwegian songs being played in the broadcasts from various cities along the Norwegian coast. It's easy to imagine what this must have felt like to a seaman who had been through so many hardships and dangers for many years.

* This would have been the convoys referred to below. Ida Bakke is listed in the following:
Convoy CU 67 - (New York-U.K.). This convoy did indeed arrive Liverpool on May 5-1945, having left New York on Apr. 24, and Martin Bakke is also included (as are California Express, Kirkenes and Honningsvaag).
They both returned with:
Convoy UC 68A - (U.K.-New York) left Liverpool on May 17-1945 and arrived New York on the 28th. Will be added - see my page naming ships in all UC convoys.

POST WAR:

Ida Bakke was in the company's Concordia Line from 1948. Renamed Concordia Foss in 1954. Renamed Nyhavn in 1965 while under a 6 months T/C to Nedloyd Line, then got the name Concordia Foss back in 1966 at the end of the TC. Sold on Dec. 8-1969 to I/S Margrete (Torvald Klaveness), Oslo, and renamed Foss. Sold, and delivered to Tan Weng Shipbreaking Co. Ltd., Hong Kong on Febr. 21-1970.

When Concordia Foss - Also from Roger W. Jordan.

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