D/T Marit II

To Marit II on the "Ships starting with M" page.

Marit II is said to have taken part in Convoy OS 12 which departed Liverpool on Nov. 18-1941 and arrived Freetown on Dec. 12. She was on a voyage Milford-Aruba in ballast and had station 96 of the convoy. However, she's also listed, with the same destination, in Convoy ON 38, which left Liverpool on Nov. 19-1941, so it's possible she either did not join OS 12, or joined and transferred to ON 38 later. The Norwegian Belnor and Santos are also listed in OS 12, which can be found at the external website that I've linked to below.

In Febr.-1942 she sailed in Convoy HX 176 from Halifax to the U.K., with several other Norwegian ships - follow the link for more details.

Related external link:
OS and OS/KMS convoys - As can be seen, Marit II is included in Convoy OS 12.

Torpedoed - 1942:

Marit II, with a cargo of fuel oil, was one of many Norwegian ships in Convoy HX 202, which arrived Liverpool on Aug. 21-1942, and on Sept. 4 she joined Convoy ON 127 to head back across the Atlantic, voyage London-New York-Curacao. This convoy, which also had several Norwegian ships (many of which had also previously arrived U.K. with HX 202), was heavily attacked and the Norwegian Hindanger and Sveve were sunk in the course of the battle, while Daghild and Fjordaas were damaged.

On Sept. 11, U-404* (von Bülow) sent off two torpedoes, and at the same time U-608 (Struckmeier) also attacked. Both reported having hit Marit II, but only one torpedo had hit her. She was sailing at a speed of 8 knots on course 240° at the time, in fine weather with a calm sea and good visibility, wind southwest force 3.

The captain saw the track of the torpedo just before it hit, coming 45° on the starboard quarter, but there was no time for any evasive action, and she was struck on the starboard side in tank No. 8. Her engine was stopped and the crew ordered to their lifeboat stations.

Upon inspection, tanks No. 6, 7, 8, and 9 as well as the pumproom were found to be extensively damaged. The deck was broken up and the foremast and both aerials destroyed. However, there was no damage to the engine and steering gear, so the captain decided to continue at utmost speed about half an hour later, steering different courses during the night in an attempt to avoid further attacks. She caught up with the convoy on Sept. 12 and reached port on the 18th (St. John's for examination, later routed to Sydney C.B. f. o.). She was repaired in New York and subsequently continued her service.

*Jürgen Rohwer states in his "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two" that Marit II was hit by U-404 at 00:16 German time on Sept. 11, position 51 16N 29 08W. In a footnote he adds that U-404 observed hits after 3 min 12 sec and 3 min 32 sec, with columns of water erupting. U-608 observed one hit after 28 sec. Rohwer goes on to say that it's probable that only one torpedo from U-404 had hit Marit II (he adds she reached port on the 16th).

A summary of survivors' statements gives the position of attack as 51 15N 28 40W, at 22:20 GMT on Sept. 10, adding that the convoy was again sighted about 10 miles ahead at daylight on the 11th, and rejoined at 17:30 that same day.

Further voyages:

(More will be added).

In Jan.-1944 Marit II sailed in Convoy HX 276 from New York; destination London, and in Apr. that year we find her in Convoy HX 287. At the end of the following month she joined Convoy HX 293, and that fall, in Aug.-1944 she's listed in Convoy HX 305, bound for Clyde and Ardrossan. In Oct. she shows up in Convoy HX 312, destination Swansea and London (Shellhaven). In Dec. that same year she was scheduled for Convoy HX 326, but was instead sent to join the slower Convoy SC 163, transferring to this convoy at sea.

She must have gone straight back across the ocean*, because in Jan.-1945 she's listed in the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 334, bound for Clyde and Ardrossan.

On VE Day she was in New York, having arrived on May 7-1945 with the westbound Convoy ON 298. She later made independent voyages to places like Curacao, Port Said, Aden, Abadan etc. More details in these will be added.

* Please note that Marit II sailed in several westbound North Atlantic convoys. Further details on these voyages will be added; in the meantime, please go to the section listing ships in all ON convoys, and ships in all ONS convoys, where she appears in the following:
Convoy ON 38 (Nov.-1941), ON 105 (June-1942), ON 127 (Sept.-1942), ON 210 (Nov.-1943), ON 225 (Febr.-1944), ON 235 (May-1944), ON 242 (June-1944), ON 253 (Sept.-1944), ON 268 (Nov.-1944), ON 276 (Jan.-1945), ON 298 (Apr.-1945) and ONS 42 (Febr.-1945). All these will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section, with more information on each.

POST WAR:

On a voyage with a cargo of oil from Curacao to New York when on September 13th, 1946, she was caught in a hurricane, broke in 2 and sank in 35 09N 73 34W. 18 survivors in a boat were picked up by the tanker Pan Amoco and another 6 by the tanker Gulfhawk, but the captain, his wife and 10 crew were lost.

Related external links:
2 who died on this ship - Deckboy Reidar Hansen and Steward Mikal Isaksen are commemorated at this Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway (no details on how or when).

ON-127, 9-14 Sept 1942
U-404 | Otto von Bülow
U-608

Back to Marit II on the "Ships starting with M" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Misc. sources, including E-mail from Roger W. Jordan, England and from T. Cooper, England - and others as named within the above text.