D/S Marita
Updated Febr. 8-2012

To Marita on the "Ships starting with M" page.


From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.
Another picture is available on this external page (click in it to enlarge).

Some Convoy Voyages:

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the convoy links provided for further details; the Commodore's notes and/or escort's report are also available for some of them and several Norwegian ships took part.

Marita, in ballast for Glasgow, is listed in Convoy HN 10B from Norway to the U.K. in Febr.-1940. In Apr.-1940 she was in Convoy HN 24, which arrived Methil from Norway on Apr. 7; in other words, she got out of Norway just before the German invasion (Apr. 9). Marita had a general cargo for Manchester on that occasion, and arrived her destination on Apr. 10, according to Page 1 of the archive documents. From the same document we learn that she later made a voyage to Sydney, C.B., where she arrived on July 8 (it looks like she had started out in the Faroe Islands). Having made a voyage to St. Georges, N.F. and Corner Brook, she returned to Sydney, C.B., subsequently proceeding to Halifax, before heading back to the U.K. on July 23, arriving Greenock on Aug. 10. I have no convoy information for these voyages. It'll also be noticed, that she later spent quite a long time at Shields (Tyne), where she had arrived on Sept. 3; departure is given as Oct. 5, when she continued to Methil Roads.

We now find her in Convoy OA 226, which departed Methil on Oct. 8, joined up with Convoy OB 226 on the 11th and dispersed the next day, Marita arriving St. John's, N.F. on the 23rd, continuing to Springdale, N.F. on the 24th (Page 1). This convoy is available via the external link provided in the Voyage Record (incomplete listing); A. Hague has also included Grado and Ruth I, while Brant County, Laurits Swenson, Petter and Samuel Bakke were in the OB convoy. Marita returned to the U.K. the following month, departing Sydney, C.B. on Nov. 9, arriving River Clyde on the 25th. This voyage had been made with the slow Convoy SC 11, in which Bruse and Salonica were sunk, among several others - follow the links for more details. Marita had a cargo of lumber and was bound for Ridham Dock; Page 2 gives arrival Ridham as Dec. 10.

She's also listed, together with Brask (sunk - follow link for more info), Don, Ferncastle, Gezina, Kongsgaard, Ravnefjell and Victo, in Convoy OB 272, originating in Liverpool on Jan. 10-1941, dispersed on the 14th. Again, see the external link in the table above. Her destination is not given, but when going back to the archive document, we see that she arrived Freetown on Jan. 31, having started out from Oban on Jan. 11. With a cargo of iron ore, she returned to the U.K. in Convoy SL 66, departing Freetown on Febr. 18. Hjalmar Wessel, O. A. Knudsen, Petter, Salamis and Ørnefjell are also listed (ref. external link in Voyage Record). Marita arrived Barrow on March 15, and the following month, she appears, along with Brisk, Bruse Jarl, Marga, Nesttun, Polyana (sunk - follow link for details), Senta, Star and Torfinn Jarl, in Convoy OG 58, which left Liverpool on Apr. 6 and arrived Gibraltar on the 21st. Marita, however, was bound for Halifax, where she arrived on Apr. 22 (having joined from Clyde), so probably left the convoy at some point in order to proceed to this destination. OG 58 will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, the ships sailing in it are named on the page listing ships in all OG convoys. From Halifax, she continued to St. John, N.B. that same day, heading back to Halifax on May 7 - see Page 2. She was scheduled for the slow Convoy SC 31 on May 9, but did not sail - as can be seen when going back to the archive document, she did not arrive Halifax from St. John, N.B. until May 10.

She subsequently joined the next convoy on May 19, SC 32. En route, she rescued the survivors from the British Empire Storm, which had become a straggler from Convoy HX 128 and was torpedoed by U-557 on May 29-1941 (a Norwegian source says 42 men were picked up by Marita, but according to the external website that I've linked to at the end of this page, 40 had survived). Marita had a cargo of timber for Bristol, and after having landed the survivors at St. John's, N.F. on June 3, she proceeded to Sydney, C.B., joining Convoy SC 35 from there. A. Hague gives her arrival Bristol as July 15. The following month, we find her in station 25 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 4. Her destination is given as Bathurst, N.B., where she arrived Aug. 24 (the convoy having been dispersed on the 18th), later proceeding to Campbellton, before heading to Sydney, C.B., and A. Hague now has her returning to the U.K. with Convoy SC 44, departing Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 11, arriving Liverpool on the 30th; Marita stopped at Loch Ewe. This convoy is not yet available among the SC convoys included in my Convoy section, but will be added - see ships in all SC convoys. Ada, Barbro (sunk - follow link for details), Bollsta, Borgfred, Carrier, Cetus, Gudvin, Hjalmar Wessel, Iron Baron, Lago, Rolf Jarl, Sirehei, Sneland I, South Africa and Spero are also listed.

The rest of her 1941 voyages are listed on Page 2 and Page 3. Page 3 also shows some of her 1942 voyages, which continue on Page 4, while her 1943 voyages start on Page 5 (as will be seen, she headed to Gibraltar in May that year - convoy info in table above).

Skipping now to Dec.-1943, when she's listed as bound from Algiers to Augusta in Convoy KMS 34* (convoy left Gibraltar Dec. 9). According to Page 6, she arrived Augusta on Dec. 15, having left Algiers on the 11th.

In Febr.-1944 she's said to have made a voyage from Bizerta to Algiers in Convoy MKS 39* (originated in Port Said Jan. 30). She arrived Algiers on Febr. 9, having sailed from Bizerta on the 7th. With destination Workington, she's now listed in the MKS portion of Convoy SL 149/MKS 40*. SL 149 had left Freetown on Febr. 11 and joined up with the MKS convoy on the 22nd, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on March 7; Marita arrived Workington that day, having started out from Algiers on Febr. 19. Bosphorus, Drammensfjord and Kong Haakon VII are also listed (link in Voyage Record).

Further 1944 voyages are shown on Page 6, Page 7 and Page 8. From the latter document, we learn that she got to go home to Norway already in June-1945. See also Page 9, which lists more voyages to Norway (this document has her voyages to Febr.-1946).

* The KMS convoys and MKS convoys will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course; in the meantime, see the section listing ships in all KMS convoys and ships in all MKS convoys.

More details on the other Norwegian ships mentioned here can be found with the help of the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

POST WAR:

According to this external page, Marita ran aground on Nov. 23-1953 when on a voyage Leningrad-Odense and was condemned. Arrived Hamburg June 23-1954 for breaking up by Eisen & Metall AG.

Related external link:
The loss of Empire Storm

Back to Marita on the "Ships starting with M" page.