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

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.

The captain says that when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940, Krossfonn was outside the coast of Florida (from the archive document, we learn that she had sailed from Port de Bouc on March 23). They were destined for Galveston in order to go into drydock, but on receiving the news they proceeded to the closest British port, which was Kingston, Jamaica, arriving there on Apr. 14 (see my page about Nortraship for information on these early days of war). The captain says there was talk of sending them to Halifax to equip her with guns, but this did not come to pass, and on Apr. 24, she proceeded to Galveston, arriving Apr. 29. According to the captain, they loaded a cargo in Houston after they came out of the dock in Galveston, then headed to Bermuda - the archive document says she left Galveston on May 13, arriving Bermuda May 21, and 2 days later we find her in the Bermuda portion of the eastbound North Atlantic Convoy HX 45 - several Norwegian ships took part, as can be seen when following the link. She's said to have arrived Brest on June 12(?)-1940, departing for Casablanca the following day. The archive document states she arrived off Brest from Bermuda at 8 am on June 7, continuing to St. Nazaire that same day, departing again on June 12 for Donges (arrival not given), then on to Casablanca, with arrival June 17. According to Arnold Hague, the voyage to Casablanca was made in Convoy 50 BF (external link), which originated in Brest on June 13 and arrived Casablanca on June 19. (As will be seen, the Norwegian Stiklestad is also included in this convoy).

The captain says that Krossfonn was intended for Panama for orders (from France) and he wanted to make this voyage independently, but the ship could not be insured unless he agreed to sail in a convoy. On arrival Casablanca, orders were received from London that Norwegian ships were to avoid French ports and instead go to British ports (again, see my page "Nortraship" above). He also mentions Duala, which had received orders for Dakar. To him, this sounded "fishy", as he had heard rumours that France was about to capitulate and he advised Duala's captain to head to Gibraltar instead. But Duala did go to Dakar - please see my page about this ship for information on her subsequent fate. Captain Svendsen says that if they had received this message from London a little earlier, they would have headed directly to the Panama Canal without going into Casablanca. It was dark when they went in; the convoy had proceeded in before them and only Krossfonn and Stiklestad were left. They expected to get sailing instructions from the French navy the following day, but they were not received until evening, and on June 17 they headed out to sea. Stiklestad had some problems with her supplies so did not get out until the next day. (Again, note that the archive document gives departure Casablanca Roads as June 19 for Krossfonn - destination Cristobal via Fort de France).

As mentioned, Krossfonn is said to have left Casablanca alone on June 19 in ballast for Fort de France, but never reached her destination. She was captured on June 26 by the German auxiliary cruiser Widder (von Ruckteschell) off the West Indies, camouflaged as the Swedish Narvik for the occasion. Please continue to my page Norwegian Victims of Widder for more details on this (includes a crew list).

Following capture, Krossfonn was sent to France, arriving Lorient on July 7. She was in service under the German flag with the name Spichern; bombed and badly damaged by allied aircraft at Brest on Aug. 9-1944, scuttled as blockship on Aug. 31.

Back to Krossfonn on the "Ships starting with K" page.

This company later had another Krossfonn, originally delivered in 1979 as Normand Ross for Johs. Solstad, Skudeneshavn, sold to Sig. Bergesen in 1984 and renamed Krossfonn. Later had misc. owners and names (Kongsbu 1985, Krossfonn 1986, Scan Partner 1986) until she was lost in 1988 when Iraqian aircraft sank the tanker Barcelona.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, and misc. as named.

Aa–Al	An–Ar	As–Av	Ba	Be	Bi–Bl	Bo	Br–Bu	C	D
E	F	G	Ha	He	Hi–Hy	Hø	I	J	K
L	M	N	O	PQ	R	Sa–Sc	Se–Sj	Sk–Sn	So
Sp–St	Su–Sø	Ta–Te	Th–Ti	To	Tr–Tø	U	V	W	Ø

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