M/S Mosdale
Updated Jan. 15-2008

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


Picture received from Sverre Johansen, Norway, whose father, Kristian Johansen served on Mosdale until June-1941.


Source: Historical Department, MAN B&W Diesel, Copenhagen.


This was received from (and also painted by) Jan Goedhart, Holland.

A Rescue - 1940:

Mosdale was in regular service between New York and Liverpool, usually sailing alone, often with passengers. On an eastbound voyage in a horrendous storm in Febr.-1940 S.O.S. signals were heard from the British Sea Rambler. Captain of Mosdale at that time was Captain Stave, 1st mate Gerner Sunde, 3rd Mate Andersen, 2nd Mate Bille, Radio Operator Helleland. The British vessel was found helplessly drifting that evening, and by the early morning hours it became clear that she wouldn't stay afloat much longer. 7 volunteers lowered a lifeboat from Mosdale in the raging snow storm, and through their exhaustive efforts 12 men were rescued off the doomed ship. The 7 volunteers were about to go back for the remaining 13, but a radio message was received saying that Kaia Knudsen had meanwhile come to their rescue. 2nd mate Bille later received Carnegie's medal for this heroic deed. It always amazes me that only the officer appears to have been given a medal in cases like this, when all the others had likewise risked their lives. They were: Boatswain Olsen, Able Seaman Karlsen, Able Seaman Kaldefoss, Ordinary Seaman Bendal, Ordinary Seaman Myklebust and Seaman Johnsen.

When Norway was invaded on Apr. 9-1940 Mosdale was en route to Santa Maria, Colombia for a cargo of bananas for Oslo, but of course didn't get to see Norway again for many years. 10 months after the war was over she again steamed into the Oslofjord, and this time she did bring the bananas. I would imagine those were a welcome sight to the Norwegians after so many years of occupation and shortage of food stuffs (aside from the joy of being able to meet a son, brother or father again of course).

Mosdale was taken over by the Ministry of War Transport soon after her first voyage New York-Liverpool and back after Norway had been invaded.

In Oct.-1940 Mosdale was in Halifax, waiting for a gun to be installed, when she caught on fire, but after 10 hours' intense work by officers and crew the fire was brought under control. She then proceeded to New York for extensive repairs, which took almost 2 months. In the meantime, Captain Stave was requested to take a position in Nortraship's offices there, and Gerner Sunde took his place. 1st mate became Hans Olsen (from Nov.-1944, 1st mate was Hans Henrik Moe, who remained until Nov.-1945).

Mosdale became known as the "Bacon Ship", on a regular service Canada-England, with meat and bacon usually taken on board in Montreal and unloaded in Liverpool.

Another Rescue & a Spy as Passenger - 1941:

Mosdale rescued 11 men from a lifeboat from the torpedoed Black Osprey on Febr. 18-1941. The men were so exhausted and cold they couldn't move, so the 1st mate had to go down into their lifeboat and tie lines around them, before they were carefully hauled on board. Black Osprey had been torpedoed by U-96 (Lehmann-Willenbrock); her entire complement had gotten off in 3 lifeboats, but only 11 out of 36 survived. She was 1 of 3 British ships torpedoed as stragglers from Convoy HX 107, to which the Norwegian Benjamin Franklin had also belonged (torpedoed and sunk Febr. 19).

On this same voyage Mosdale had a passenger on board by the name of Armstrong, who said he had been in America for a couple of months and was now en route to England for a very important war related assignment. He seemed to know a lot about ships, having been an engineer at sea himself, and was very impressed with Mosdale. Everyone on board had thought him a pleasant chap, and were highly surprised when the captain, upon arrival Liverpool on May 3-1941, received a newspaper clipping from a lady who had also been a passenger on that voyage, announcing that George Johnson Armstrong had been sentenced to death for treason at the Old Baily (he was executed in July that same year - the external link at the end of this page has more details).

But the people on board Mosdale soon got other things to worry about. While at Liverpool (Wellington Dock) they experienced the violent bombings there that week, but escaped with damages, even when the British ammunition vessel Malakand exploded nearby, causing enormous damages to the surrounding areas. An able seaman was injured by shrapnel and was taken to a hospital. (Other Norwegian ships in Liverpool during this 5 day bombing raid were M/S Bra-Kar, M/S Tai Yin, M/S Temeraire, D/S Sollund and D/S Stromboli). She was further damaged by yet another fire in one of her holds while in Liverpool. After temporary repairs she continued to Montreal for more permanent repairs.

A New Radio Operator:

That summer a young female Canadian radio operator came on board, Fern Blodgett, who ended up marrying Gerner Sunde. She was 23 years old and, anxious to contribute to the war effort, she went to Radio School and was taken on immediately after she had finished (though it had to be on a Norwegian ship; Canadian ships would not allow females). She married Gerner in 1942 and both served on board all through the war. Fern setttled in Farsund after the war; she died in 1991, Gerner died in 1962. He had also served on Torgerd, Novasli, Radic, Acasta, and Mosvold (all pre-war), in addition to Mostun as mentioned.

Other Canadian radio operators on Norwegian ships are named further down on this page.

Misc. Voyages – 1942-1945:

There's mention of a U-boat sighting in "Nortraships flåte". In Apr.-1942 she was on a voyage Halifax-Liverpool when 4 hours out from Halifax a periscope and part of a conning tower was spotted. The necessary precautions were taken, including sending a radio report, then a little over an hour later another periscope was seen. 3 rounds were fired by the gunners and another radio message sent (propably by Fern herself), but the periscope disappeared and Mosdale got away at full speed. This incident is also mentioned in the War Diary Eastern Sea Frontier on this external page (scroll down to Apr. 10-1942), which states that Mosdale reported that a periscope of a sub was sighted in 43 37N 62 08W at 1900 and that she was being chased.

Mosdale was attacked by a Focke Wulf 200 in the morning of Febr. 4-1943 when en route from the U.K. to Canada (46 11N 19 29W). Following some rounds from the ship's Oerlikon (gunner Ingvar Tautra) the aircraft departed without having caused any damage. She returned to the U.K. the following month in Convoy HX 231, which left Halifax on March 25-1943 and arrived Liverpool on Apr. 10; Mosdale joined from St. John's. This convoy is not included among the HX convoys in my own Convoys section, but please see the external link provided below. Later that month she's listed as bound for Halifax with general cargo in station 112 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 179*, which left Liverpool on Apr. 18 and arrived New York on May 6, subsequently returning to the U.K. in Convoy HX 239, which departed New York on May 13 and arrived Liverpool on the 28th - however, Mosdale, bound for Avonmouth with general cargo, joined this convoy from Halifax. As will be seen by following the link, several Norwegian ships took part. The same is true for the westbound Convoy ON 188*, which left Liverpool on June 10-1943 and arrived New York on the 26th, and in which Mosdale is listed.

It appears she was involved in a collision at some point in 1944. I have no further details on this, except that the other ship, the British Kerry Coast, sank following the collision, though was later salvaged and repaired.

In Febr.-1944 Mosdale is listed in Convoy UC 12*, which left Liverpool on Febr. 7 and arrived New York on the 18th, Mosdale, however, was bound for St. John, N.B. on that occasion. She must have returned to the U.K., because she's also listed as bound for Halifax in Convoy UC 15*, departing Liverpool on March 12, arriving New York on the 22nd. Mosdale headed back to the U.K. towards the end of Apr.-1944 in Convoy CU 22. She was bound for London with general cargo. In the middle of June we find her in Convoy UC 26*, which left Liverpool on June 15 and arrived New York on the 27th, but Mosdale was again bound for Halifax. Again it looks like she must have returned to the U.K., because she shows up again, with destination Halifax, in the westbound Convoy UC 31*, departing Liverpool on July 25, arriving New York on Aug. 5, and again it's obvious she went back to the U.K. because she also appears in Convoy UC 35*, which departed Liverpool on Aug. 26 and arrived New York on Sept. 5, but Mosdale's destination is given as St. John, N.B. again. Later that month she's listed as going in the other direction in Convoy CU 39, which arrived Liverpool on Sept. 23, and a week later we find her, again with destination St. John, N.B., in Convoy UC 39B*, departing Liverpool on Sept. 30, arriving New York on Oct. 10, and again she must have returned to the U.K. shortly afterwards, because she shows up again as bound for St. John later that month in Convoy UC 43A*, which left Liverpool on Oct. 29 and arrived New York on Nov. 9. At the beginning of Dec. she's listed in another westbound convoy, namely UC 47B*, departing Liverpool on Dec. 4, arriving New York on the 17th. The last voyage of 1944 was made with the eastbound Convoy CU 52, which left New York on Dec. 26 and arrived Liverpool on Jan. 7-1945 - Mosdale joined from St. John's.

Since Mosdale is not listed in any eastbound convoys during the times when I say she must have returned to the U.K., I'm wondering if she sailed alone on those occasions. She's said to have crossed the Atlantic 96 times, usually without a convoy, which enabled her to make the crossings faster, unload and load her cargoes very quickly and go back across again (though as can be seen from the text on this page, she sailed in quite a few convoys as well). In the summer of 1943, while in Cardiff after her 51st crossing, the King himself came on board (Haakon VII) to personally express his gratitude and admiration. The King was in exile in London during the war, and visited Norwegian ships on several occasions.

Mosdale subsequently returned to St. John, N.B. with Convoy UC 53A*, departing Liverpool on Jan. 19-1945, arriving New York on Febr. 2. A week later she's listed in the Halifax portion of the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 337, bound for Liverpool with a general cargo, meats and mail - follow the link for further info. In March she's listed as bound for St. John, N.B. in Convoy UC 60B*, which left Liverpool on March 18 and arrived New York on the 29th. At the beginning of the following month she joined Convoy HX 348, which left New York on Apr. 3 and arrived Liverpool on the 20th (see external link below), and on Apr. 27 she joined the westbound Convoy UC 65B*, which arrived New York on May 7; Mosdale, however, was bound for Boston. At the end of that month we find her in the eastbound Convoy CU 71, leaving New York on May 20, arriving Liverpool on the 30th. Mosdale joined this convoy from Boston.

* The ON convoys mentioned here are available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, please go to these convoys in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. All the UC convoys will also be added; for now, the ships sailing in them are named in the section listing ships in all UC convoys. These fast convoys usually did not have more than 2-3 Norwegian ships. As will be seen, the ones that are mentioned most often are California Express, Washington Express, Hegra, Martin Bakke, Nordahl Grieg, Elisabeth Bakke, Kaptein Worsøe, Karsten Wang, and Trondanger.

Related external link:
Misc. convoys - By clicking on "Ship Search", using "Mosdale" as keyword, a few convoys that are not mentioned in my own text will come up - Here are HX 231 and HX 348, both mentioned in my text above.

Other Female, Canadian Radio Operators on Norwegian Ships:

This list was assembled partly from info found in misc. Norwegian sources (including "Krigsseileren"), partly from info received from Fred Addis, Canada, and partly from a list received from Olive J. (Carroll) Roeckner, who served on the post war Siranger, and about whom a book has been written ("Deep Sea Sparks", ISBN 1-895590-05-1, Cordillera Publishing Co. Box 46, 8415 Granville St. Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6P 4Z9 - see this external link for more about her). The post war Siranger is identical to M/S Narvik mentioned below. Olive received the information from Berit Pittman, Canada.

Judging from the surnames, many of these girls married Norwegians.

Maude Elisabeth Steane on Viggo Hansteen from May-1944 (shot and killed at Naples in Aug.-1944, follow the link for details)
Alice House - T/T Kaptein Worsøe
Ola McLean also served on Kaptein Worsøe
Esther Chrichton - M/S Narvik
Rosemary Byron - Dec. '44 - Nov. '45 M/T Jotunfjell
Josephine Ryan - M/S Ferncliff. Josephine Ryan married Alf Sverre Fredriksen, who's mentioned in the crewlist for Fernhill. My Norwegian Guestbook has a message from their son, and right underneath it, there's a message from their nephew. According to the latter message, it looks like she also sailed on another Norwegian ship, in addition to Ferncliff.
Margaret Dixon - T/T Hammerfest
Dorothy Sullivan Ramsland - M/S Maud
Mary McDermott Milne - M/T Trondheim 1943-1945
Annie Martlieu - Iris and D/S Gudvor 1944 - here's a message from her son, who also posted a note in May-2002, and here's a more recent message.
Barbara (Briggs) Ulrichsen - Feb. '44 - Dec. '44 M/S General Ruge and Jan. '45 - Oct. '46 D/S Vadsø (looks like she married the captain of this ship).
Yvonne Demers - May '45 - Jan. '46, Hammerfest (link above)
Elizabeth Prescott - Apr. '45 - Sept. '45 T/T Honningsvaag, June '46 - Jan. '47 Harald Torsvik, Feb. '47 - Sept. '47 Apollo (I'm not sure which ship this might have been; the Norwegian M/T Elise was renamed Apollo, but not until 1953).
Joan (Aiers) Henriksen - Jan. '45 - Apr. '46, T/T Kirkenes
Betty (Lake) Ottersen, Dec. '43 - Nov. '44 M/T Garonne, Jan. '45 - Feb. '46, Kirkenes (link above)
Margaret Benham - Feb. '44 - Feb. '45, M/S Hoegh Silverlight, May '45 - Nov. '45, M/S Roseville
Suzanne Gens - Nov. '44 - June '45, Harald Torsvik (link above)
Mabel Graham - Nov. '44 - June '45, also on Harald Torsvik
Cecile Richard - Jan. '45 - Sept. '45, Vadsø (link above)
Margaret Spence - Apr. '45 - May '46, Honningsvaag (link above).

Helene Karoline J. Fischer Dale was the first Norwegian female radio officer in our fleet. She had previously served as stewardess on Bayard from March-1940 till Dec. that year, and on the same ship from Febr.-1941 till March-1942, before joining Laurits Swenson in the same capacity in May-1942, till July-1942. The following month she started school at Little Norway, Toronto to become a radio operator, and fresh out of school she joined Fred. Olsen's Baalbek as 2nd radio operator in June-1943 (till Sept.-1943), before signing on Alf Lindeberg in Oct.-1943 where she stayed till Dec.-1945. Just 2 days after signing off Alf Lindeberg she joined M/S Fernplant, this time as 1st radio operator, remaining with this ship until March-1946. She was later awarded Krigsmedaljen and Haakon VII Frihetsmedalje - see my Norwegian War Medals page. Many women sailed with the Norwegian fleet during the war; mostly as stewardesses or saloon girls. (My mother was also a radio operator, though not during the war. Her ships can be found under Åse's Ships).

POST WAR:

Mosdale was sold in 1954 to Blue Star Line. According to Lillesand Sjømannsforening she was renamed Albion Star, but sold again that same year to Lampart & Holt Line Ltd. Liverpool and renamed Balzac. Renamed Caroll in 1959. Sold again in 1960 to Blue Star Line Ltd. London and renamed Norman Star, renamed Basil that same year. Sold in May-1964 to Eleni D.Kyriakos & Demitri Kyriakos, Piræus, renamed Eleni K. Sold in 1966 to Helen Shipping Corp. Panama Ltd. Piræus, renamed Eleni Kyriakos. Renamed Olga in 1969. Sold in 1970 to Kreta Shipping Co. S.A. Piræus and renamed Georgios Markakis. Sold in 1973 to Amarinthos Shipping & Co.Ltd. Famagusta, renamed Nikos S. Arrived Hierros Ardes, Bilbao on May 5-1973 for breaking up.

Related external links:
George Armstrong - Details on the spy mentioned above.

YL Radio - A page about the Canadian female RO's. Among others, Fern Blodgett is pictured. As will be seen from this page, she was not the only one who ended up marrying a Norwegian ship mate.

Lillesand Sjømannsforening also has some info (in Norwegian) about this ship.

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

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Lykkelige Mosdale - Sagaen om et skip", Eiliv Odde Hauge., and misc. others for cross checking details.